Miss Sohee by Daniel Sachon; Andersson Bell
We’ve binge-watched Squid Recreation, and been mesmerised by Oscar-winning Parasite. We have listened to these catchy BTS beats on repeat, and lusted after Lisa from Blackpink’s Celine T-shirt and denims wardrobe. We could even have been one of many 4.5 billion folks to look at Psy’s high-energy Gangnam Model on YouTube… Or one of many 11.6 million TikTokers who’ve taken half within the #gangnamstylechallenge.
It appears we simply cannot get sufficient of Korean tradition. Little surprise then, that London’s V&A Museum not too long ago opened a barn-storming new present in celebration, working till June 25, 2023. Entitled Hallyu! The Korean Wave, the exhibition is divvied up between Ok-culture, Ok-drama, Ok-pop and, most excitingly of all, a roomful of trend showcasing up to date variations of Korean conventional hanboks (a tight-fitting cropped jacket and bell formed skirt) in addition to a variety of remarkable designers to keep watch over.
There’s the romantic ruffled organza robe with matching pearl trimmed hood by Kyu Shin and Ji Park of five-year-old Seoul label Blindness; in addition to a graphic neoprene and sequinned robe, filled with road indicators and typography by Korean-American Kathleen Kye of Kye – whose followers already embrace the likes of Kourtney Kardashian.
These and different Korean trend designers at the moment are using the crest of this unstoppable wave, whereby Korean tradition strengthens its grip on the remainder of the world. Seoul-born, London-based designer Rok Hwang of Rokh is main the curve.
He shot to trend fame after successful the LVMH Particular Prize in 2018 and has been exhibiting at Paris Vogue Week since February 2019. Launching his label in 2016, after stints at Phoebe Philo’s Celine, Chloé and Louis Vuitton, he has developed a knack for including youthful pizzazz to basic items – like turning a trench coat into this season’s assertion by making it in shiny electrical blue PVC, or his punk buckled and strapped sharp tailoring, together with a revamped blazer with dogtooth print and a cropped reduce.
Some Korean trend developments turn into massive – just like the cropped tops, jackets and extra. While Seokwoon Yoon was making backless fits for Seoul Vogue Week in March 2021 lengthy earlier than Timothée Chalamet stepped out in a backless prime on the latest Venice Movie Competition – and promptly stole the present.
One other rising designer who’s making waves on the world stage is Seoul-born, New York-based Ashlynn Park. She not too long ago reached the finals of 2022’s LVMH Prize for her eponymous model Ashlyn, that fantastically mixes Korean tailoring with Western material and pattern-cutting abilities honed at Yohji Yamamoto – and has simply been picked up by Matches as a part of this season’s Innovator programme. You want solely look on the burgundy bandeau crepe costume with uneven ruching or black puff-sleeve cotton shirt to understand Park’s expertise.
London universities are additionally a hotbed for Korean designers to hone their abilities. Take London-based Sohee Park, higher often called Miss Sohee: the flamboyant pink-and-gold peony costume from her Central Saint Martins 2020 graduate assortment was worn by Miley Cyrus when she carried out on the BBC’s Graham Norton Present just some months later, and presently lights up the style room on the V&A’s Hallyu! exhibition. Her dramatic and distinctive ‘demi-couture’ designs even caught the eye of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who supported her first-ever on-schedule present from the sidelines of Milan Vogue Week in February 2022.
And now, Miss Sohee has debuted on Web-a-Porter as a ‘new identify to know’, with a party-ready assortment that oozes sizzling glamour – assume sassy blue, crystal embellished cropped tops with built-in gloves, and a classy strapless metallic peplum minidress embellished with fake pearls in addition to crystals.
One other London-based Korean designer who has lengthy been a go-to for discerning trend lovers from Jorja Smith to Meghan Markle and Michelle Obama, is the inimitable Rejina Pyo. Beginning her much-loved label in 2013, Pyo is now stocked by main retailers together with Matches and Selfridges, most not too long ago making headlines when she dressed the previous First Girl in double denim for Ellen Degeneres’ now-defunct present. As Grazia Each day put it, the co-ord was ‘the newest proof that she [Obama] is the good girl on the planet.’ Fairly proper.
The architectural tailoring of Eudon Choi, in the meantime, has received him plaudits from the get-go – together with a British Vogue Council and ELLE expertise launch pad award in 2010 and rising expertise of the yr award by WGSN in 2012. And now much more so in his second yr as inventive director of Seoul-based, Paris-born luxurious bag firm Louis Quatorze. ‘Korea is in my DNA,’ stated Choi from his Seoul atelier earlier this month. ‘I simply labored within the design business in Korea and it’s very superior… Korean ladies are dressed very properly and they’re so refined, so I suppose sure issues are at all times there. They’re actually into their tailoring and reduce and match, so this intuitively feeds into my work,’ he explains.
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And simply as there’s a robust road model scene in Korea, there’s a complete host of streetwear labels to find too. Like cute-yet-edgy Bmuette run by design duo Byungmun Search engine marketing and Jina Um, which not too long ago confirmed at London Vogue Week and final yr undertook an ingenious collaboration with Korean automotive icon, Hyundai, for a set that upcycles supplies from discarded automotive waste. Suppose seat materials remodeled into shoulder patches and sleeves for observe jackets, or seat belts as braces and removable straps.
Brothers Kevin and Terrence Kim of IISE are additionally names to look at, for his or her capability to replace Korean trend traditions with up to date aptitude – see their utility jackets, trousers and shorts that characteristic Nubi stitching and quilting patterns. While the likes of mannequin Jieon Lee of Happly and Youngae Lee have re-interpreted the normal hanbok for a venture known as ‘Hanbok Wave’: Youngae shortened it ‘so as to add a youthful feeling’, whereas Jieon turned its brief prime right into a double-buttoned cropped blazer.
Holly Tenser, womenswear shopping for supervisor at Browns Vogue, says Korea’s streets have additionally launched Seoul-based Andersson Bell to the retailer this season – a mixture of the nation’s signature road model with a minimalist Scandi aesthetic. ‘They completely stability a streetwear-leaning aesthetic with a barely retro, quirky, female edge,’ explains Tenser. ‘I particularly love their playful crochet knit items, vintage-style t-shirts and their enjoyable tackle denim, usually utilizing patchwork or combined washes to create curiosity.’
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‘Korean designers are making trend really feel recent and enjoyable once more,’ Tenser concludes. We could not agree extra.
