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Lee Doii created a collection of beautifully illustrated dresses for her show at Seoul Fashion Week.
/ Courtesy of Seoul Fashion Week
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter
Seoul fashion was in the spotlight last week, as Korea's top designers unveiled their collections for spring/summer next year.
Seoul Fashion Week (SFW) brought together 43 designers for eight days of fashion shows at the Seoul Trade Exhibition Center (SETEC), Daechi-dong, southern Seoul.
This season's line-up was leaner but stronger, since the SFW organizers sought to pick more globally competitive Korean designers.
Korea Fashion Association chairman Won Dae-yun, who was also the chairman of the SFW organizing committee, emphasized the importance of global competitiveness for Korea's fashion designers and industry.
``The fashion industry must be globalized or else it will not survive. Since this fashion week started nine years ago, our event was mainly a local festival, without any global focus. But since I took over as the chairman of the committee handling SFW, I made global competitiveness the main priority of fashion week,'' Won told The Korea Times.
Won, a former CEO of Cheil Industries, sought to bring a global mindset to Korean designers who usually focus on the local market. This was why the SFW picked only Korean designers who are expanding abroad and whose design, quality and price were competitive, over designers who merely focused on the local market.
As a result, Seoul Fashion Week featured designers who are making inroads in foreign markets, including Andy & Debb, Lee Young-hee, Han Song, Song Zio, Song Jain and Lee Doii.
Renowned foreign designers Phillip Lim, Damir Doma and Richard Nicoll were invited to stage their shows, not just to bring more glamour and international flair to fashion week but also inspire local designers to pursue global markets.
Edgy but Classic Men's Fashion
As always, Korean menswear designers kicked off two days of shows at Seoul Fashion Week. The menswear designs were a mix of classic, edgy and even comfortable. Spotted on the runway were suits updated with trendy details, deconstructed jackets and resort-style pieces such as cuffed pants and tailored shorts paired with easy jackets.Han Sang-huk unveiled his ``Tattoo Collection'' for MVIO, with a live jazz performance. Models wore resort suits and vests, with tattoo print undershirts and leggings peeking from underneath.
One of the most anticipated collections was from Andy & Debb designer Seo-kwon Andy Kim, who presented his first men's wear collection in Korea. He brought the Andy & Debb brand's sensibility of romantic minimalism to well-cut jackets and pants, matched with attention-grabbing red leather shoes.
In an interview with The Korea Times, Kim said he was inspired by colors from Marc Rothko's paintings, and sought to express this through different fabrics and materials. ``We had the same theme in 2003 (for Andy & Debb women's wear collection), and at that time I wanted to also have a men's collection. So we decided to have that theme again for this collection… We can now make a real Andy & Debb couple,'' Kim said.
While the collection will be initially available in Korea, Kim and his wife Won-jeong Debbie Yoon hoped to also be able to bring the collection to New York, like their women's wear line.
A distinctly European atmosphere pervaded Ko Tae-young's ``Beyond Closet'' show, from the street lamps on the runway to the collection inspired by ordinary people. There was an ``ordinary'' denim jacket paired with a checkered suit, as well as tailored denim suits, and sleeveless jackets.
At Kang Dong Jun's D.GNAK of KANG.D fashion show, barefoot models splashed on the water-filled runway as they wore rolled up pants and wet-looking linen shirts. Park He-rin sent down a collection of crisp suits, edgy tuxedo suits and strong shouldered jackets with a rebellious British vintage style for her second line ``I AM A BLUE BY HERIN.''
For ``Line or Circle,'' Park Sung-chul chose to put a spin on classics, resulting in tailored sleeveless jackets with shorts and sporty knit vests.
Song Zio, who presented in Paris last June, once again showed the Songzio Homme collection characterized by soft masculinity with hooded short jumpsuits, pleated pants and deconstructed T-shirts.
Chang Kwang-hyo's collection also featured classic suits with rolled up pants and tucked-out shirts, and easy-going pieces like cropped jackets, linen suits and pajama-style satin shirts. Most pieces were black-and-white with a touch of pastel colors.
Diverse Styles for Women
While there was a rich diversity in design, it seemed most designers focused on a few key trends like the easy-going style, loose silhouettes, edgy street fashion and masculine touches on feminine pieces. Black remained a dominant color, but designers also played with vibrant colors and natural earth tones in their clothes.High profile designer Ha Sang-beg presented an edgy collection for his Ha:Sang:Beg line. Models wore outfits in red, green, acid pink and orange and adorned with frills, fringes, studs, patchwork and lace.
The style of 40's pin-up girls was revived in Cho Sung-kyong's sexy, glamorous collection. Strong shouldered jackets, which seemed to be a staple at several collections, also made an appearance at the Latulle show, along with satin dresses and lingerie-inspired pieces
With the somewhat macabre funeral theme for her collection, Im Seon-oc presented an almost performance art-like show with a mask-wearing model throwing fabric flowers with wet paint on the runway. The artsy element almost took away attention from Im's black and white designs adorned with zippers, sequins and lace.
In an interview with The Korea Times, Im said that she was inspired by the Shim museum, which has beautiful images of funerals. ``I took the idea that `death is scary but the funeral itself must be fun','' she said.
Lee Doii designed her Doii Paris collection with the theme ``Invincible Energy,'' combining futuristic elements with traditional Japanese ones. Her dresses were exquisitely feminine with pleats, ruffles, lace, ribbons and intricate beading, but with fabrics printed with Japanese-inspired illustrations Lee had made herself.
``I was inspired by a lot of Japanese artists who combine traditional art with their own originality which is modern, very urban and cutting edge. I wanted to try the same thing,'' Lee told The Korea Times, after the show.
Forget about favorite Korean animated character Pucca's cute side. Kwak Hyun-joo was inspired by a tough but sexy Pucca (think Angelina Jolie in ``Wanted'') when making her Gissen collection. The popular Pucca image was found on hot pants, cleavage-baring tunics, bikini tops and mini-dresses, which are geared towards trendy young women.
Han Song presented a very polished Troa collection, with pointy shouldered tailored dresses and jackets. Han said he was inspired by a mummy, and appropriately, a mummy-looking model covered in an all-white bandage outfit and jacket walked the catwalk.
Song Jain transformed everyone's spring essential, the khaki trench coat, into tube dresses, tops, skirts and shorts. This season, Song said, she focused on form and volume for her brand ``Jain by Jain Song.''The honor of giving the closing show at Seoul Fashion Week went to Gee Choon-hee. The Miss Gee Collection fashion show attracted a bevy of celebrities, who adored Gee's utterly feminine and pretty designs.
SFAA Collection
Prior to Seoul Fashion Week, the Seoul Fashion Artists Association (SFAA) staged a separate, much smaller event featuring established designers such as Jinteok, Rubina and Sul Yun-hyoung.
With the theme of modern natural, SFAA member designers stuck to eco-friendly designs and light fabrics in muted colors. Jinteok interpreted this theme in her typically minimalist style with dresses in cocoon shapes and strong shoulders. Sul Yun-hyoung goes for a free, easy but extremely feminine look for her mini-dresses and shirt dresses in silk, cotton and silk jersey fabrics.
While the SFAA designers' collections were interesting and innovative, the SFAA shows were overshadowed by the bigger and better organized Seoul Fashion Week.
cathy@koreatimes.co.kr
For the first time, Kim staged his annual Best Star Awards and Christmas Fashion Art Collection at the outdoor courtyard of the atelier. The guest list included celebrities, foreign dignitaries and media, who marveled at the gleaming Christmas decor while keeping warm by wrapping themselves in cream knit blankets. 
