Fashion Q + A
Runway
September 10, 2011
The sun beamed through the glass-walled windows of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, reflecting light off mirrored, staggered platforms, where statuesque, goddesses stood erect in soft purples, grays, teals and beiges. The aura of reverence and dignity was appropriate for the occasion, as the five designers behind Concept Korea IV left their native home to represent their leading collections for New York’s Fashion Week.
With a close look, the angelic figures added drama to the scene by lifting their pale faces to the heavens, as designer Doho’s clothes floated off their bodies in light airy fabrics and constructions. At the same time, the earth-driven influences grounded the looks. Translucent fog of chiffon swirled around a model’s torso, neck and chest, and dew drops dripped off a model’s waist in the form of a multi-layer chain belt with clear stone, water-like accents.
Doho pulled you down to earth, but designer Lie Sang Bong’s collection welcomed you to a whole other realm of structured traditional Korean architecture taken over by natural forces. In a beige, cropped leather coat, the front was overcome by intertwining root extensions but in perfectly shaped, manmade curves. Florescent electrical veins, pumping purple and blue, embedded a black long-sleeved shrug.
Fantasy lands do really exist however, and designer Son Jung Wan escaped you to her favorite, the Isle of Capri. The Blue Grotto and the La Fontelin inspired the palette of sandy beiges, ocean blues, and stony grays. The contrast of beach sand and sea blue sprung up other desired contrasts for Wan, such as retro and vintage, and minimal and maximal. All of her looks were quintessential for a late dinner at her favorite Isle of Capri restaurant, Da Tonino.
Designers Steve Jung and Yoni Pai, behind the line Steve J & Yoni P, offered an excursion not through space, but rather through time. The year is 1993, with bright box cut denim jackets, acid washed maxis and comfortable cotton mini a-line dresses. The prints on cotton were rosy 90‘s floral, including the very signature-to-the-era sunflower popping up for sunshine. Designer Juyoung Lee’s menswear line Resurrection catapulted you forward in time, to a future when male and female fashion morphs into one another with men in skirts, red leopard, and wide torso belts.
Transporting you over time, the oceans, and reality, these five designers most importantly gave onlookers a glimpse of their home Korea, where clearly, creativity and craftsmanship reside.
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