Concept Korea returned to New York on September 8th, 2016 to show Spring/Summer 2017 collections at Pier 59, marking its fourteenth season showing at NYFW. Hosted by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), this season’s showcase represented the best of women’s Seoul based fashion and included designers: YOHANIX by Yohan Kim, KIMMY J by Heejin Kim and GREEDILOUS by Younhee Park. Concept Korea is a collaborative project to promote Korean fashion designers and assist them in their attempts to break into the U.S. fashion market. Concept Korea is organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). Concept Korea began in the spring of 2010, and this S/S 2017 season marks the organization’s fourteenth time showing at New York Fashion Week.
The show featured a powerful performance by the New York Orchestra. The music featured were recreated American and K-Pop tracks by Korean composer and conductor, Wonhaeng Cho. From K-Pop to K-Beauty, there is no denying the talent and intrigue pouring out of South Korea over the past decade. Most recently, South Korean fashion designers have taken the industry by storm, creating a K-Fashion phenomenon that has quickly placed Seoul on the international fashion map. Since 2010, the program has brought rising design stars from South Korea into the New York City spotlight, providing a global stage for the country’s tremendous talents.
THE DESIGNERS:
Yohan Kim
YOHANIX’s Spring/Summer 2017 concept is about “Defining One’s True Self”. The collection reflects the designer’s view of today’s society and his thoughts on a world that is full of pride and prejudice. Yohan expresses the frustration of people blinded by a misconception of being perfect and wanting to be accepted unconditionally – but rarely accepting others unconditionally – by stating, “Only G-d can Judge Me.”
The Korea-born designer, Yohan Kim, graduated from London College of Fashion in 2007. While pursuing his BA he went to work as the designer for Michiko Koshino’s womenswear and haute couture lines. Following graduation, Yohan moved to Paris where worked for Balmain Paris specializing in leatherwear, later opening his own design studio in Beijing. YOHANIX expresses harmony of heavy and serious yet humorous sensibility through various fabric, leather blends, couture-style beads, metallic threads, splendid embroidery and designer’s unique prints and signature studs. With powerful details and structured cuttings, he aims to create ‘street carpet’ that makes whoever wears the collection feel like a heroine in the street. Since its inception, YOHANIX has showed collection in Shanghai, Seoul, Milan and Paris. http://yohanix.com
Photo Credits: Dan and Corina Lecca
Heejin Kim
KIMMY J’s Spring/Summer 2017 collection titled “7696 KARMA”, says it all. Her collection delivers the idea of “Karma”, that fate is decided on by the previous state of your existence, and “7696”, which combines the childhood years of her and her parents’. Through old school hip-hop, and “retro vintage” patterns inspired by East Asian culture, Kim combines futuristic synthetic material to interlock the two time periods, portraying her story of “Karma”. Designer Heejin Kim, majored in integrated design in Yonsei University. Originally expressing her creativity through furniture design, Kim felt her artistic imagination was stifled, and 2013 launched KIMMY J. Kim aims to develop a witty collection for urban lifestyle using her structural design aesthetic. KIMM J has previously showed during Seoul and Paris Fashion Week. http://www.kimmyj.com
Photo Credits: Dan and Corina Lecca
Younhee Park
GREEDILOUS’s Spring/Summer 2017 is inspired by an amusement park where reality and fantasy coexist. The collection illustrates various personal adventures and memories that she has from this wondrous place, contrasted against her reinterpretation of the retro, preppy look of the 1990’s. This line offers romantic, casual pieces with a large range of styles that span from day to night.
Since 2009, designer Younhee Park has captured the authenticity of haute couture but with an eye on sustainability. Describing the look as ‘futuristic modernity’, Park creates a feminine look with masculine undertones that manages to be both classic and directional; mainstream yet our of ordinary. GREEDILOUS has grown into a global brand loved by celebrities and influencers worldwide. The brand has participated in Paris’s Who’s Next, Seoul’s Generation Next and NYC’s Capsule and Coterie tradeshows. Most notably, the designer was nominated for the 2014/2015 International Woolmark Prize. http://greedilous.com/
Photo Credits: Dan and Corina Lecca
