Article by Kevin Young
Photo credit Xue Liang
Hallyu, is the Korean cultural fad that is sweeping the world by storm through Korean cinema, dramas, and pop music. It’s no surprise fashion is now embedded into Hallyu as Mercedes Benz fashion Week included a Concept Korea runway show, introducing the collections: Leyii, Beyond Closet, and Resurrection . Since its inception in 2010 Concept Korea is a collaboration projection to promote Korean designers to launch their clothing in the U.S. market. Numerous Korean organizations sponsor this extensive show: the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, the Daegu Metropolitan City, the Korea Creative Contents Agency, and the Korea Research Institute of Fashion Industry.
Leyii kicked off the show with modern yet classy feminity for the sophisticated ladies. These designs are both expressions of creativity and contemporary style. Leyii’s designs included both casual and professional office attire combining solid black with shades of dark purple and gray focusing on skirts and blowy shirts and solid black bottoms. This collection is perfect for the professional lady wanting to be stylish at the same time. These designs were minimalistic to emphasis the casualness and curved body shape yet with a touch of leopard print or dashing color to make this collection eye-catching. Seunghee Lee, the mastermind behind LEYII elaborated on her work. “My designs are inspired by Alexander Carter who is a makeup artist that uses organic materials. My concept is rhythmic contrast based on minimalism with constructive shapes and blotches of color based on Carter’s work,” said Lee.
Following LEYII, the electric and fierce Beyond Closet unleashed their menswear. Mixing a mirage of colors into beanies, baseball caps, shorts, vests paired with blazers was a bizarre combination that surprisingly contained chemistry when combined. Designer, Taeyong Ko expresses the type of guy that wants to stand out with unmatched confidence by linking various fabrics and color patterns into one piece. Beyond Closet’s looks were urbanized with tattoo culture being the source of inspiration for Taeyong. Beyond Closet strays away from boring clichéd designs, by including witty unforgettable street wear with subtle hints of classic menswear.
To close the show, Resurrection showcased what it means to have biker style. Resurrection focused solely on delivering a new age look emphasizing the colors white and black. The two conflicting colors combine to form many innovative, light weight, and sleeveless shirts for those sunny spring days. This collection also included staple karate inspired outfit designs you would see black belts sporting. Soo Young Lee, the designer behind this collection whose clothes have been picked up by H&M highlighted what she calls high fashion sportswear. “Fashion is my life. For this season my inspiration comes from wanting to show simplistic sportswear with high fashion flair. I used lots of sheer flowy materials tied with black, white, and a few gray color patterns,” said Lee.
Overall combined with a few upbeat K-pop songs, these three designers put on an unforgettable runway show. That is sure to come back to MBFW again in the future.
Lie Sang Bong, Korean fashion designer attended Concept Korea
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