Seoul Fashion Center Has High Hopes for Korean Fashion
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By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
When people talk about Asian designers in the fashion world, Japan's names like Issey Miyake, Takada Kenzo and Yohji Yamamoto or Americans of Chinese descent like Vera Wang and Anna Sui are always mentioned.
Unfortunately, no Korean designer has achieved those fashion designers' level of success and international recognition. Not yet, that is.
Hahn Seong-hee, Seoul Fashion Center (SFC) director-general, believes it is about time Korean designers make their mark on the international fashion scene. In an interview with The Korea Times, he said Korean designs are in tune with global style, but with unique and distinctive qualities that set it apart
"Korean designs, I think, have global style. The designers come up with high quality designs that I think everyone would like", he said.
Korean designers like Lie Sang-bong and Cho Sung-kyong are slowly being recognized in Paris, while Korean-American designers Doori Chung and Richard Chai are also getting a lot of attention in New York.
However, Hahn admits there is still a lot to be done to push Korean designers to the forefront of global fashion.
SFC, an agency under the Seoul City government, is helping Korean designers develop internationally recognized brands through overseas marketing and promotion, as well as financial support.
In the past, the Korean fashion industry mostly consisted of manufacturing, but due to intense competition with China, it is now shifting to become a high value industry.
According to the SFC, Korea is already ranked 8th or 9th in the world, in terms of creativity, design, quality and marketing of fashion. To provide an opportunity for designers to showcase their work, the Seoul Collection is held twice a year. It consists of fashion shows featuring autumn/winter and spring/summer collections of top Korean designers.
The SFC is also trying to boost Korean fashion by capitalizing on the popularity of Korean stars through the Hallyu Stars Fashion Festival.
Hahn said the event highlighted the mutually beneficial relationship between designers and stars, and hopes the star power of Korean stars would help Korean designers to become recognized around Asia.
However, he believes the Korean fashion industry should also work with China and Japan to create an Asian style that can compete with European or American designs.
"We're also thinking of getting some Chinese or Japanese stars to wear Korean designed clothes to garner more attention. Or maybe the Chinese and Japanese designers could come here and Korean stars could wear their designs _ the three countries should develop a joint relationship to make Asian fashion style known around the world", he said.
Staff Reporter
When people talk about Asian designers in the fashion world, Japan's names like Issey Miyake, Takada Kenzo and Yohji Yamamoto or Americans of Chinese descent like Vera Wang and Anna Sui are always mentioned.
Unfortunately, no Korean designer has achieved those fashion designers' level of success and international recognition. Not yet, that is.
Hahn Seong-hee, Seoul Fashion Center (SFC) director-general, believes it is about time Korean designers make their mark on the international fashion scene. In an interview with The Korea Times, he said Korean designs are in tune with global style, but with unique and distinctive qualities that set it apart
"Korean designs, I think, have global style. The designers come up with high quality designs that I think everyone would like", he said.
Korean designers like Lie Sang-bong and Cho Sung-kyong are slowly being recognized in Paris, while Korean-American designers Doori Chung and Richard Chai are also getting a lot of attention in New York.
However, Hahn admits there is still a lot to be done to push Korean designers to the forefront of global fashion.
SFC, an agency under the Seoul City government, is helping Korean designers develop internationally recognized brands through overseas marketing and promotion, as well as financial support.
In the past, the Korean fashion industry mostly consisted of manufacturing, but due to intense competition with China, it is now shifting to become a high value industry.
According to the SFC, Korea is already ranked 8th or 9th in the world, in terms of creativity, design, quality and marketing of fashion. To provide an opportunity for designers to showcase their work, the Seoul Collection is held twice a year. It consists of fashion shows featuring autumn/winter and spring/summer collections of top Korean designers.
The SFC is also trying to boost Korean fashion by capitalizing on the popularity of Korean stars through the Hallyu Stars Fashion Festival.
Hahn said the event highlighted the mutually beneficial relationship between designers and stars, and hopes the star power of Korean stars would help Korean designers to become recognized around Asia.
However, he believes the Korean fashion industry should also work with China and Japan to create an Asian style that can compete with European or American designs.
"We're also thinking of getting some Chinese or Japanese stars to wear Korean designed clothes to garner more attention. Or maybe the Chinese and Japanese designers could come here and Korean stars could wear their designs _ the three countries should develop a joint relationship to make Asian fashion style known around the world", he said.
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