Visual and sartorial arts meet at Seoul Fashion Week fair

Seoul's city government is trying to put Korea's capital on the list of the world's sartorial hotspots by bringing together fine art and fashion during the upcoming fashion week.

A model walks on the runway during BONBOM's show at 2022 F/W Seoul Fashion Week held in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 18, 2022. [NEWS1]

Seoul's city government is trying to put Korea's capital on the list of the world's sartorial hotspots by bringing together fine art and fashion during the upcoming fashion week.

Better known Korean designers will also be able to promote their brands as the metropolitan government is also collaborating with the Hyundai Department Store, also a first.

As part of the Fashion X Art Fair program during the Seoul Fashion Week slated for next week, a total of nine local designer brands collaborated with Korean artists, including painters and pop artists, to promote Seoul as the next iconic city in fashion and art.

This marks the very first time that Seoul Fashion Week is promoting such a project, which was initiated partially to cater to today's consumers who are interested in artistic collaboration, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

The project also is in line with art fairs Frieze and Kiaf, which are expected to color the city's fall season in September.

This year's Seoul Fashion Week will be hosted earlier than any of the "big four" fashion weeks in New York, Paris, Milan and London to allow buyers and visitors to experience the newest collection earlier than usual.

Seoul Fashion Week will kick off next Tuesday at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung District, central Seoul, and last through Saturday.

The public will be able to witness the 2024 S/S collection about a month earlier than previous years as the event usually takes place in October.

A total of 1,000 people will be invited to attend the shows.

The project also aims to support and boost sales of local designers, establishing pop-up stores for these collaborated works at branches of the Hyundai Department Store.

Nine of the 30 Korean fashion brands showcasing their collections on the upcoming fashion week's runway will unveil their collaborative works with different artists as part of the Fashion X Art Fair program.

The nine brands are LIE, DOUCAN, DE MOO, SEOKWOON YOON, PEOPLEOFTHEWORLD, CEEANN, #whysocerealz!, KWAKHYUNJOO COLLECTION and D-Antidote.

The Art Fair program will take place for the entire month of September, displaying and selling collaborated works at three branches of Hyundai Department Stores in Apgujeong and COEX in southern Seoul and Pangyo in Gyeonggi.

LIE, a Korean designer brand launched in 2013, is one of the nine brands participating in the Fashion X Art Fair program that will headline the shows for Seoul Fashion Week and showcase their 2024 S/S collection with apparel collaborated with Korean artists.

LIE collaborated with Korean painter Kim Si-hyun.

“The theme of our brand’s 2024 S/S collection is the ‘blue hour’ or ‘heure entre chien et loup,’ a French expression referring to dusk — the time when we cannot differentiate whether it is a dog or a wolf just by looking at its silhouette,” Lee Chung Chung, the CEO and executive director of LIE, told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Wednesday.

“We tried to express this theme of ambiguity such as through genderless fashion.”

A model wears a T-shirt from LIE's 2024 S/S collection, a collaboration with Korean artist Kim Si-hyun [LIE]

The artist Kim is known for her paintings of bojagi, or traditional wrapping cloth.

“Kim’s bojagi pieces go in line with the theme of our upcoming collection as we do not know what is inside bojagi, leaving people to question what possibly could be inside,” Lee said, adding that the brand meticulously thought about how it could portray the artist’s piece in the best way possible on their apparels.

Bojagi by artist Kim Si-hyun [KIM SIHYUN]

LIE is better known globally as it has been invited to three of the big four fashion weeks in New York, Paris and London since its launch 10 years ago.

It is found in 60 stores globally including in the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore.

However, it hopes to increase brand recognition within Korea, which is now becoming a hot presence in the global market, with the pop-up store at the Hyundai Department Store.

Lee Chung Chung, CEO and executive director of LIE [LIE]

“The world’s attention on the Korean fashion brands has grown in the past years, especially since about 2016 and 2017, and is currently at its peak, but it still has the potential to grow further,” Lee said, adding that he believes Seoul still has a long way to go.

Alongside the fashion week, the Seoul city government plans to hold a fashion trade show where 94 local designers will be meeting with some 127 overseas buyers from 27 countries. It is the biggest trade show of its kind in Korea.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]