the new pornographer

Here's an article I wrote for Surface Asia Magazine based in Singapore on Korean designer Han Dongwoo / 한동우 and his label Irony Porn(o). I love the masculine feminine mashup in his collections and was lucky enough to model for him a few seasons ago in Seoul - check out some backstage shots from his FW10/11 show HERE.

xoxochadchad

seoul fashion week fw12 highlights

Seoul Fashion Week has come and gone and for the second season in a row I wasn't able to make it over to Korea to see it for myself :(  Big time sad face for that.  I sometimes just want to stick my head in the sand and pretend that my life there never really existed so I can make the best of London, but Korea keeps on creeping into my life so forgetting about it is impossible.


Korean menswear, as I've said plenty of times before, is SFW's most successful player.  However this season some of the womenswear designers upped their game and presented really strong collections as well.  Below are a few of my FW12 favorites from the week.

Resurrection by Juyoung Lee added a military twist to her standard rock goth garments this season.  The almost floor length olive green jacket with leather sleeves above is mouthwatering perfection.

Irony Porn(o) designer Han Dong Woo presented another monochromatic collection of grey, black & white under the title 'Subversive Sexuality', showing us a mix of tailoring and somewhat unisex apparel. 

Choi Bumsuk presented a very sporty & streetwear feeling collection for General Idea this season under the theme 'After Games', inspired by hero's of the 1960's Winter Olympic Games.

Groundwave is always a favorite and again presented a modern version of traditional Korean outerwear.  The quilted jackets were exceptional and the models looked heavenly as they walked barefoot amongst the clouds.

Roliat's FW12 collection was based on a functional mutation of woolen jackets and padded jumpers.  The military inspired outerwear was styled with wide trousers cropped above the ankle along with hiking boots.

Leigh, another strong menswear label, presented under the motto "Brightness co-exists with darkness, and the darker it gets, the brighter the light shines".  I love how he paired cropped coats over a longer suit jacket, something that can easily look awkward but here wear quite well.

pushBUTTON presented a loud and proud collection of pattern, oversized shapes and vivid colour.  Gotta get me a pair of those round mirror lens frames that Noma Han is rocking on the left.

Inspired by the western film 'Bandidas', Johnny Hates Jazz presented an urban cowgirl collection in mainly red & blue tones.

Opening the 3rd day of Seoul Collection, one of Korea's most celebrated designers Lie Sang Bong sent models down the runway with a large black dot on their face echoing the stone like patches found throughout the collection.  Dyed fur, sheer fabrics and lace were also dominant.

Known for their fun and light hearted presentations, Steve J & Yoni P have accumulated a large fan base in Seoul including many a celebrity who were seen in the front row.  This years 'Functional Futurism' collection was a mashup of color, pattern & texture including some fun detachable leather peplum overskirts.


xoxochadchad

chadchad of the day 3.8

black jumpsuit / General Idea
black cuff / MVIO
black boots / military
gold & crystal earring / Line or Circle
toy pony shoulders / handmade

Here's what I ended up wearing to Boy George's birthday. I didn't even find out I was going until an hour before hand, so I stole the arse ends of the two toy pony's Burger used on his hat (previous post) then made two slits in the sides to slide elastic waistband through. I then hand sewed this (easily unstitched the day after) to the shoulders of my jumpsuit from General Idea by Korean designer Choi Bum Suk. They were amazing when I danced and the pony tails were all over the place when Beyonce's 'Run the World' came on, a perfect song to dance to with power shoulders. Yep!

The black leather cuff was part of the impeccably designed invitation sent out by Korean designer Han Sang Hyuk for MVIO's spring/summer 2011 collection.


The gold & crystal earring was a gift from Korean designer Park Jong Chul from his label Line or Circle's FW 2010 collection.  I decided to change it up a bit and give it a pony tail of it's own by adding a chunk of hair from the wig Burger attached to his toy pony hat.

xoxochadchad

my article in Surface Asia Magazine

I was asked to write an article on a selection of Korea's rising fashion stars by Surface Asia Magazine. I was honored to do so and it allowed me to continue to feel connected to Seoul after moving away. There were so many more designers I would have liked to include in the article so I'm glad the final decision of who to write about was left up the editors at the magazine. I hope you enjoy!

















xoxochadchad

Seoul's 10 Soul

The South Korean government has been pushing Seoul to become one of the world's major fashion cities and after a successful showing of Korean designers at Concept Korea during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York last fall, they recently debuted in Singapore at Seoul's 10 Soul. Take a look at this video and tell me your aren't psyched by what Seoul has to offer! (Also keep your eyes peeled for me on the catwalk in the ALANI & Jehee Sheen segments of the video as these were two of the shows I walked in during Seoul Fashion Week FW11).



Featuring 10 of Korea's up and coming fashion designers including ALANI, beyond closet, GENERAL IDEA, GROUNDWAVE, jaehwanlee paris, jardin de chouette, Jehee Sheen, KAAL E.SUKTAE, LEYII and Steve J & Yoni P, the designers each presented 3 'cruise' inspired outfits.  Check out Kokokoreano's coverage of the event HERE.


Also thanks to both Kokokoreano, a leading entertainment & fashion site which covers South Korean celebrities, and blogger asiaRasia of whutderrfakqizvat for giving me a heads up & emailing a scan of an interview about me that was featured in the 'Dynamic Seoul: All about Seoul Fashion' handout that was given to everyone who attended the Seoul's 10 Soul performance.  It was actually a translated & shortened version of the same interview I did for Harper's Bazaar in September of last year. I love that they included me in it! 








xoxochadchad

general idea fw 2011/12 by choi bum suk

I was a big fan of General Idea this season. I loved the sporty mix & match of bright active gear in red, navy, mustard & green. The leggings in nordic patterns or a quirky puffy jacket type material were fun & paired well with the hiking boots or colorful wingtip boots. The camouflage was also playful & almost cartoon-like in bright yellow & even pink. And how dashing did all the models look walking out of the tent at the entrance of the runway in those floppy felt hats? Very, if you asked me.






















































runway photos courtesy of HERE.

xoxochadchad