Experts Believe Seoul Fashion Moving on Right Course
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter
Seoul Fashion Week may not yet be on the level of Paris, Milan, New York or London, but international fashion experts believe it is headed in the right direction. Jean-Pierre Mocho, president of the French Ready-to-Wear Federation, and Anna Orsini, head of the British Fashion Council International, had high praise for the collections presented by Korean designers during Seoul Fashion Week, which ended Monday. ``With this kind of collection you are building, you are coming close to the right direction. Not today, but I think in two year's time,'' Mocho said.Orsini was also impressed with Korea's fashion and retail market. ``Korea is a very important market for fashion… We have seen Korean multi-brand stores with 11 or 12 floors of international brands. We would like the buyers to be interested in Korean fashion and help Korean fashion reach international level,'' she said.Mocho and Orsini met with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who attended designer Moon Young-hee's fashion show Sunday. Seoul is hoping to establish its Fashion Week as the 5th major international fashion collection, after Paris, Milan, New York and London. Seoul Fashion Week, which started in 2000, still faces stiff competition from other Asian fashion capitals like Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong.Mocho gave his insights on Seoul Fashion Week, and gave suggestions on how to strengthen the link between Seoul and Paris' fashion industries. He suggested establishing a Korean fashion information center in Paris, as well as holding a fashion competition for young Korean designers. ``I think the collection at Seoul Fashion Week is very high level. You have different ways, both high and medium. But the way you are creating this collection is in the right direction. It doesn't matter if the schedule (of Seoul Fashion Week) is good or not. The most important thing is if the collection is good,'' Mocho said. It is also important for Korean designers to incorporate traditional elements in their designs. ``One reason why we travel the world to see fashion is because we want to see the individuality of the country. It is important for designers to use elements of traditional fashion, use traditional fabric and make it as wearable as possible,'' Orsini said. Top fashion designers Lee Young-hee and Li- Sang-bong have taken elements of Korean culture such as hanbok and Hangeul (Korean alphabet) and incorporated it in their designs, which have been recognized abroad. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has identified the high-value fashion industry, as one of the new growth drivers for the economy. Korea is one of the world's top 10 fashion industries, in terms of creativity, design and quality. When asked to describe Seoul's fashion industry, Oh cited the ``strong passion for fashion, and the rich history and culture of Korea as its main characteristics.``I believe if the city government gives the fashion industry enough support, our fashion industry can be a world-class industry. When the local government aids the industry, it should be indirect, and focused on creating a proper environment for our design industry,'' Oh said. He also expressed support for initiatives to increase exchanges in fashion and culture between Seoul and Paris. ``Paris is no doubt the center of the world's fashion industry. I am proud to say Seoul is the fashion center of Northeast Asia. In this regard, I think it is really important for cities to have this kind of cooperation and exchanges,'' he said. cathy@koreatimes.co.kr
Summary
World fashion market is focusing on Korean fashion industry. Jean-Pierre Mocho, president of the French Ready-to-Wear Federation said ‘Korean fashion market is the center of world fashion because of the product affected by Korean traditional style such as Hanbok or Hanguel.’ They want Korean fashion designers to make products that presenting Korean style and they want to build fashion city in Korea because Korea fashion market is a competitive trading center.
Opinion
I think Korean traditional fashion has strong points in fashion world. Many foreigner fashion designers want to get the competitive items to afford their fashion style and they want Korean fashion designers to show their own culture style on cloths, shoes or accessories. To attract world fashion designers into our fashion world, we should change our people in Korea, especially young people(10~20s). They are main buyers consuming fashion items to decorate their style, and their consumption is the most important in national market. However, young people would like to wear products from other country’s marker, nike, addias, polo, reebok so on. This result means that their insight of fashion style including all products that represent their identity is focusing on foreign style like American style. I think if many Korean fashion designers graft own Korean style on our fashion design to be consumed by young people, that style will be competitive icon in the World fashion, because fashion trends from the young style are critical streams of fashion.
In my school, one student is wearing Hanbok that is changed to wear conveniently. We are looking her in different concept and she is becoming a special person for her own style. This means fashion design on person can be an important factor for people to specify identity or personality.
‘Korean style is World style’, this wording should be actualized for our people and world people, and world fashion.
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