The beauty of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week is getting introduced to international designers who have never showed in the tents. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to see the Arise Magazine presentations, you know how prestigious it is for foreign designers to have such an international audience during Fashion Week. For Spring/Summer 2011, editors were introduced to Concept Korea, a collective made up of three Korean designers: Kwak Hyun Joo (Pucca), Juyoung Lee (Resurrection) and Lee Jean Youn (Lee Jean Youn), who showed on the first day of New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center.
All three designers presented beautiful collections that showed the talent coming out of Korea. Pucca by Kwak Hyun Joo was the first to come down the runway. Full of ruffles, cotton candy inspired clothing and textures, Pucca was a Shakespearean masterpiece infused with Candy Land.
Resurrection by Juyoung was then showed a military inspired collection. The predominant color in the Resurrection by Juyoung Spring/Summer 2011 collection was black re-imagined into some familiar yet well constructed shapes. Sharp shoulders, leather jackets and gladiators all made an appearance in the collection.
Lee Jean Youn closed out the show with a womenswear collection of feminine and delicate pieces. Dainty frocks and delicate accessories had me drooling for this collection. The Concept Korea collective showcased emerging designers coming out of Korea that have mass appeal. There is no doubt we’ll be seeing and hearing more from these three young designers.
