10 Korean stamps that you should definitely know
Five years ago in a conversation about Asian fashion it was customary to mention Japanese designers - from Comme des Garcons and Ray Kawakubo to the omnipresent Uniqlo. Today, the Korean market can compete with the Japanese. Seoul Fashion Week attracts no less attention than Stockholm, and young local brands quickly find their way to the world market. Light industry has always been a strong point of the Korean economy, and respect for tradition, combined with an interest in modern technology, makes Korean brands attractive to Europe and America. We have selected ten notable young brands from Korea, which can be bought in Russia or ordered online.
Adder error
Korean brand, which American Vogue calls the Asian version of Vetements, and Highsnobiety includes a selection of promising young brands. Popularity came to Ader Error in 2015, when simple models, minimalist design and sporty cut successfully coincided with the crush of the normcore that had swept the world.
Today, the brand still produces uncluttered but non-casual clothes for every day: sweatshirts and T-shirts with large inscriptions, high-quality denim, windbreakers and oversized raincoats, baggy pants and cute accessories: badges, socks, waist bags and caps. The important rule of Ader Error (in addition to careful study of details) is to do things that look equally good on guys and girls and not to separate clothes into men's and women's. All items on the site are marked with a Unisex icon. You can find Ader Error in the shops of Seoul, Berlin, Milan, New York and Paris - or order it online.
Document
Document exists since 2014. The creation of the brand of Korean designer Jongs Lee was inspired (a surprise!) By the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and his work "Differences and Repetitions". A special section on the site, reminiscent of fashion blogs in the Tumbler era, is devoted to the designer’s own manifesto - it is no less interesting to study it than the clothing itself.
Jongsu Lee deliberately restricts the color palette and the set of fabrics from which things are sewn, changing only minor details and cut. The brand's collection includes clothing and accessories in neutral colors: trench coats, bombers, volleyers, volley jackets, chinos, and plain sweaters. The brand is declared as a man’s, but given the concise styles and the neutral colors of the entire Document clothing, finding the right shirt with no extra details or a free sweater is easier than ever. In Moscow, brand items are sold at the BNWT store.
Eye eye
The vigorous brand of bright clothes for every day is the closest to the British Lazy Oaf and the Americans to the Motel. In fact, these are convenient and simple things in the style of the 90s, not overloaded with grunge aesthetics. Eye Eye has checkered cardigans, suede jackets and miniskirts of bright colors, hyper-volume bomber jackets, windbreakers, sweatshirts, intricate leather jackets and checked sundresses. In the section with accessories - corduroy caps with bows and shoppers from the same material. Prices are comparable to Cos and Other Stories - that is, slightly above the average mass market. Finding things offline is still difficult, but you can make a trial order on the site - Eye Eye deliver worldwide, but warn that its cost varies greatly depending on the country of destination and the weight of the package.
Sjyp
SJYP produce perceptible things in the spirit of the time: flared jeans with stripes, blouses with ruffles and small patterns, worn denim with lace and fringe, dress hoodies, sweaters in sequins, leather sundresses on wide straps. In a word, everything that you saw in the collection of street-style photos from the past Fashion Week.
SJYP also has a collaboration with the cosmetic brand M.A.C. and its own magazine - its brand designers Steve G and Yoni Pi publish with enviable regularity (all issues can be found on the site). SJYP has existed since 2014, but has already become popular enough to be sold online on Net-a-porter, Ssense and Farfetch and in stores around the world. In Moscow, the brand can be found at TsUM, and in St. Petersburg - in the multi-brand Au Pont Rouge.
Thisisneverthat
Underground fans and popular rappers like MC Meta or Mad Clown wear the Korean brand Thisisneverthat. The obvious sources of inspiration for designers are the 90s and subcultures of the time. In the collections, miniskirts with large logos, bright-colored sweatpants, baggy windbreakers with a high collar, flannel shirts in a cage and long sleeves with inscriptions on the sleeves are always alongside. All collections of the brand come out in small editions and fly away in a matter of days (for example, most of the things on the site are now marked sold out), so if you’re close to Thisisneverthat aesthetics or you’d definitely want to get a shortened hoodie with the brand’s logo shop
IISE
IISE designers Terrence and Kevin Kim (which translates as “Second Generation”) say about their own brand that they are inspired by traditional Korean fashion, and each thing is sewn from local fabrics using traditional craftsmanship and traditional techniques in Seoul.
In the latest collection sportswear and non-dimensional shorts with reflective stripes in the best traditions of normcor coexist with traditional Asian-style robes and nylon bombs. The brand positions itself as male, but it’s hard to call things traditionally masculine, and given the washable gender boundaries in fashion, absolutely everyone should look at bombers, sweatshirts and accessories.
Showrooms of the brand are in America and Korea, and you can order IISE on Farfetch and Shopbop.
Diagonal
Another Korean brand of inexpensive women's clothing in the spirit of the times. Diagonal does not claim to originality and produce simple blouses with voluminous shoulders, short cotton shorts, pants with frills on the legs, knitted tops, T-shirts with neat lettering and dresses: with corset lacing, open shoulders, thin straps and ruffles. Most of all, Diagonal resembles another young brand - French Rouje - which we have already told. But if the latter things come out in minimal runs and run out in a matter of hours, then the basic sweatshirts and denim Diagonal can be found in the nearest Kixbox store, where the brand is represented from this summer.
Kirsh
Laconic fit and comfort combined with the latest trends in street fashion - this is how the Kirsh concept can be described. The brand works for a young audience, for which the 90s are colorful windbreakers and corduroy trousers of bright shades, combined with flashy headdresses. All this can be found in the collections of the Korean brand, as well as dimensionless sweatshirts with the Kirsh logo, ribbed turtlenecks, multi-colored berets, straight jeans, bomber jackets with contrasting sleeves and leopard mini-skirts. Prices are slightly higher than the usual mass-market: 4 thousand rubles for a t-shirt with cherries, 6000 rubles for a sweatshirt and 14 thousand for a white denim jacket. The brand is quite popular outside of Korea, and in Moscow it is completely accessible offline — for example, in Kixbox.
O! Oi
Korean brand with a funny Russian man name successfully imitates French style. O! Oi is a loose trench coat with an emphasis on the waist, checkered sundresses, white blouses with a Victorian collar and wide sleeves, striped shirts, checkered suits and skirts-year. This year, O! Oi will be four years old, and in the summer the brand finally reached Russia. In Moscow, the brand is represented in Kixbox, and the “French” collection itself came here - with short pleated skirts, striped shirts with an inscription Bon Voyage, light blouses and silky powder-colored dresses.
Hyein seo
Perhaps the most famous Korean brand abroad belongs to the Xen Xie, a graduate of the Royal Academy of the Antwerp Royal Academy, who previously studied fashion designer in Seoul. The first collection includes red coats with crosses and fur coats with the faces of heroes of horror. Five years have passed since then, but the style of the brand has changed little: Hyun Xie still has a high volume, gothic and pure colors.
Find a brand outside of Korea is not difficult. In America, the Hyein Seo collections are bought by large department stores like Nordstorm, and in Moscow the brand is represented in KM20. Ordering things online is easiest on Farfetch.