These days, baby’s gotta have back
Korean fashion is increasingly stressing the back view. [JoongAng Ilbo]
The theory goes like this: Whether or not you can see yours, the way you look from the back is becoming just as important as the way you look from the front in the latest fashion language.
This trend is found in all industries that value design nowadays including automobiles, televisions and cell phones. These days, designers spend much time and effort to make the backs of these products as appealing as their fronts.
How and why did we begin to notice the back? What is your back side like?
Call yourself a true style leader if you take full notice of your back.
Fashion designer Woo Yong-mi made a sleeveless pique shirt that was showcased in February in Paris for a pret-a-porter collection.
The item looks like an ordinary shirt from the front, but the style completely changes into a trench coat when seen from behind. “The front’s space is taken up by the neckline and the buttons,” she says. “I want to decorate more on the front, but there’s not enough space to do so. But the back side of the shirt has more room, giving me the freedom to explore my creativity.”
To sum up this popular current of latest fashion, more and more consumers are looking into clothes that are multidimensional rather than being focused just on the front side. This led to the boom of “structural design,” which uses intricate patterns or sequins to accentuate the structure of clothing.
The idea of fashion has turned more architectural, gathering volume in patterns and textures that stress layers.
Woo’s trench coat is a typical adaptation of such technique.
A Prada sandal.
Jang Jin-young and Yoon Han-hee, a married couple, are launching their collection in New York. They made a vest that features an innovative take on the back.
The vest seems suitable to wear with a plain shirt, but the back is decorated with an elaborate cross that looks like a giant butterfly. The idea attracts design-conscious consumers.
Then comes the halter dress, a hit item for the season, which lets you show off your shoulders and back by tying a knot or ribbon behind your neck.
Shoe designers are also showing interest in stressing their unique backs. For this year’s spring/summer collection, Prada has shaped their shoes’ heels like a flower about to bloom.
Outside of the fashion industry, IT and electronic markets are paying attention to their backs.
Volvo’s hatchback C30 showcased last year is the leading example. The hatchback’s rear is made of glass that extends all the way down to its bumper. Its design, also known as the “glass tailgate” received a number of accolades last year, taking home a Golden Steering Wheel and Best Model at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show and honors from the International Red Dot Design Awards. These three awards are extremely coveted in the industrial design sector.
The back view of the Volvo C30. [JoongAng Ilbo]
The trend also extends to LG Electronics’ Xcanvas Scarlet TV, which was noted as an Intelligent Fashion Icon at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. One of the model’s designers, Sera Park from the LG Electronics Design Management Center, said that “the company first rejected the idea of investing in an area normally unseen by consumers.” But the designers eventually convinced the company, she explains, saying the IT and automobile industries should put more thought in the design of their back sides as female consumers become a rising target market.
While males used to dominate the demographic of Volvo drivers, more females have gotten behind their wheel, Park says. It comes as no surprise that nearly half of C30 drivers are women.
By Kang Seung-min JoongAng Ilbo [estyle@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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