Show of fashion that never goes out of style
You will see there’s quite a bit of truth to that when you see the Lea Seong collection at the upcoming Pret-a-Porter Busan. The designer’s collection is a modern twist on the 1920s, proving that some fashions never go out of style.
“The 1920s was an important decade in the history of women’s rights and fashion. Just think of films like ‘Chicago’ and ‘The Great Gatsby.’ It was when women enjoyed their newfound freedom in many ways. And that’s well illustrated in fashion,” she said in a recent telephone interview with the JoongAng Daily from Shanghai, where she is based.
In the roaring ’20s in the U.S., women won the right to vote and started breaking with the social conventions that had previously dictated their behavior. They powdered their noses and smoked cigarettes in public, and they drank cocktails and listened to jazz music in nightclubs.
Lea Seong recreates fashions from the 1920s at Pret-a-porter Busan. Provided by Model Center International
“I think women in the 1920s felt more liberated yet more feminine than before. That was the mood I was in when I was creating my collection,” said Seong.
She explained that the clothes in her collection are boxy yet feminine, as the styles in the 1920s were, with fringe and pleats.
Before the Busan show, which will feature 32 pieces, Seong presented her work at China Fashion Week 2010 Spring/Summer, which kicked off in Beijing last week.
Seong, a graduate of Parsons The New School for Design in New York, has earned recognition in China and she is the only foreign member of the China Fashion Designers Association. The friendly ties between Seong and the relatively closed Chinese fashion circuit have to do with her use of organic fabrics, which also reflects the larger trend toward organic materials at Pret-a-Porter Busan this year.
When Seong launched her own label, Lea Seong, last year after working for companies like Calvin Klein, she decided to start using organic fabrics to set herself apart from other high-end women’s wear lines and to keep in step with the global trend toward eco-friendly products. She works with fabrics made of bamboo, beans and charcoal, but her specialty is fabrics made of milk.
“Unlike other organic fabrics, milk fabrics are very practical and versatile. I have made chiffon, jersey and sweaters with it.”
She has partnered with a Chinese company that makes and exports milk fabrics mainly to Norway, Italy and France. The company has supplied milk fabrics for use in bed spreads, blankets and furniture, but only rarely for a trendy women’s wear brand. Seong will also launch a children’s wear line that uses organic fabrics in December.
Pret-a-Porter Busan takes place from next Thursday to Saturday at Bexco in Busan. Lea Seong’s collection will be featured on Friday. For more information, visit http://papbusan.com/.
By Kim Hyung-eun [hkim@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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