Where to wear a watch? You’d be surprised

To be fashionable, the thinner the better, or so some say.
Swatch Group has a line of plastic wristwatches so thin and light that the name of the line is “Skin.” Just 3.9 millimeters (0.15 inches) thick and weighing 120 grams (4.2 ounces), they made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the thinnest watches in the world.
Since the line’s introduction in 1999, every year about 80 new designs have been added in semi-annual collections.
The work of celebrated artists, such as Paik Nam-june, Vivienne Westwood and Keith Haring, has been used in these models, making collector’s items out of several limited editions.
A promotional event to introduce Swatch Skin’s 2003 fall and winter collection was held on a recent Tuesday afternoon in trendy Club Mars in southern Seoul. Six local designers and a makeup artist presented fashion concepts inspired by the Swiss brand.
Models wore watches as earrings, necklaces and bracelets, and presented various outfits ― a shirt, a dress, a pair of boots ― cleverly decorated with them. The Korean makeup artist Kim Chung-kyung presented makeup and hair trends for the coming holiday season.
A bra-top made from Skin watches and rhinestone bands, a Pop Art-inspired minidress with watches as shoulder straps and an elegant evening gown adorned with gleaming watch faces were both entertaining and attractive.
The latest Skin collection includes models called “Sweet Sarong,” “Golden City” and “Jardin d’Orient,” showing a strong oriental influence; they are rich, ethnic and colorful, using natural motifs while incorporating innovative materials that combine fabric and plastic. “Golden City,” inspired by Indian jewelry, has a band that’s a metallic chain of trinkets and looks less like a watch than a bracelet.
In 2001, limited-edition Swatches designed by celebrities were auctioned off in a fundraising event for “God’s Love We Deliver,” a charity for AIDS sufferers.
A Swatch Korea representative said the six outfits specially made for the promotional event would be made available for local charity auctions.

by Ines Cho