모든 사진을 클릭하시면 크게 확대됩니다.
Click on any image to view at high-resolution.

Ye Ranji’s “The Centaur” (site)

Frida Kahlo’s
“Autorretrato con Collar de Espinas y Colibrí”
(”Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird”)
Source: Wikipedia

예란지의 데뷔는 완전히 성공적이었어요. 주로 스트릿 포토를 찍는 제게는 이 분의 강렬한 디자인이나 쇼 뿐만이 아니라 아주 히피 적이면서도 현실적인, 그리고 스마트함이 매력으로 다가왔어요. 동아시아, 댄스홀, 힙합음악들이 모두 혼합된 퓨전 쇼로서 엄숙하면서도 전설 같은 느낌을 받을 수 있었어요. 하지만, 제 평가는 예란지 디자이너의 쇼를 평가하기엔 부족한 느낌이 들어요. 이 디자이너는 DazedDigital.com에서 요번 서울 패션위크를 통틀어 가장 잘 된 6개의 쇼였다는 평가를 받았답니다:

프리다 칼로에 영감을 받은 한국 디자이너 예란지는 부드러운 라인과 풍부한 색감을 살린 새로운 브랜드 ‘The Centaur(그리스 신화에 나오는 반인반마, 켄타루스)’를 통해 칼로의 초현실주의의 특성을 잘 살렸다. 그녀의 디자인은 강렬했고, 강한 색감을 가진, 평상복으로도 입을 수 있는 스타일이었다. 칼로와 같이 예란지는 남성과 여성의 특징들을 아주 교묘히 결합했다. 그녀의 모델들은 ‘드 빌 화수목’이라는 장소에서 주름진 큰 사이즈의 바지와, 남성용 사이즈의 정장 자켓, 그리고 꽃무늬 룸퍼스와 하늘거리는 실크 소재의 점프수트를 입고 워킹했다. 예란지의 컬렉션은 “나는 진심으로 내 그림들이 초현실주의적인지 모르겠다. 하지만, 나는 내 작품들이 내 자신을 솔직하게 표현하고 있는 것을 안다.”라고 말한 프리다 칼로와 같은 여성에게 잘 어울리는 작품을 선보였다.

Ye Ranji’s debut show was an absolute grand slam, out of the park. As a photographer, primarily from the street, I was taken in by not only the stark look of the show itself and its designs, but the presentation and style that seemed very hip, very down-to-earth, and very, very smart. The show, down to the fusion East Asian/dance hall/hip-hop music mix, was simply chock full of attitude, gravitas, and fabulosity. But mine is an amateur’s review, so don’t take it from me. In a rather harsh review of this season’s Seoul Fashion Week In fact, Ye Ranji was one of only 6 designers who met DazedDigital.com’s muster:

Inspired by Frida Kahlo, Korean designer Ye Ranji´s gentle lines and rich hues for her new label, ‘The Centaur,’ cleverly skimmed the cream off Karlo´s surrealism to create a strong, assertive, wearable style. Like Karlo, Ye Ranji gracefully combined masculine and feminine signifiers. Her models walked through the intimate De Vill Whoa-Su-Mok off-site space in oversized pleated trousers and bulky man-sized suit jackets paired with silk, floral rombers and flowing slinky silk jumpsuits. Ye Ranji´s collection has a clear-eyed elegance befitting a woman like Kahlo, who famously stated “Really I do not know whether my paintings are surrealist or not, but I do know that they are the frankest expression of myself.”

축하드립니다! 그런 대단한 쇼를 했는데 좀 경축해야죠? 밑에는 디자이너, 모델, 그리고 친구들이 다 노는 모습!

Congratulations! After a show like that, a bit of celebration is in order, no? Relaxing with the designer, models, and the glitterati friends.

그리고 한국의 최선하고 최고 온라인 패션잡지가 누구죠? 어디죠? 바로 여기잖아!

And always remember where you can find the first and best online magazine covering Korean fashion…right HERE, baby!

여기는 THE CENTAUR의 웹사이트이고 그리고 매장정보는:

예란지: 011-9809-4906
신수진: 010-5604-6504
주소: 서울시 용산구 한남동 683-60번지 1층 THE CENTAUR

Here is the official web site for ordering from THE CENTAUR:

Ye Ranji: 011-9809-4906
Shin Sujin: 010-5604-6504
Location: The Centaur, 1st floor, Yongsan-gu, Hannam-dong 683-60, Seoul, Korea.

Photographer’s note:

Hwasoomock (화수목) is a great place. But they (or the designers) need to pay more attention to the lighting for the photographers’ sake. The night’s shows started off OK, and this photographer was told that the color temperature for the show would be 5600K. Still, there was no white balance check and we had to beg for the smoke machine (placed right next to the photo line) to be turned off. The lighting for the first show was mostly OK, but as the second one started, there were green and blue fill lights all over the place, and the color temperatures changed with each step the models took forward on the runway. I had the white balance at manual at 5600K already (the spotlight WAS the proper color temperature, but was wandering around like mad) and I had the choice to either adjust on the fly and miss outfits or just keep shooting. So I kept shooting.

화수목에서 쇼를 한건 참 좋았으나 사진작가들에게도 좋은 사진들을 찍을수 있는 환경을 만들어주지 않는게 아쉬운 점이었다. 쇼초기엔 다 괜찮은듯 싶었으나 어떤 사진작가는 색상 온도를 5600k로 해놓으라는 얘길 들었지만 화이트 밸런스 확인도 없어서 안개 뿜는 기계를 꺼달라고 간절히 부탁해야 될정도였다. 첫번째쇼에 조명은 그다지 나쁘진 않았으나 두번째 쇼가 시작될 무렵에 초록이랑 푸른색들로 채워졌고 모델들이 지나갈때마다 색상온도도 변했다. 다행이도 나는 매뉴얼로 5600k로 돼있었기 때문에 촬영을 그나마 괜찮게 할 수는 있었지만 스포트라이트가 계속 움직이는 바람에 촬영하기가 힘들었다.

As a note to the designers — who otherwise had GREAT clothes — please give the photographers at least a chance to see the lighting of the show or let them know that some crazy lighting changes are going to happen between shows. We want to take good pictures as much as you want to get them. So help us out! Green and blue fill lights coming in with no warning may be good for effect, but WARN your photographers, or walk a model down the runway real quick with a white card before the show starts! There was more than enough time to do this — just a little forethought can result in a lot better pictures! Thanks!

디자이너들에게 하고 싶은 말이 있다면 옷은 좋았으나 사진작가들에게도 적당한 조명을 준비해줘야지만 좋은 사진들을 찍을수 있다. 아님 사전에 미리 조명이 다를수 있다는 얘기를 해주면서 모델들이 리허설 할때 화이트카드를 들고 런웨이를 걸어도 좋다. 어려운 부탁도 아니고 오래 걸리는 과정이 아니기 때문에 철저한 준비를 해주는 바램이 있다.

휴. 이번 서울패션위크는 안좋은 평가 많이 받고 있네요. 사실 우리 팀도 이번에 어려움이 많았고 좀 안타까웠는데 몇 칠 지나가고 보니까 다른 국제 사이트에서도 비판적인 얘기 많이 나오네요. 물론 서울패션위크의 스탭은 노력했지만…일단 가입 과정이 아주 disorganized이었고 헷갈리게 한 거였어요. 우리 Korea Herald 편집장도 열 받아가지고 ‘외국인 언론의 대접’ 뭐 그런 스토리 많이 궁금했대요. 이번 패션위크에 좀 많은 어려움들이 있었기 때문에 어쩔 수 없이 솔직하게 보도하게 됐네요. 특히 어떤 한가지 쇼들을 관리한 기관 때문에 많은 사람들이 뭐라고 한 거네요. 영어로 되어 있는 자료 너무 적게, 늦게 나온 거고요. 외국인 디자이너, 바이어, 언론을 초대 많이 할수록 기본 영어 자료를 제공해야 돼죠. 그리고 쇼를 할 때는 모순 된 말과 규칙도 너무 많았고요. 일단 결과는 좀 안좋았어요. “Fashion Insight”이란 패션전문신문에서도 이런 얘기 나왔고 대표적인 외국 블로그에서도 이런 반응이 많았더라고요. 다음 해부터 많이 좋아지기 바라며 Seoul Fashion Week의 스탭한테 ‘힘 내라’는 말을 전해드리고 싶고요. 전 쇼들이 좋았는데 옛날처럼 다시 될 수 있겠죠?

Where the Hell Am I의 “Seoul Fashion Week, S/S 2009, is kind of blah“이란 글에서 불만 좀 있고 강조한 건 SETEC의 쇼는 좀 흥미스럽지 않다고 전하는 거네요. Daily Projects의 쇼들이 진짜 볼만 하더라고요.

Always in Wonderland의 “Seoul Fashion Week S/S 2009“이란 글에서 어떤 런웬이 사진작가가 불만 많이 했고…

DazedDigital.com의 “Seoul Fashion Week S/S 09“이란 글이세 쇼들에 대한 반응이 좀 안좋았는데 6가지 괜찮은 디자이너 많이 칭찬한 거네요.

StyleCaster.com에는 Daily Projects에 진행한 쇼를 칭찬했는데 많은 SETEC에 있는 메인 쇼들이 좀…그랬대요.

Well, the reactions to this season’s Seoul Fashion Week were not even all that mixed — they were pretty squarely on the negative side. Actually, we had quite a few difficulties that I had little choice but to frankly report on, especially given that my editor at the Korea Herald himself had so much trouble registering press passes and getting me and others taken care of. The problems ranged from extreme disorganization and a confusing registration process to out-and-out rudeness on the part of one of the management agencies responsible for handling many of the shows. The SFW staff did try to help, but it wasn’t enough to stop many people from being extremely frustrated and even angry by the end of a long week of confusing processes, conflicting rules, and a continuous lack of really decent English-language materials for the foreign press. We hope things vastly improve next year, as things were actually much better in previous years. I just hope things can just become that good again.

We have been heavily preparing, shooting, and putting together something pretty big. It has already required a great deal of time and energy, and just one part of our project is finished. As part of testing the waters, obviously, you — our readers — are our most loyal base, but also our most honest critics. So we want you to imagine…

Imagine there was a coffee table-sized photo/art book, one was filled with large, colorful, and provocative pictures, as well as original photo stories, interviews, and essays. Supposed it was thick and had real heft to it, with large pages that folded out to reveal some pictures you’d seen before, and some you hadn’t — on the printed page and detailed in a way that the computer screen doesn’t allow.

Imagine it had fresh, art book-style images of Korean runway and street fashion, a “lookbook” of the major shows at Seoul Fashion Week and other venues, along with street photography, a digest of pictures and stories that appeared on the site over the present season, and even had a sense of humor.

Imagine this heavy art book was quite literally a style diary of the city, of Korean fashion, of a mode of being on the streets of Seoul.

Imagine all of our best style and fashion content, both new and digested, written and shot from a provocative and edgy point-of-view — imagine it was available to put in your hands for $50. Say it was called the “Seoul Fashion Report F/W 2009″ and was literally a “lookbook” for not just that season’s runway fashion, but the styles of the streets, how people moved, trends that came and went, the way people lived. Say it came out once a season (twice a year) and was designed not to be just a magazine that tracks things fleeting, but was a work of art unto itself.

Do you think you, as our reader, would buy one? Would you PayPal us to have it shipped to you? If it were as cool as we swear it will be, would you think Koreans would buy one? Would you buy it if there were certain conditions?

Is this something you think us worth doing?

This is a little marketing research, starting with our home base. Step up and give us a bit of feedback, please!

모든 사진을 클릭하시면 크게 확대됩니다.
Click on any image to view at high-resolution.

밑에 정훈종에 대한 프로필이 서울패션위크의 “Esquisse”이란 홍보팸플릿에서 나온 거예요:

1973년 정훈종 부티크로 시작해 1994년 론칭한 ‘패션스토리 정훈종’의 디자이너 정준홍. 현재 한국패션협회 이사와 대한복식디자이너협회 부회장을 맡고 있는 이번 서울컬렉션에서 ‘윤슬’이라는 테마 아래 모사를새로운 감각으로 재해석해 표현한다.

매장주소 및 전화번호가 이 글 맨 밑에 있어요.

Here is a profile of Jung Hun Jong from the Esquisse pamphlet handed out for Seoul Fashion Week:

Jung Hunjong started his boutique in 1973 and launched himself as a major designer in 1994. He is currently the CEO of the Korean Fashion Association and the Vice Chairman of the Korean Fashion Designers Association. He is presenting in this year’s Seoul Collection under the theme of “Shimmering Water”, where he will introduce his re-interpretation of the ramie fabric.

Stores and phone numbers for purchasing are at the end of this post.

Photos by Ray Chwartkowski

Fashion story Jeong Hun Jong

대전 본사/
대전시 서구 삼천동 1079번지
Daejeon Main store
Seo-gu, Samcheon-dong 1079
Daejeon, Korea
T: 042-488-4920 F:042-488-4919

대전 롯데 백화점
Daejeon Lotte Department Store
T: 042-601-2468

대전 세이 백화점
대전 중구 문화동 1-16
Daejeon Say Department Store
Jung-gu, Munhwa-dong 1-16
Daejeon, Korea
T: 042-257-7746

광주 현대 백화점/
광주 북구 신안동 6-1
Kwangju Lotte Department Store
Buk-gu, Shinan-dong 6-1
Kwangju, Korea
T: 062-510-7432

전주 롯데 백화점/
전라북도 전주시 완산구 서신동
Jeonju Lotte Department Store
Jeolla Buk-do, Wansan-gu, Seoshin-dong
Jeonju, Korea
T: 063-289-3321

대구 동아쇼핑/
대구시 중구 덕산동 동아쇼핑
Daegu Dong-a Shopping
Jung-gu, Deoksan-dong
Daegu, Korea
T: 053-253-3092

“Fabulous Fashionistas” 컬럼에서는 서울의 뛰어난 멋쟁이들을 소개해 드립니다. 여기서 “멋”이란 어떠한 유행을 의미하는 것이나 비싼 명품 아이템을 자랑스럽게 가지고 있는 것을 의미하는 것이 아닙니다. 자기 자신의 패션 스타일을 특별히 잘 보여주는 사람, 창조적인 코디로 눈에 확 띄는 사람, 그런 분들을 이 컬럼에서 만나보실 수 있습니다.

In the Fabulous Fashionistas column, we shoot the most fashionably original people we can find on the streets of Seoul and bring them to you. We don’t choose them because they follow the trends the most closely, nor because they have the most designers labels attached to their bodies, but because they’ve managed to create their own unique style that one can’t simply pass by without wanting to remember.

이번 시즌에 다른 시즌처럼 평일에 출석자들이 많은 편아니었으니 찍을 만한 사람들이 많이 없었던 거예요. 그래도 이 패션에 전공하는 학생이 눈에 띈 거예요. 딱 봤던이 바로 사진에 나오는 자세를 잡고 있었어요. 움직이지 말아줘달라고 했고 찍었어요. 그 다음에 나 누군지 설명해준 거예요.

There weren’t as many people to shoot this year, since the number of attendees for Seoul Fashion Week was way down, but this young fashion design student caught my eye. She was standing in just this pose, talking to her friend. I simply asked her not to move and to let me shoot first, ask questions later.

자연스럽게 톰보이의 룩을 잘 한 거네요. 요즘에 한국에서 이런바 ‘하이패션’룩을 잘들어왔고 서로 카피하고 있는데 이 친구는 진짜 귀엽고 오리지널한 편이녜요. 진짜 남자스러운 머리컷, 자켓, 반바지, 그리고 부츠. 너무 일부러 ‘구여움’을 표현하려고 하는 것도아니고 그냥 자연스럽게 그 룩을 만든 것같더라고요. 우산까지도. 너.무.좋.았.어. ㅋㅋ

She does the boyish look without looking too cutesy, or being coy about it, but has a more boyish haircut, a full-on bow tie, a more mannish jacket cut, straight-cut shorts, and boots. I. Love. It. It’s androgyny done right.