Beyond borders: Understanding the intricate cultural sensibilities of Seoul’s 10 Soul designers

Whilst September may feel like a lifetime ago in the context of 2020, it’s only been a few short months since Voo Store announced their highly-anticipated 10 Soul Project collaboration with the Seoul Design Foundation. The 10 Soul Project rounds up a highlight reel of some of the most exciting, emerging designers that the land of the morning calm has to offer. Berliners were given the opportunity to explore physical and digital pop-up stores stocked with designs from the likes of SEOKWOON YOON, the STOLEN GARMENT, Münn and YOUSER. As their global popularity ascends, we spoke to several designers from the 10 Soul project to gain a deeper insight into their endeavours.

When looking to gain an international platform, brands that have ties to Seoul, have a conscious decision to make—do they wish to distance themselves from, or operate under the conceptual idea of being a “K-Fashion” label?

Seokwoon Yoon launched his namesake label in 2017 from New York City, but notes how his garments possess a distinctly “personal attitude” that tethers the brand to its South Korean genesis, serving as a microcosm of the nation’s “cultural etiquette”. For Yoon, K-Fashion is a label that assists in his brand’s storytelling allowing for the creation of a framework that sets a presiding context around the garments he produces. 

Similarly, any preconceived connotations that the label “K-Fashion” holds, isn’t a problem for Jungwoo Park, who runs the STOLEN GARMENT. Park explains that he largely prefers circumventing the construct of the “K-Fashion” label by focusing on establishing elemental differentiation in his menswear. For him, crafting a recognisable signature takes precedence over feeling “awkward or burdened to classify the STOLEN GARMENT as a K-Fashion label”.

However, as with all labels, there are sub-texts which exist and in the case of K-Fashion, rooted in national boundaries which are accompanied by a set of expectations. Whilst a brand like Seokwoon Yoon might incorporate this into the narrative of its creative output, the expectations associated with borders can feel limiting for other designers.

Münn’s Artistic and Creative director, Hyun-min Han, was keen to assert that his brand operates in an unequivocally global context. To regard his label as K-Fashion, mitigates the work done in Münn’s Shanghai showroom and the brand’s Milan-based marketing team. “I think that the brand’s identity alone, should be able to make the brand popular in the global market”, Han says, suggesting that applying the blanket categorisation of “K-Fashion” carries an implicit undertone that there is a lack of individual expressive nuance.

As such, the present configuration of the globalised fashion industry’s landscape determines that as a designer progresses, their growth is accompanied by tough dilemmas that will challenge the perceived authenticity of their brand. Consideration must be paid to what degree they can alter their design language to resonate with a broader audience.

Jungwoo Park explains that it becomes increasingly difficult to “take into account [things like] the weather in Korea” and other localised design details when catering to an international customer base—the points of reference your audience has are inclined to be too widely skewed. Catering to a global audience can lead to design homogenisation, but Park acknowledges that some see a collective benefit in this, as “belief in the quality of fashion products made in South Korea” also stands to grow.

The experience of navigating the divide between art and commerce is a largely ubiquitous experience for fashion designers. Naturally, you are at the mercy of the formula whereby, the more brand awareness you command, the greater customer base you have and the greater your ability to produce future collections. However, whilst this predicament is problematic for many, Seokwoon Yoon relishes the challenge of creating within constraints, ultimately bringing him closer to finding a sweet spot between business and artistic freedom.

It is understandable that in order to navigate such a divide, replicating K-Pop’s blueprint for success might be an avenue worth pursuing given its astronomical international popularity. However, YOUSER’s creative director Lee Mooyeol explains why this would represent an ideal rather than a practical path to follow: “K-Pop stars have their own support systems that can assist them, so they can focus solely on their creative artistic activities”. Mooyeol expands that it is certainly not a question of talent, but more how business savvy one can be. He believes that mirroring the impact that K-Pop has had rather than attempting to follow their model should be the goal, ultimately aligning pop stars and fashion designers “shoulder-to-shoulder” with each other.

Explore this year’s 10 SOUL designers below:

Learn more about the 10 Soul Project and pick up a limited edition t-shirt celebrating the collaboration at Voo Store.