The portico rooms at Somerset house last Friday were filled with the flurry of balaika strings as we were ushered in to the London Fashion Week presentation of designer Eudon Choi, accompanied by a live Klezmer band, She’Koyokh, cantering through a frenetic gypsy melody.
It was quickly apparent that the collection was inspired by Eastern-European folk traditions; Choi sent out an array of baby-babushkas in block-tones of cerulean blue, cream and charcoal, accentuated by flashes of pop-pastels and lush scarlet and adorned with florid head-shawls (a collaboration with Piers Atkinson) and fur pop-pomed heels.
The collection was titled “Varykino” after the ice palace in which Yuri and Lara succumb to their long suppressed lust for one another in David Lean’s 1965 epic Dr Zhivago – Choi’s main cinematic touchstone for the season. Varykino was a departure from the expanse of ice greys and soft fur tones depicted in the film, choosing instead to explore a blossoming eastern femininity; baroque but modernised by cool tones and plush candy shades. A marriage of romantic, Sarafan-inspired trapeze skirts and billowed blouses with structural leather jackets and wide-leg trousers was complimented by Russian filigree in Swarovski crystals, honeycomb knits and jacquards of chiffon and organza.
So much variation in one 25-look collection might flail in less-confident hands, but Eudon Choi wields a deft cut and cites intense fabric research as crucial to his practise. Born in Korea and originally trained as a menswear designer in Seoul, Choi came to London to study at the Royal College of Art (his graduate collection flew out of Dover Street Market onto the backs of hungry buyers) and to start his eponymous womenswear label in 2009 after stints at Twenty8Twelve and All Saints.
His steady rise is bound to be compelling. The signature elegance and bold shapes seen in previous seasons was touched with a new lighter, playful sensibility in Varykino, which continues a train of thought combining an interest in classic British cinema (previous collections were inspired by 2001:A Space Odyssey, Qui-êtes-Vous, Polly Maggoo? and Blow Up, though Choi told Sleek after the show that he didn’t want to focus too much on the 1960s in the future) with strengths in bold tailoring and capricious detail. A marriage we hope will last.
Text by Ella Plevin