A NEW SPACE AROUND THE BODY featuring the works of 8 Korean Fashion Designers receives the British Council and British Fashion Council’s the International Fashion Showcase Emerging Talent Awards 2012 for the best project

"An inspiring showcase which highlights the diverse range of emerging talent from Korea set in a culturally immersive exhibition space. The Korean Cultural Centre has set a high standard for the inaugural International Fashion Showcase." Alison Moloney, the British Council

On Sunday 19 February “A NEW SPACE AROUND THE BODY: Emerging Korean Fashion Designers” at the Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) were presented with the International Fashion Showcase ‘Emerging Talent Awards 2012’ by the British Council and British Fashion Council. This, the highest award presented by the International Fashion Showcase reveals the great steps Korean designers have taken in recent years. Yonggi Won, Director of the KCCUK explained, ‘We are so very honoured to see the exhibition and the Korean designers take this prestigious award as Korean Fashion is an important part of the Korean Wave that is spreading across the globe. We are fortunate to have such a strong pool of talent to draw on as we have many talented young designers coming out of Korea now’.  

The award was judged by an industry of panel of experts from the business and cultural sectors of the fashion industry including: Sarah Mower MBE (BFC Ambassador for Emerging Talent, Vogue US), Alison Moloney (The British Council), Anna Orsini (The British Fashion Council), Claire Catterall (Somerset House), Donna Loveday (Design Museum), Jess Cartner-Morley (The Guardian), Maria Lemos (Rainbowwave), Oriole Cullen (Victoria and Albert Museum), Penny Martin (Gentle Woman), Susanne Tide Frater (Brand Consultant) and Wendy Dagworthy (Royal College of Art).

A NEW SPACE AROUND THE BODY has proved incredibly popular with the judges, guests and fellow designers. When discussing the exhibition, Penny Martin commented that “Korea’s exhibition for the International Fashion Showcase shows a selection of fantastically strong, eloquent work, which had been presented beautifully and intelligently. It is a very optimistic, creative and exciting show from these emerging designers.”

The International Fashion Showcase is the first project that the British Council and the British Fashion Council have collaborated on, this new showcase is part of the Fashion 2012 Cultural Programme and has been developed to celebrate the year of the Olympics and Paralympics and honour its values of international respect, excellence, equality and friendship. In total 19 embassies and cultural institutes across London present the work of over 80 international emerging designers who most represent the future of fashion in their region.

The KCCUK’s A NEW SPACE AROUND THE BODY explores the new generation of Korean designers, whose works are characterized by humour, hypothetic worlds and highly sculptural creations, almost appearing as a frame for the body. With an explosion of colour, modern techniques, craft and unexpected fabric combinations, their work can be seen as a reconstruction of the constituted ideal of beauty and non-beauty, both on a visual, intellectual and philosophical level. All the participating designers are from the prestigious fashion departments at Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp, Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion. In a short space of time these designers have already had high profile collaboration such as Lady Gaga and featured in Vogue, ELLE, Dazed and Confused, ID magazine. Letting the contemporary garments resonate with the past, natural materials are used to form the backdrop of this exhibition with installation that are visually reminiscent of the aesthetics of traditional Korean doors, white cotton, hanji paper and the totem pole.

Through this award, we very much hope to see Korea’s talented fashion designers breaking through on to the world stage. In Asia, Korean fashion has been leading the creative charge for some time now and the KCCUK looks forward to assisting young Korean fashion designers in the future as they aim to make a name for themselves across the globe.

A NEW SPACE AROUND THE BODY can be seen at the KCCUK until the 28th February 2012 and features the winning designs by these highly talented, emerging Korean fashion designers: Ara Jo, Juhee Han, Kathleen Kye, Minky Jaemin Ha, Minju Kim, Laykuni, Yoolhee Ko and Yeashin Kim. Curated by Ji Hye Hong (KCCUK) and Sofia Hedman (independent fashion curator).  

 <3rd, from left to right_ Curator, Ji Hye Hong (KCCUK) and Sofia Hedman (independent fashion curator), Designer, Juhee Han and Yeashin Kim>