Consumption of Heritage challenges the status quo and questions the values of consumers and producers. What are we wearing? What clothes do we make? How and why are we making them? As a Korean fashion designer, I tackle these questions through my own heritage.
Since the 1960’s, industrialisation and modernisation of the Korean fashion industry drove traditional textiles and craft out of its regional place. Due to the diminishing number of local artisans, the few master craftsmen became highly regarded artists. Craft became a fine art, instead of being a part of everyday life. I am interested in bringing back this culture of craft to our consumer society and making it relevant in our modern lifestyle. The clothes in this collection are made from traditional Korean Hansan Mosi fabric and Hanji paper. They are designed for specific situations and purposes based on the relationship between the wearer and clothing, consumption and disposability. They also propose alternative methods of production through an analysis of the respective characteristics and qualities of Mosi and Hanji.
Through a layering process of each garment, the combinations and interactions between the two materials create a higher level of appreciation for quality, adaptability and context. It is a dialogue between two principles of Korean craft, ephemerality and harmony. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, revealing a latent dimensionality in the clothing’s form and function. Consumption of Heritage is an invitation to reflect on the current state of fashion and to imagine solutions for sustainable craft. By taking inspiration from Korean heritage, it proposes a new paradigm in production and consumption. Just as Mosi and Hanji represent the cycle of ephemerality, fashion is a material cycle of use and reuse that passes on tradition to a new generation.