In the world of fashion, the intertwining of traditional garments with contemporary designs is nothing new. There's something else that's not new - the bizarre correspondences and unexpected parallelisms that can be found between recent collections and styles from just a few seasons ago. Take the recent Gucci Cruise 2024 collection, showcased at the Gyeongbokgung, the former royal palace, in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Gucci is the third luxury brand after Louis Vuitton and Dior to stage a runway show in South Korea. This move acknowledges the rising affluence and cultural influence of the South Korean market, paying tribute to the popularity of K-pop, Korean dramas, and beauty products within the global fashion landscape.
Traditions provided some of the inspirations behind the designs on the runway: a hanbok, a symbol od Korean heritage, took on a rebellious twist as it transformed into a floor-length bomber.
The delicate strings known as goreum, typically adorning the jeogori (the hanbok's upper garment), were repurposed instead as decorative elements, forming bows that embellished both outerwear and T-shirts.
Amidst this creative exploration, the heart of the collection remained firmly fixed on Seoul's dynamic youth and subcultures. Street styles and local youth served as catalysts for the cyber goth references seen in the nylon duster coats, accessorised with thick-soled boots.
Among the other notable accessories there were leather gloves that looked like archer's gloves, but that provided protection to five fingers rather than just three.
Parachute skirts and scuba-inspired ensembles such as neoprene suits sometimes worn beneath ruffled pale pink chiffon dresses, paid homage not only to the wetsuits of windsurfers and jet-skiers on the Han River, but also to the haenyeo, South Korean female divers renowned for their pearl hunting skills on Jeju Island.
Infusing a touch of artistic creativity, South Korean digital artist Ram Han contributed lively prints depicting jelly cakes and a cat's paw touching a butterfly. As a whole the collection was therefore a mix of trendiness and youthful vibrancy.
Yet, the flat bows that adorned the tops and coats couldn't help but draw connections to Prada's Spring/Summer 2013 footwear. That particular Prada collection showcased a modernist/Pop Art interpretation of the kimono, and included mini-dresses and blouses complemented by tabi socks in bright red or metallic shades.
The tabi leather socks were paired with towering futuristic zori-style footwear, decorated with a flat bow - a sci-fi take on Japonisme, one might say.
If you still have those Prada shoes tucked away, dust them off as some of the ensembles in this Gucci collection would perfectly match with them. It's as if these items were destined to be together like long-lost soulmates that, after a decade or so, found each other in sync in the whimsical world of high fashion.
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