News: HyunA's New Baby: HyunAXSPICYCOLOR

4minute's HyunA will be launching her own fashion brand, called HyunAXSPICYCOLOR. The brand's design concepts are 'retro, chic and sexy' and highly inspired by the fashion of the 1950s and the 1960s. HyunA is involved in all aspects of the brand, from conceptualization, clothing design to the photo shoots.

She stated, "Although as an artist I did show a lot of sexy concepts, for this brand which will be launching at the end of March, I worked very hard to delivers styles that are not only sexy, but also fashionable and stylish. For this spring, if you own a single item mixed with lace, anyone can easily complete a trendy look.” 

Let's all watch out for this and wish HyunA best of luck! Also hopefully she puts up an online store so foreign fans can also enjoy wearing her fashion.

Photo and News Source: 4minuteAUSTRALIA

K-Pop: Hwang Woo Seul Hye (황우슬혜) Criticized for wearing "Bathrobe Dress"

Actress Hwang Woo Seul Hye's dress (황우슬혜) worn during the premiere of her film, "White - The Cursed Melody" (화이트:저주의 멜로디) has garnered attention as it has been criticized as "humiliating bathroom style fashion". Hwang Woo Seul Ye wore a pink wrap dress with a thick ribbon that closely resembled a bathrobe. She explained her style choice in an episode of MBC FM4U's show, "Blue Night, This is Jeong Yeop" (푸른 밤 정엽입니다), by defending Kodi, the dress' designer - "We want to challenge fashion and revert back to those times when artistes could choose their clothes", reflecting the importance and nobility of fashion. 

"White - The Cursed Melody" will be in theaters, 9 June 2011.

Source: style M
Paraphrased Translation: Aisa de la Cruz
Photo: Bloomberg Photo Gallery

Personally, I like what she wore! It does look like a bathrobe, but it's still cute. Thumbs up for Woo Seul Hye's style bravery!

Designers: Seoul 10 Soul at Blueprint 2011 in Singapore

Ten of the hottest rising South Korean fashion designers come together for "Seoul 10 Soul", a fashion project by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in partnership with the Seoul Business Agency. The designers were handpicked by five local judges and ten foreign judges among the 37 designers who participated in this year's Seoul Fashion Week.

The lucky 10 Korean Fashion Souls: standing left to right: Choi Bum Suk [최범석] (General Idea [제너널아이디어]), Kim Jae Hyun [김재현] (Jardin de chouette [쟈댕드슈에뜨]),  Lee Seung Hee [이승희] (Leyii [르이]),  Lee Suk Tae [이석태] (Kaal E. Suktae [칼이석태]), Lee Jae Hwan [이재환] (jaehwan*lee paris [재환이파리]) and Sheen Je Hee [신재희] (Jehee Sheen [재희신]) sitting left to right: Kim Jae Hwan [김재환] (ALANI [알라니]), Steve Jung and Yoni Pai [정혁서& 배승연 ] (Steve J and Yoni P [스티브제이요니피]), Ko Tae Yong [고태용] (Beyond Closet [비욘드클로젯]) and Kim Sun Ho [김선호] (Ground Wave [그라운드웨이브]).

The ten designers are set to promote South Korean fashion by touring around the world and showcasing their collections in top fashion hubs around the world such as London, New York and Paris. Last 20 May 2011, the designers participated in Blueprint 2011 as part of the 2011 Asia Fashion Exchange held last 13 - 22 May at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Here are their collections as reported by Singapore's Razor TV:

After doing promotional activities overseas for a year, one among the ten will be chosen as the "Star Designer", will recieve government support, take part in the 2012 Paris Collection and build a showroom there. To view more of their collections, visit the official Seoul 10 Soul website and the designers' websites indicated below. You can also interact with the designers themselves via social media.

With that, I wish all the designers luck as they help Asian designers break fashion barriers beginning this year - and hopefully, beyond!

Seoul 10 Soul Official Website

최범석 Choi Bum Suk's General Idea

고태용 Ko Tae Yong's Beyond Closet/Twitter

김재현 Kim Jae Hyun's jardin de chouette

김선호 Kim Sun Ho's Groundwave

김재환 Kim Jae Hwan's ALANI

이승희 Lee Seung Hee's Leyii

이석태 Lee Suk Tae's KAAL E. SUKTAE

스티브&요니 Steve J. and Yoni P.

Source: Korea Times

Videos: Straits Times Razor TV 1, 2

Designer: Kim Jeong Ju

How does one continuously create beauty for beauties? The Chosun Ilbo takes a peek into the life of jewelry designer Kim Jeong Ju who also has been designing the crown for Miss Korea for the past four years.

From the Chosun Ilbo:

Miss Korea Crown Designer's Fairytale Life

Jewelry designer Kim Jeong-ju creates beauty. She tries to keep an open mind at all times to get inspiration from everything that exists in the world. Her works are regularly seen in TV dramas, films and at award ceremonies and worn by the winner of the Miss Korea beauty pageant.

After majoring in bio-ecology at Kangwon National University, Kim went to Australia. "I'd told everyone in the department that I was going to be a famous designer," she says. "I studied gemology at the Sydney branch of the Gemological Institute of America, and then jewelry design later. I really worked hard doing various jobs at once to fund my tuition. But I didn't mind at all because I was going to be a successful designer one day. I thought about only one thing -- achieving my dream."  

She thinks she has a charmed life because she has been getting closer to her dream step by step. "After I returned to Korea, I was very busy with marriage, having two babies and raising them," she recalls. "I still worked as a freelance jewelry designer, and my works received good reviews." 

When her husband's business took a downturn, she started her own business, Mucha, in the jewelry shops quarter in Jongno to help the family finances. "I got off to a successful start with lots of customers from day one." she says. Words of mouth spread, and she began to get recognition. There were queues in front of her shop to see her jewelry. "I started dreaming of setting up company headquarters in Cheongdam-dong. And miraculously I realized the dream." In 2007 she settled in the upscale district, home to many world-famous luxury brands. 

Her customers include wealthy foreigners as well. One Arab customer bought a very expensive tiara, and she says it is because he comes from a culture that believes that a tiara in the family will make everything well. Kim has designed the tiara for the winner of the Miss Korea beauty pageant for the last four years, and also participated as a judge in regional preliminaries in Seoul. 

She also sponsors various TV dramas and films, so she has met many celebrities and advised them on jewelry. She plans to publish a book based on her experience.

Kim also hopes to grow her company into a world-class brand. "I would like to make jewelry that can introduce Korea's beauty to the world, perhaps using Hangeul motifs," she says. "I'm going to keep working hard to create beautiful work that has never been seen in the world."

Source: Chosun Ilbo

You can browse for her works via the online site of her brand, Mucha.

Designer: Yeojin Bae

Korean-born Australian designer Yeojin Bae recently unveiled her first Spring/Summer collection at the prestigious Rosemount Australia S/S 2011 Fashion Week held last 5 May 2011 at the Cargo Theatre in Sydney. Yeojin’s debut collection was inspired by lingerie and used light and flowy silk fabrics in shades of red, blush, peach and some cobalt.  Bae describes her collection in three words: feminine, polished and effortless. Bae’s collection is as pretty as it is wearable. 

Yeojin Bae’s career has long been established prior to her debut on the RAFW runway. At 15 years old, she was the youngest student to enter the Whitehouse Institute of Design. Later on, Yeojin worked as senior designer for Australian brands Charlie Brown and SABA, and took on internships in New York with Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui. In 2006, Yeojin opened her label which garnered the attention of retail giant Barney’s, which then bought Yeojin’s collection immediately. At present, her collections are available in Barney’s and Henri Bendel in the United States, Matches in London, Sace and Harvey Nichols in Dubai and Myer in Australia. In 2007, Yeojin designed a capsule collection for Target Australia.

Her career has not gone unnoticed as in 2007, she received the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Designer Award from Tiffany and Co., and in 2009 was nominated for the Prix de Marie Claire Designer of the Year Award.

With her sleek, sophisticated and feminine line of clothing garnering much attention in key fashion capitals around the world, there is no doubt that Yeojin Bae will achieve more global success in the coming years.

Yeojin Bae 짱!

Visit her site to view more pieces from her collections.

Sources: AsianFashion, YeojinBae, Wikipedia
Photos: SMH, Fashionising

Event: 2011 Fashion Asia Awards

Veejay Floresca of the Philippines and Oh Sun Sik and Sarah Shim of South Korea recently won in the 2011 Fashion Asia Awards held last 25 April 2011 in Dalian in the Liaoning Province of Northeast China. Veejay Floresca won the Asian Top Fashion Upcoming Designer Award while Sarah Shim won the Asian Top Fashion Designer of the Year Award (Pret-a-Porter Category). Oh Sun Sik won the Asian Top Fashion Hairstylist of the Year Award.

Veejay Floresca

Oh Sun Sik

Sarah Shim

The Philippines was nominated in three other fashion categories including Asian Top Fashion Stylist of the Year (Pam Quiñones), Asian Top Fashion Photographer of the Year (Mark Nicdao) and Asian Top Fashion Designer of the Year – Haute Couture Category (Frederick Peralta). South Korea was also nominated in  nine of the categories including Asian Top Fashion Anchor of the Year (Chon Hyui Won), Asian Top Fashion Make-up Artist of the Year (Lee Su Mi), Asian Top Fashion Photographer of the Year (Cho Sei Hon), Asian Top Fashion Designer of the Year – Haute Couture Category (MAG and LOGAN or Kang Na Young and Kang Min Jo), Asian Top Fashion Upcoming Designer (Ran Ji Ye), Asian Top Creative Design of the Year (Park Su Kyung), Asian Top Fashion Model of the Year (Young Kim), Asian Top Fashion Artiste of the Year (Kim Min Ji) and Asian Top Fashionable Selling Brand of the Year (Elcanto).

To all the nominees and winners, congratulations! You made both of your countries very proud!

Photos: Fashion Asia and News