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

News: Ministries, Seoul City Take on Fashion

Who says politics and governance can't be fashionable? In March, the Philippine Consulate in New York featured Filipino designer Dita Sandico-Ong in an eco-themed fashion show. This May, the Korean government has vowed to provide support and projects for the Korean fashion industries. Everywhere around the world, governments are recognizing the value of going chic to promote national identity, heritage and talent. Read on to find out about the South Korea government's plans for the local fashion industry:

from the Korea Herald:

Ministries, Seoul City take on fashion

A view of the trade show “Blueprint” from Asia Fashion Exchange 2010. (Asia Fashion Exchange)

Two government ministries and the Seoul local administration agreed Wednesday to join forces to promote Korea’s fashion industry. 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Knowledge Economy and Seoul Metropolitan Government pledged to cooperate on fashion-related projects under the agreement signed at Seoul Palace Hotel. 

The three governmental organizations will run a Fashion Industry Policy Council to manage projects. The council will have three goals ― promoting star fashion designers, promoting South Korean fashion brands and building a strong infrastructure for the local fashion industry. 

“What I have always heard from fashion insiders was that it would be a big help for the development of the fashion industry if many projects led by the Culture Ministry, Knowledge Ministry and Seoul City were organically connected and combined. It is a bit late, but the three organizations prepared a policy council,” said Kim Jong-yul, head of the Cultural Content Industry Office at the Culture Ministry.

The organizations have launched many projects to promote South Korean fashion designers and fashion brands overseas in recent years. Although the projects were welcomed by fashion insiders, they were also criticized for being inefficient as they often overlapped with each other. 

For example, under the same goal of promoting up-and-coming Korean designers to overseas markets, the Culture Ministry has been running a project named “Concept Korea,” the Knowledge Ministry, “Korean Preview in New York” and Seoul City, “Seoul’s 10 Soul.” They shared similar in content, encompassing a showcase and fashion fair. 

The organizations will keep the names of the separate projects but will search for ways to better link them to one another. 

Meanwhile, Seoul’s 10 Soul, a Seoul City-led fashion project, will hold a promotional event at ion Sky in Singapore on May 20 during Asia Fashion Exchange which will be held from May 13 to 22 at Marina Sands Bay. 

Asia Fashion Exchange is composed of “Audi Fashion Festival” which will host a line of fashion shows featuring famous fashion brands including Missoni and Ungaro; a trade show named “Blueprint’; a fashion design competition titled “Star Creation” and an Asia Fashion Summit featuring 30 fashion experts from all around the world. 

Eight Korean fashion brands ― Alani, Beyond Closet, Doii Paris, Jardin de Chouette, KAAL E.SUKTAE, Steve J & Yoni P, Sue Comma Bonnie, The Studio K ― will be participating in the trade show. 

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldm.com)

Source: Korea Herald

Designer: Mique Yapching

Young Filipino Designer Mike August Yapching or simply ‘Mique’ is one of the twelve finalists and the Philippines’ sole representative to the 2011 Star Creation fashion design competition created and organized by Singapore’s Asia Fashion Exchange and Textile and Fashion Federation. According to Star Creation’s official website, the competition “aims to uncover Asian talents, present them with the opportunity to launch their fashion careers and groom them into tomorrow's top fashion designers”. The twelve finalists will face off on the 11th of May at the Tent@Orchard, Civic Plaza, Ngee An City, Singapore. The three winners will receive a prize of S$10,000 each, get to work with FJ Benjamin and the opportunity to launch a capsule collection in next year's Star Creation. Now, let's get to know more about the Philippines' representative, Mique!

Mique has been recognized as one of Cebu’s top young designers because of his unique structured-yet-feminine style. His work was first featured in a fashion spread in the August 2008 issue of fashion magazine Preview. His fashion does not scream “now” or whisper “classic”, but rather speaks of a style that is edgy but timeless. Here are some of his works:

photo: iluvcebu

photo: Dimple Daya

photo: Hannah Bacalla

Since then, Mique creations have also been featured in the June 2009, September 2009 and February 2010 issues of Mega magazine and the June 2009, October and November 2009 issues of Preview magazine. He was a finalist in the 8th Mega Young Designers Competition in 2009 and is currently also one of the finalists in the 2011 Cebu Young Designers Competition. Fashion lovers from the shores of Cebu and the streets of Manila have already been abuzz because of his work for the past three years, and it’s really heartwarming to see Singaporean fashion lovers recognize his talent, as well as Filipino talent in general.

Good luck Mique!

To view Mique’s collection and vote for him, visit this site.