Designers created different images of a smart, city woman for the 2013 spring and summer season at Seoul Fashion Week last week. To represent a confident urban attitude, they took a structural and practical approach, adding color and soft details to prevent the urban looks from becoming either too strong or pedestrian.

Inspired by vintage playing cards, Andy & Debb applied illustrations of the king, queen, jack, joker and ace of hearts to blouses, pant suits, jump suits and long dresses. A broad color spectrum was used, from black and white to crimson red.

As most of the designers opted to be cautious in using their palettes, those who used color and bold prints stood out. 

Lie Sang Bong presented the collection he initially debuted at Paris Fashion Week, themed with colorful butterflies. He created fantastical images using soft colors and butterfly prints shown on trench coats and dresses, but also created confident and powerful women using houndstooth prints in neon and vivid reds presented on a peplum jacket matched with a streamlined skirt.

Many designers hinted that the “it” color for the next season would be white as they chose it as their main palette. But to add diversity, they added details with prints and different fabrics such as lace and soft leather.

KAAL E. SUKTAE, inspired by “90s street fashion,” applied a contemporary vibe to a structural white dress, pants and blouses with see-through mix and quilting detail accented with Korean folk motifs and tattoo print patterns. The designer Lee Suk-tae recommended pairing whites with colorful accessories.

White was used to create the image of a girl in a beach town in love in Steve J & Yoni P’s collection.

“We found our inspiration in surfing and beaches and combined softness and structures to create the freewheeling, yet pure looks. The white cotton dress with square-shaped spangle appliqu show the image,” said the couple designers. “We also suggest elevating the whites with spangles and lace next season.”

ENZUVAN delivered calming vibes to the vibrant summer collections, keeping monotone color palettes using mostly black and grey. The black looks were understated, looking comfortable on light jersey fabrics.

As the designer Hong Eun-joo aims to create “wearable and comfortable clothes,” sporty jersey leggings and T-shirts and long draped cardigans delivered both comfort and lightness.

DEMOO PARKCHOONMOO applied traditional comfortable Korean silhouettes to pants and tops, which were mostly in black. The designer presented hanbok-style wide pants, tube top-style dresses accentuated by Korean traditional socks and beoseon-like flat shoes.

The 2013 collections also embraced sporty looks presented in light fabrics and colors. Inspired by boxing, Kiok delivered boxer-inspired oversized dresses, jumpers, sweat shirts and box shorts with typographic letters such as REALLY, XOXO written on each piece.

Paul & Alice presented a wearable, yet dreamy collection with wide pants and mermaid skirts in PVC and see-through fabrics of various colors, including fresh mint and orange pastel colors.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)