Ways of Dressing, 2019

27 December — 28 December 2019, Studio Hwayi, Seoul

After World War II and ever since the 90’s, fashion designers have recycled fashion by moulding contemporary tastes with the concept of handing down inheritance and legacies. It is apparent that to this day under the umbrella of ‘fashion’, diverse aesthetics are rapidly expanding and have come to a critical point. In the midst of these times, the ready-to-wear market sensed that a designer’s creativity was no longer useful as a marketing strategy therefore resorted to the ‘Production - Distribution - Sales’ approach, disregarding the origin of the design or ethical working environments. This strategy allowed for a surge of trendy products to be available in-store at a low price feeding the consumer’s needs which has become now what we call ‘Fast Fashion’.

Within the culture of fashion which allows the wearer to have self-expression while following trends, it seems that the wearer has forgotten the fact that before a piece of clothing is to be ‘consumed’, it is a subject to ‘wear’. However, due to fast fashion becoming mainstream and generating criticism for some time, the consumer (or wearer) has been showing the conflict between their stance on ‘consuming’ and ‘wearing’, resulting in a rise in sustainable fashion, the pre-owned and rental market. Boundaries interweaving between fast fashion and slow fashion have allowed these two to coexist.

‘Ways of Dressing’ by SEHIKYO opens all possibilities for the wearer to find their own view and ways on how to dress. It is an alternative response to the rising demand for diversity, sustainability and economic fashion and also poses a question to the fashion industry that relies heavily on the designer’s creativity and innovative manufacturing technology. In this experimental workshop, SEHIKYO proposes various garments as sources to be worn based on the knowledge of the body’s silhouette and materials. The wearer breaks away from following the designer’s intention and participates in an active conversation solely focusing on the garment and how it will be worn. To prevent any preconceptions or clues for the way of wearing each garment, all the garments are without hangers and placed in a state of fluidity. The wearer must accept the situation and feelings of uncertainty and decide on their own individual way to dress. As an observer, SEHIKYO will propose new sources of wearable garments by drawing from the tendencies, accepting each participant’s final look and their ways of dressing.

Text: Seohee Kim
Proofreading: Haeun Kim
English translation: Helen Chang