Son Jung Wan Spring 2015: Yin and yang

After charming consumers and audiences in both her native South Korea and at New York Fashion Week, where she has been showing for the past eight seasons, designer Son Jung Wan has her eyes set on a new luxury market: China. Her Spring 2015 runway show was among those that closed China Fashion Week in Beijing last November, and she has more to come. “My brand will be launching in Chinese department [stores] soon,” the designer revealed during a backstage interview with Meniscus Magazine.

A dazzling display backstage before the Son Jung Wan Spring 2015 runway show in New York. (photo by Angela K. Hom / Meniscus Magazine)

Before Son’s debut in China, however, she showed her men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections at Lincoln Center. In a departure from her usual high-society style, her Spring 2015 offering reimagined elegance through an airy and carefree lens. Pieces made from chiffon, cotton canvas and linen in rich jewel tones were shown in the first half of her runway show, followed by a series of innocent white and beige looks. With regards to this stark contrast, Son explained that she wanted to explore “the harmony between contrasting elements such as minimalism and maximalism, softness and hardness, and masculine and feminine.”

“I mixed oriental softness with western minimalism and used a lot of textured fabrics and soft silhouettes in dresses to express dualism – yin and yang,” she added.

This idea of opposing elements followed through in other details of the clothing as well – unfinished hems gave an organic feel to otherwise refined silhouettes, and sudden slashes of hard metallic gold accentuated curvature and movement in dresses, skirts and even a deep purple jumpsuit. A cream raw-edged chiffon and canvas shift dress looked like a dash of meringue, while earlier in the show, its more structured but no less feminine counterpart swished down the runway in Danube blue.

Son’s menswear designs continue to evolve with this collection. Body-conscious shirts and simply-cut shorts incorporated aspects of the contrasting details seen in the womenswear to literally embody the dichotomy that she was influenced by this season.

Audio Slideshow: Interview with Son Jung Wan – New York Fashion Week
interview and photos by Angela K. Hom / Meniscus Magazine