Man-about-Seoul Lie Sang Bong is an expert cross-industry collaborator and reigning Korean design king. Designing for nearly 20 years, he’s an established commercial fashion entity. Contradictory to the expectation of the hoped-for “commercially viable and wearable clothing”, the most successful pieces in his SS15 Ready to Wear collection are those that push the proverbial envelope the most. As in collections past, Lie Sang Bong has a knack for keeping voluminous structure ethereal. That architecture kept the butterflies and floral details gracing his designs from feeling like a springtime cliché.
Perhaps the structure is grounded in his homeland’s hanbok, vice the French imperials he cites as continual inspiration. If so, we could not fault him for it. Those layered coats and dresses are infinitely more intriguing than the simple butterfly tunic or the white lace suit we can picture on any socialite or “lady who lunches”. Perhaps, though, those pieces will sell well at the new flagship opening at 30 Gansevort Street in New York.
Those butterflies though? When printed across full dresses, they may feel like a tongue-in-cheek bit of pop art on their blue sky background, but we’re fairly certain Empress Josephine would have had dozens floating through the rose gardens she so loved.
by Alison Santighian
Images courtesy LIE SANGBONG