Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Designers Shin Kyu-yong, left and Park Ji-sun / Courtesy of Blindness |
By Kang Aa-young
Menswear brand Blindness, the most talked about designer dyad in the local fashion scene, is expected to get a boost for their career as they were chosen by the 2019 Samsung Fashion Design Fund (SFDF), an annual fund set aside for talented emerging Korean designers.
The award, launched in 2005, provides the winners with financial, logistical and managerial assistance to help them prepare collections and promote their brands both on the national and global stage.
Marking its 14th year of support for rising Korean designers, Blindness designers Shin Kyu-yong, Park Ji-sun and London-based label Rejina Pyo's designer Pyo Ji-young were announced as this year's winners of the $100,000 fund, last Tuesday.
As part of the prize for this year's SFDF, the recipients' work will be presented at the BEAKER flagship store in Seoul till Thursday.
Blindness is one of the rare local brands that were praised by global fashion critics for their "exceptional talent and originality."
Now a well-recognized name among fashion insiders, many were wondering where the design pair's inspiration came from. The designers said their brand's unique identity originated from their experience growing up as ordinary citizens in Korea.
Shin Kyu-yong and Park Ji-sun, both born in 1988, were raised in Seoul.
After serving mandatory military service, Shin attended a fashion school in Seoul, while Park had graduated with a furniture design degree from Hongik University in 2011.
In 2013 when he graduated from fashion school, Shin founded the fashion label. After being introduced by a friend in 2015, Park joined him and "Blindness" has since begun to focus more on building today's brand identity.
"The brand name 'blindness' means 'go my way, and never be derailed by anything or anybody," Shin explained in an email interview with the Korea Times.
"We aimed to reflect our Korean cultural background. For instance, my experience while serving in the military also partly inspired us to go for genderless design," Shin said.
All able-bodied Korean men aged between 18 and 35 are required to complete military service. While serving, Shin said he got inspiration as he thought participating in the military is a very masculine experience while it also affects society as a whole.
"We have showcased a genderless theme from 2016 Spring and Summer collection. But we aim to build our brand identity to deliver messages not solely on genderless but also various themes like war and peace, which we focused on with our 2018 Fall and Winter collection," he said.
The brand debuted internationally at London Fashion Week Men's Fall and Winter season 2018, after they were invited to one of the Big 4 runway shows by Dylan Jones, Chair of London Fashion Week Men's.
"I think they (London Fashion Week) came to be interested in us because they were looking for unique and new designs, which I think we partly have," Shin said.
"We want the world to know us as a Korean brand, and we will continuously showcase our work abroad."
