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Seoul burgeons as epicenter of cool for luxury brands

Seoul burgeons as epicenter of cool for luxury brands

Karl Lagerfeld, right, Chanel's head designer and creative director, walks down the runway of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul on May 4. Provided by each brand

Louis Vuitton is just one of a proliferating number of prominent fashion houses bringing some of their latest projects to Seoul.

Prior to the French brand opening an exhibition surveying its 161-year history, as well as its present and future, in the city on May 1, Chanel made the surprise announcement in January that it would hold its 2015-16 Cruise Collection at Seoul's Dongdaemun Design Plaza in the center of Korea's capital on May 4.

Christian Dior's eight-week "Esprit Dior" exhibition to celebrate its 70th anniversary, also at the design plaza, will then start on June 20.

As part of the display, which runs to Aug. 25, 100 haute couture dresses will introduce the brand's history, from the 1940s New Look collection to modern times.

According to the brand, the "artistic" rather than fashion-oriented exhibition will be partly localized for Korea.

Seoul burgeons as epicenter of cool for luxury brands

Christian Dior will bring its "Esprit Dior" exhibition to Seoul from June 20. Provided by the brand

And it doesn't stop there. Next year, Suzy Menkes, 71, the former fashion editor of the International New York Times who is now a style critic and reporter at Conde Nast International, which publishes Vogue, will bring the annual "Luxury Conference" to Seoul.

As soon as Menkes joined the publishing house last year, she started organizing an edition of the event in Florence, Italy, which ran for three days last month.

Global luxury brand tycoons attended, for example Antoine Arnault, the CEO of Berluti who is apparently poised to take the helm of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, the multinational conglomerate that owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy and more.

Other participants included CEOs of luxury brands such as Hermes, Tiffany & Co. and Ferragamo.

But why Seoul? Menkez said, "now is the right time" to hold the global "Luxury Conference" in Seoul, "which is an important Asian market for luxury goods" as well as a city with "so many young talents who are adept in the latest technologies".

She added that industry insiders have often posed the same question in recent years.

Seoul burgeons as epicenter of cool for luxury brands

Louis Vuitton's exhibition "Louis Vuitton Series 2 . Past, Present, Future" A mannequin holding Louis Vuitton's latest bag. Provided by Louis Vuitton

"Next year, you'll find out the answer", she said.

Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's head designer and creative director, told Korean media prior to the annual Cruise Collection runway show held in Seoul early this month that the city was chosen because it is "very mysterious yet not as well known".

In the 1980s and 90s, Japan was at the top of the list as a destination for the promotion of high-end brands.

About 40 percent of the world's luxury goods were consumed in the nation, a phenomenon that slowly moved towards China in the beginning of the 2000s.

Large cities in the country, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, began acting as the backdrop for large-scale events by prestigious fashion houses one after another.

It was Prada that first turned its attention to Seoul, in 2009. The brand built a large architectural structure next to Gyeonghuigung Palace in central Seoul for its "Prada Transformer" exhibition.

Seoul burgeons as epicenter of cool for luxury brands

Left: A new logo inspired by the brand's stamp, which was used in 1854; Right: Louis Vuitton visual images of its fashion show held in Paris last year. Provided by Louis Vuitton

In 2011, Fendi, another Italian brand, held a fashion show at Seoul's Floating Islands in the Han River, southern Seoul.

"Such large-scale events of luxury brands get reported and spread across the globe", said fashion consultantKim Min-jung.

"As soon as the news about Prada and Fendi holding their events in Seoul spread globally, other brands began to study the city in earnest".

Kim added that K-pop star Psy achieving global recognition from his "Gangnam Style" music video's success on YouTube in 2012 also contributed to the increase in consumers of luxury brands visiting Seoul.

Moreover, with the establishment of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Kim said Seoul has transformed into an international cultural hub.

Although criticism that the peninsula is being used as a bridgehead for overseas fashion companies to attract the grand Chinese market, experts also believe that premium brands have become aware of the influence Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, has on China.

Seoul burgeons as epicenter of cool for luxury brands

Top: The "Prada Transformer" exhibition in 2009 in central Seoul. Middle: Fendi's fashion show on the Floating Islands in the Han River, southern Seoul. Provided by each brand

Perhaps proof of this phenomenon is the fact that several Hallyu stars who have not had a close relationship with the brand but enjoy immense popularity in China were invited to the recent Chanel Cruise Collection show that has a limited number of guests.

After its stop in Los Angeles and Beijing, the "Louis Vuitton Series 2 - Past, Present, Future" exhibition is being held at the Gwanghwamun D Tower in central Seoul.

The show is presenting how and where the brand's new artistic director, Nicolas Ghesquiere, who took the baton from Marc Jacobs, in fall 2013, discovered the inspirations for his SS15 Louis Vuitton collection.

Through installations, designs and media art, as well as some of the fashion house's previous designs, the exhibition uses cutting-edge technology to show the past, present and future of Louis Vuitton.

Upon entering the exhibition hall through a darkish path, visitors will encounter a red-lit panel shaped like the brand's logo.

Unlike the usual logo, however, the overlapping lettersLand "V" appear inside a circle. The design was taken from a stamp that Louis Vuitton himself, a trunkmaker and the company's founder, used in 1854.

Ghesquiere revived the design and has been utilizing it as a new logo for the brand.

"This is a representative case of reviving a modern design from an archive 100 years ago while showing how such an old design can be future-oriented", explained a guide at the Seoul exhibition.

The show is divided into nine sections.

In "Talking Faces", visitors can watch Louis Vuitton's SS15 fashion show, which was held on Oct. 1 in Paris.

In "Magic Trunk", iconic luggage created by the brand's founder is shown in a hologram format while viewers can see an array of real-life pieces from different eras, including a 1892 item made with aluminum and a trunk-inspired mini bag by Ghesquiere.

In "Savoir-Faire", visitors are given a glimpse of the handmade production process of Louis Vuitton's iconic shoes, dress and handbags, while in the "Accessories Gallery", accessories and old trunks from the SS15 collection mingle together.

In "Backstage", visitors can take a look at photographer Jean-Paul Goude's backstage images of Louis Vuitton fashion shows while in "Infinite Show", all 48 looks from the latest collection can be seen in the 360-degree projection room.

The exhibition runs until May 17 and is free to attend.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE, KANG SEUNG-MIN [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]

Source from :Hancinema