JUUN. J MENSWEAR A/W11
PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY
The South Korean designer plays with layering and adds a surprising new dimension to classic menswear
Note well that South Korea's rising star goes by the name of
Juun. J and it is the simplest of games that today gave way to what is indubitably the most bodacious of his collections. In lieu of beginning his production from a convoluted narrative, Juun instead proceeded with the intention of reforming classical suiting and adding layer upon layer - two very plain exercises which rarely give way to anything which captures the imagination. Yet it was this unassuming path which led to an artists' colony of gentlemen who carried themselves with an air of bespoke dishevelment; tall and broad in their reinvented suiting, they shifted peacefully down the runway sporting pavilion berets and the contented expressions of assured commercial success.
Pairing again with prolific Chinese shoe designer Kim Kiroic to produce the footwear for this collection, the men of Juun. J did not misstep in their winged Hermes ankle boots of stiff leather which were mounted on thick hexagonal soles. And all of this from a creator who did not invent an insincere narrative around a dapper male but instead chose abstract parameters and found elegance within them? This unofficial homage to the secret love-child of Sherlock Holmes and a samurai is the portent of a very fertile imagination.
Dazed Digital: Is this season a call to a greater something to tailoring dabbled in?
Juun. J: I think it is one of my greatest strengths. Previously I was focussing on casualwear and footwear, but I wanted to return to something more classic. I love tailoring. Who doesn't?
DD: Where were some of the visual references?
Juun. J: It was about incorporating classical menswear into something new and alien. I took the beret and transformed it into a UFO, you know?
DD: So what was your story for the man?
Juun. J: This man likes wearing jackets. These men like wearing jackets. And so I variated on this. It was very simple. I love layers, and so I add and transform and confuse.
