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Spring 2011 collection
In my previous post on Michelle Obama's gown for the Korean White House state dinner for the Korean president, I wrote that I couldn't find the name of her dress designer. Well, I wasn't far wrong with the title of that blog ("Michelle Obama's Gladiator Dress: Korean Variation"). The Washington Times informs us:
Mrs. Obama wore a striking purple, one-shouldered gown by Korean-born designer Doo-Ri Chung as she and the president welcomed Lee and his wife in the rain. The South Korean first lady, Kim Yoon-ok, wore a traditional hanbok in pink and white.I have to speculate whether Chung copied Peter Soronen's "gladiator dress" for Michelle, since the resemblance of her dress to Soronen's is striking (and this comparison is not a complement).
Here are more of Chung's unspectacular, oddly designed, shapeless clothes (is this an Asian thing? Read my posts on Vera Wang's latest creations here, here, and here). The Washington Times mentions "Korean knotting." Is Chung trying to put that "cultural" element in her designs?
Chung's biography from Wikipedia:
Chung graduated from The New School university's Parsons division with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion in 1995. After receiving her degree, Chung worked for Geoffrey Beene for six years, rising to the position of head designer. In 2001, Chung started her own firm in the basement of her parents' dry cleaning business. The firm remained there for the next four years.Is this "Asian triumphalism" but on a cultural (multiculutral) rather than a global level?
Chung is best known for her jersey dresses, which have a unique drape. Chung has stated that she has no plans to move away from creating such dresses, as she now has a steady clientele. Chung will introduce a shoe line in fall 2008.
Chung is inspired by Ann Demeulemeester, Martha Graham and Joseph Beuys.
Here are excerpts from Chung's biography on Vogue:
1973 - Doo-Ri Chung born in South Korea.Here is information about the personalities that inspire Chung:
1977 - Chung’s family immigrates to America. She is raised in Ramsey, New Jersey.
1995 - Graduates from Parsons, winning the school’s Designer of the Year award. Her critics are Donna Karan and Stanley Herman. Briefly works for Banana Republic, designing menswear. August: Particpates in Paper magazine’s Fashion Mobile talent search, through which she meets Geoffrey Beene, for whom she will work for six years, rising at his firm from assistant to head designer. (Alber Elbaz also will be employed by Beene for some of that time.)
2003 - Makes her formal debut for fall 2003. May: Tells Vogue: "Draping with stretch is what I know best." December: Receives the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award.
2008 - February: "Unwittingly, my signature is the way I drape a jersey dress, and I do that each season," Chung tells Vogue. "I think I’ve established a clientele, and I don’t want to alienate it. I’m more interested in evolving what I already do." Launches footwear for fall. "Shoes are a lot harder than I thought, but making them is actually similar to the way I make clothes because they’re so three-dimensional."
- Ann Demeulemeester
Ann Demeulemeester...draws much of her inspiration from the androgynous singer, Patti Smith. Currently, she is working on a clothing line inspired by Jackson Pollock.
Demeulemeester is married to photographer Patrick Robyn and has a son, Viktor. The couple live in Antwerp, in the only house in Belgium designed by Le Corbusier.
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Spring 2011 collection
- Joseph Beuys
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By Joseph Beuys
Patti Smith, Jackson Pollock, Le Corbusier (here is Theodore Darlymple on Le Corbusier; here is my blog post on him), Ann Demeulemeester, Joseph Beuys? That says it all.
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Even Chung's wedding dress doesn't escape her "oddly designed, shapeless" style that I describe above.