In 2017, Seokwoon Yoon graduated from Pratt Institute in New York and began working as a junior graphic designer at GAP. Two years later, just months before the global coronavirus pandemic began, his desire to visualize conceptual ideas and explore the boundary between fashion and art led him to launch his eponymous label.
For its Spring/Summer 2024 collection, “Oneirataxia,” the fashion designer gained inspiration from the blurring between fantasy and reality, as well as Gut rituals performed by Korean shamans. Details in the line were created to connect the invisible spirit with the physical human being, including S-shaped slits that express flexibility and Jeju Gime–inspired textiles that speak to the paper decorations used in Jeju exorcisms. In celebration of the Seokwoon Yoon brand’s fifth anniversary, Whitewall heard from the Korean designer about how he views fashion as comprehensive art and why sharing the process behind his creations is just as important as the collections themselves.
WHITEWALL: How would you describe your fashion brand’s evolution in the past five years?
SEOKWOON YOON: When I first started, due to COVID-19, there were less opportunities to communicate with people. I tried to communicate in a new direction. I tried to approach in a creative direction and present a new vision. Various collaborations and exhibitions were planned, like new forms of collaboration and sustainability with Air Busan.
WW: Your latest collection, “Oneirataxia,” refers to the state between reality and fantasy that differs by one’s opinion. Why was this theme important for you to explore?
SY: A desire to explore a new world. This was always the beginning of a curiosity about something that doesn’t exist now. The unpredictable future has aroused curiosity and interest. The constant desire to explore boundaries also played a part. For example, fashion and art, or the boundary between the present and the future, or between reality and ideals.
“This was always the beginning of a curiosity about something that doesn’t exist now,”
Seokwoon Yoon
WW: How do the clothing and accessory designs and details represent the beauty found in this situation?
SY: It has always been considered important to visualize conceptual ideas. This is because I can gradually find my identity in the process of doing this. So I tend to try a lot of new experiments. For example, there is a real flower painted with silicone on the fabric. This expresses the desire to keep the moment by substituting time that can pass in a moment into a medium using flowers and trapping it with silicone.
WW: This specific emotional and mental state is one the identity of your brand embraces. Why?
SY: My own experience is the most important factor in the process of conceptualizing and in starting a collection. First, I begin to conceive and complete my collection using my own photos or art pieces. So I say that my identity is included in the collections I’ve been doing so far.
WW: You mentioned that your label “presents a new direction on the boundary between art and fashion.” How would you describe what that is?
SY: I think fashion is very closely related to art because fashion is a comprehensive art. The outcome is important in the process of making clothes, but it is important to share this process with people.
WW: Your brand takes inspiration from Gut ritual—rites performed by Korean shamans that wish good luck for families. Why is this important for the brand to embrace?
SY: My attempt to find the boundaries of something beyond this world is the performance that connects the invisible spirit with human being.
“I think fashion is very closely related to art because fashion is a comprehensive art,”
Seokwoon Yoon
WW: What details seen in Spring/Summer 2024 represent this link?
SY: Among the tools used by shamans, Gime was inspired by the role of connecting the mind and people. S Shape expressed flexibility. Putting the ID in the chest wanted to express the process of people finding their identity in reality.
WW: Where does Seoul fit on a global fashion stage?
SY: Seoul is a fast-changing and innovative city. It pursues a lot of new things. Therefore, I am looking forward to it in global fashion.
Looking Forward to the Future of Fashion
WW: What are you working on next?
SY: I’m preparing a collaboration work with a global brand. We are also planning to meet new buyers and people in Seoul, and the next collection will be on display for six weeks instead of a fashion show.
WW: Where would you predict the future of fashion is?
SY: Fashion’s future is unpredictable. That’s what I am looking forward to.