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[Photos provided by Lie Sang Bong Boutique]
People who try out things that others have not can often be characterized by their unusual sense and sensibility. Fashion designer Lie Sang Bong mesmerized the world with the clothes he designed using Hangeul as the principal motif, and his sensibility was not a lucky coincidence.
“When I first began designing clothes with elements of Hangeul incorporated into them, my design team was pretty skeptical. They were obviously worried about whether Hangeul could work in the international market, and about what kind of reaction we would get from the Korean market.”
Lie manages to keep the public under his spell every season with a confident and surprising performance, always presenting much more than what is expected at a fashion show. Though, he says that his heart still races like a young boy every time he tries something new. The question of whether a new thing that nobody has ever tried is really what the public wants has always been important to Lie as a fashion designer.
- “2006 marked the 120th anniversary of the France-Korea diplomatic relationship. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism requested planning and advisory services from me for the celebratory fashion event. The preparations for this event got me thinking about what could truly represent Korea. I had already used elements of Hunmin jeongeum and a small excerpt from a poem in my S/S 2005 collection in Paris, and I decided to make Hangeul the main theme for this event.”
In February 2006, about a month before the Paris show, he showcased his work at a pre-collection (venue for presenting new collections to buyers before a main fashion show). Local PR companies and buyers were full of compliments and praise. Buyers asked about the meaning of the words imprinted on the clothes, and observed that Hangeul was more modern and graphic than Chinese and Japanese as they placed their orders. Hangeul’s potential as a fashion design motif was confirmed right there.
- There was no way that Lie could know how people would react to his Hangeul-inspired designs in the beginning. Nevertheless, the enthusiastic reaction to his Paris collection delivered him with confidence in Hangeul and Hangeul calligraphy’s aesthetic appeal. He has been producing 3~4 Hangeul garments every year since then.
Hangeul has become more than just a motif. It is now a subject for future study and the doorway to a new world of creation. To Lie, Hangeul has been transformed from a simple collection of “characters” into a “source of imagination and creativity that reaches towards the future”.
The moment his clothes soar onto the international stage with wings called Hangeul, Hangeul too, will continue its flight as the inspiration for new creations.
- Curriculum vitae [ Lie Sang Bong ]
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- Representative, Lie Sang Bong Boutique
- Received the Seoul Fashion Prize 1999 in the sector of designers
- Served as PR Ambassador for the Cheongju International Craft Biennale 2008
