Forme D'Expression, by Koeun Park

Interview by Kevin Y.

H.Lorenzo was glad to interview Koeun Park, the Haute Couture-trained designer of the emerging Italian men's and women's label Forme 3'3204322896 (Forme D'Expression).  Koeun Park discusses her approach towards the complex relationships between contrasting elements in design.  H.Lorenzo introduced the debut Forme D'Expression collection in 2005, and is proud to offer it for both men and women this season.

For you personally, what constitutes beauty in relation to clothing?

It would be difficult to define in one succinct way how I see beauty in relation to clothing.  I am attracted to the notion of a "severe aristocrat," as well as a soft and fragile feeling.  But whatever elements make such clothing beautiful, they must be in play with the wearer, and in either perfect harmony or a complementing contrast with their personality.  Clothes that appear to have been worn with history, all one's life - that is beautiful - so that the pieces become him, not the other way around.

How does your approach to ready-to-wear differ than your approach to Haute Couture?

Haute Couture is a pure spontaneous obsession of minute and painstaking individual efforts applied to every angle of making a single garment for a specific client.  A true luxury of all.  I admire the patience of artisan coutrieres, and their single aim of suiting the client's requirements.  I'm not really attracted to the shapes or products of modern Parisian Haute Couture scenes, but I do admire the spirit of couture, that is, the feel of hand and soul in the garment.  My clothes are ready-to-wear, nothing compared to the Haute Couture standards.  They are necessarily compromised by the demands of the commercial sphere.  But I hand cut all my productions and fuse, mark, and prep each garment one-by-one before the sewing process.  My staff and I hand treat all the pieces individually in the post production, putting an immense amount of time and effort into the collection.  It adds to the final character of the garment before they get packaged and delivered to the stores with whom I partner.  I see every single piece off - it's like sending off a child out into the world.  Whenever I get tired, I think of my customer who will be wearing the pice.  Then I come back to the place where I started. 

How does your approach to womenswear differ than your approach to menswear?

The origin may differ, but there is always a huge synergy between my designs for both genders.  I always start my season with menswear.  Not only because menswear is ahead on the calendar but also because I like to explore new tailored structures and the new developments in fabrics each season.  Designing men's and women's eventually becomes the same in essence, but since I am very interested in tailoring I see more possibility to do what I like with  the men's collection. 

My dominant theme, which never changes (especially in men's clothing) is "essence."  By that I mean simplicity.  I like men's clothes because they retain a simple integrity when compared to most of the women's clothing out there that's often merely visually entertaining.  My next focus is "comfort" - both mental and physical.  In order to achieve this you must understand how the jersey should hang on your skin.  You must create something comfortable in which someone can be both amused and confident.  But most importantly, it should not look too serious.  That's where the masculine element becomes significant  to bring in a balance.  The mood of men's design permeates the process of designing womenswear, since I personally try on the men's prototypes.  The softness in womenswear breaks the severity of the men's tailoring.  There's some amazing feedback in the conversation between menswear and womenswear.  I've been working for a while now creating soft tailoredware, structured garments from jersey and sweat fabrics.  Exploring this interplay between the sharp tailoring and soft fabrics, there are no limits.  I think this has become a signature of Forme D'Expression - blending tailoring and softness together.

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