“This collection, like much of what we do, [reimagines] certain characters… almost like a time-traveling character,” Song explained, describing figures drawn from “the Korean historical era” and reimagined “into the future.” Through what he calls the house's “avant-garde aesthetic,” he builds these “new personas” who “transcend past and present, east and west.”
Spring carries a notable milestone. “The biggest new factor for us is that we are introducing a rather extensive womenswear collection,” Song said. This consists of roughly 30 women’s looks within a show of “65 to 70,” marking a meaningful pivot for a label that’s long been held synonymous with menswear. This follows Songzio’s recent opening of a dedicated women’s flagship in the Marais.
Two ideas anchor this new season. The first is plating: “Korean armour-inspired layering details,” Song said. This detail is constructed as shells, a voluminous exterior against contrasting interiors, so that “you can feel the sense of empty space in between the layers.” Song offsets raw linen and cotton with metallic, translucent material; it’s the established and the futuristic stitched together.
The second is draping – the foil to the armour. Here, Song invokes a figure called the Doryeong, from “old Korean terminology that doesn't have an exact translation in English.” Approximately, Doryeong is a nobleman (but notably not an elder statesman), an intellect, someone who is “not just a warrior but [who] also carries a sensibility.” The general inspiration, therein, was for Song to create clothing that “looks very sculptural when it's still, but in movement is very fluid.”
Off the runway, Songzio’s ambition is scaling ever broader: a New York flagship will open in November, representing the house’s next foothold after Seoul and Paris. The label is growing. And yet, when asked about dream collaborations and grander fantasies, Song demurred, “I just try to make a better collection every season,” he said. “Nothing too crazy.”
