Ran Seo from South Korea will be showing her final collection at our Womenswear show on 15 February. Ran previousle did an internship with a Korean brand, and taught fashion design students hand drawing fashion illustration for about 3 years before undertaking the MA Womenswear course. Here we discuss Ran’s final collection.
Photographer: Alyssa Boni Stylist: Adele Cany
Tell us about your final collection…
My final collection is called Romantic Boho: The Moments of Naturalness. It is mainly designed with a combination of natural fabrication and modern hand-craftsmanship. The collection is based on using new natural materials, especially natural hemp cord. The natural hemp cord represents modern and crafty looks, that can be suggested as natural and crafted modernism.
Talk us through any specific techniques you used
Uniformed shapes of crochet dominate whole mood of this collection, and create new directions of natural material and contrasts to shiny linen fabrics. Those two different textiles combined in the look are sophisticated and unique. As crochet is considered as a kind of macramé technique, all outfits in this collection deliver new style of natural mood of knitting comparing to machine knitting. The collection shows one of the original crafts in Spain – knit craftsmanship with use of natural hemp cord is used in the whole collection
What influenced your final collection?
I was inspired by historical hippie culture in Spain, and the mood of historical Spanish craftsmanship. The garments look natural, relaxed, modern and strong. Spanish women in the past, looked very stylish with crafted bags, hats and shoes made by themselves, and there are still many shops in Spain where products natural crafted goods. I investigated their products and materials to find the best materials for my collection.
Describe your work in 3 words…
Artistic, crafted, unique.
What would be your top tips to new students…
Don’t be afraid of pushing yourself into the long journey of your work. On the journey, you will find yourself growing up.
What made you chose LCF and London…
I am a person who’s approach to work is more abstract and artistic. This sometimes makes me meet the limitations of creating, and my process of working can be unpractical. I chose LCF because here, abstract and diverse ideas and designs can be realized in more practical ways, while still keeping creativity. This aspect encourages students to be ready for industry.
What were the highlights and biggest challenges of your course…
The highlight of this course was discovering my fashion identity and preference, that will guide my future plans during many projects, while the biggest challenge was time management, for sure. For me, working for portfolio and manufacturing garments simultaneously was almost impossible at the beginning of this course, however, I tried to manage my time more effectively and juggle the both.
My biggest inspirations and muses are…
I normally get inspired by vintage items, such as old furniture, accessories, even black and white pictures have a story behind them. It is not because that they look unique or pretty – the stories behind old pictures and goods expands my creativity and imagination that I apply to fashion. I start to design by outlining atmosphere of entire look first, and the inspiration visually helps me to design individual stylish items.
What are your plans for life after your MA…
After my MA I would like to work for a fashion company. My previous work placements were not in design, I would like experiment as a designer. It will be good for me to train and learn further practical things for my future career. When it comes to the final plans for my life, it will definitely mean having own my brand in the future. Whether it is big or small, I am quite confident of the way I want to go and what I want to do as a fashion designer.