Korean designer Hye-soon Lee to have European premiere in Dublin

Revered Korean fashion designer Hye-soon Lee, celebrated for her colourful traditional clothing (called hanbok), will present her haute couture in Dublin tomorrow.

It is the first time her designs have been shown on a catwalk in Europe and is the result of an initiative by the Korean embassy in Dublin in recognition of the Irish Year of Design, says consul Ju Yearn Sun who organised the event.

Hanbok is as old as Korea itself and still worn for special occasions such as New Year and weddings, although some forms have been reinterpreted for everyday wear.

Korea’s president and the first female head of state in north-east Asia, Park Geun-hye, for example, wears hanbok on formal occasions, particularly on overseas trips.

Dressed in an exquisite, elegant blue-and-white hanbok outfit, Hye-soon Lee explains that it consists of a high-cut, close-fitting jacket and full-length voluminous skirt underpinned by two further layers, all in hand-dyed silk that is handwoven and hand-sewn by artisans.

“It elevates people when they wear it,” she says. “You are not only wearing its [trademark] silhouette but 5,000 years of culture and history – yet it remains modern.”

The show at the Mansion House in Dublin, which is booked out, will display the scale of her work from ceremonial and wedding attire to modern interpretations of hanbok, illustrating how this alluring clothing remains an essential part of Korean life and aesthetics.