london – South Korean fashion designer Goom Heo, who was selected as one of 19 semifinalists for this year’s LVMH Prize for Young Designers, doesn’t care how the industry categorizes his works.
After winning her second L’Oréal Professional Award for her MA Graduation collection, her edgy, subversive and genderless designs, made mostly of straight body wraps, were a hit among the London fashion crowd.
She was the first student in the history of Central Saint Martins to be awarded the top prize twice. He first won the honor in 2017 with his BA graduation collection.
Lulu Kennedy offered her to join the youth designer assistance program Fashion East shortly after graduation.
She showed up with Fashion East for four seasons, from fall 2020 to spring 2022, mostly digitally due to COVID-19. After moving back there for denim production, things became more challenging as the pandemic left South Korea stranded until last October.
A look at Gumio’s Fall 2022 collection.
A look at the Goomheo RTW Fall 2022 Collection
“I was planning to go back only for three weeks but I could not come back as my flight was canceled several times. Also, COVID-19 was getting very serious there, so if I went back to London, I would have to quarantine. So I decided to stop,” Heo explained during the Zoom call.
Reconnecting with her culture during that time allowed her to see how her gender-fluid design was inadvertently influenced by K-pop as well as cartoons and gaming. The designer said that even on the surface, Korean society draws a very clear line between men and women.
Now that she’s back in London with a fall collection that further exemplifies her gender mass and men’s fashion, as well as an LVMH Award nomination, Heo believes she’s totally Ready to get back in the game. The force may, however, make it to the final round of the LVMH Awards.
She also revealed that she plans to freely exhibit during the men’s fashion cycle in London from June to establish a strong relationship with buyers.
A look at Gumio’s Fall 2022 collection.
Courtesy
“For me, it doesn’t matter whether I make it to the finals or take the big prize. Receiving an LVMH Award nomination is already a huge recognition. It gives me 200 percent inspiration to do my next collection,” she said.
Heo was ushered into the LVMH Awards showroom from her 2022 collection, “Infinite Glacier,” featuring sculpted puffer pieces, shorts with XL fur pockets, a fit with embroidered lapels all the way to the ankles Accompanied by jacket and statement boots. The 3D printed oval buckle, which Heo hopes can become a signature for the brand, can be seen in both male and female models.
“It doesn’t really matter what gender I am designing for. It is the customers who are deciding what kind of clothes they are wearing instead of me,” Hyo said, while some buyers were initially confused. The kind of stores that appreciated his aesthetic, such as Machine-A in London and H. Lorenzo in Los Angeles, eventually had no problem selling his designs.
A look at Gumio’s Fall 2022 collection.
Courtesy
Despite the attention, Heo’s journey in fashion hasn’t been easy. Like many Asian students, Heo’s parents were initially furious when she told them she was going to study fashion.
“I had to be an interpreter between Chinese, English, and Korean. I went to America for it. Halfway through my senior year, I saw this documentary about the world’s three best fashion schools, and Central St. Martins among them After that, I just decided that I wanted to do fashion. I left my high school for that and my parents were very crazy, but later I got into the foundation course. So that’s how I started ”, Heo recalled.
The fact that Heo was never professionally trained as an art student, much of the rest gave him the freedom to design in his own way, mostly directly painting the garment rather than painting the pattern first. Includes draping on mannequins.
“I can’t draw. I’m still not convinced about it. I always say to my interns: ‘You just have to see how I dress,'” she said.
“But I do have this amazing pattern cutter, who has been working with me for the seven years since my BA collection. He understands me and he made me realize that I don’t have to work in the traditional way. I can break all the rules and not care whether it is for men or women,” she said.
Originally published at Pen 18
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