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Korean Fashion Designers Hit New York

Nine of Korea’s top fashion designers presented a selection of looks from their 2010 collections at a special runway show in New York on Wednesday, Nov. 4, kicking off a two-day preview event for local buyers.

Making their debut in the U.S. retail market, the designers are all members of the Korean Federation of Design Association, who organized the event in conjunction with the Korea International Trade Association and Korea Women Entrepreneurs Associations.

Collections ranged from contemporary daywear like Cubellia, with smart mod cashmere A-line coats and cheery ruffled blouses – “My style is feminine, elegant, practical and wearable,” said designer Soo Hyun Choi, who uses a lot of stretchable fabrics for added comfort – to couture, like Lilycomes Paris by Jeone Mi Young, who showed a series of dresses with feather-covered bodices and over-the-top ruffles, which were not for the faint of heart.

Other designers, like Lee Young Hee Presents and ANS An Yoon Jung focused on flirty cocktail dresses—sequined, in the case of Lee Young Hee and with flouncy, flared skirts from An Yoon Jung.

For a more bohemian sensibility, Ecole de Paris offered a romantic pairing of high collared ruffled blouses paired with structured military jackets, while Yan’s by HEEDEUK focused on texture, like a fuzzy Mongolian lamb fur vest paired with silk genie-style trousers.

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