The capabilities of what could and what might be achieved in lockdown were once foreboding and incomprehensible.
At first thought, the notion of creating a collection from start to finish in lockdown might have proved daunting for the Central Saint Martins student Sohee Park.
But her penchant for escapism through the art of illustration proved unmarred by remote confinement, and in the depths of a global pandemic, the London-based luxury womenswear designers rendered a graduate collection, ‘The Girl In Full Bloom’ that swiftly flocked the internet and garnered the attention from Miley Cyrus to Jhene Aiko.
In this babel year, Park’s tenacity lends itself her growing label; shortly after releasing her first collection, her metallic bulbous dress debuted in the seminal LOVE Diaries issue.
Shaping her sartorial sculptures, embued with femininity and energy, Park proves that the barricades of the new decade will not hinder the inagural year for her demi-couture brand, Miss Sohee.
In her next pursuit, Park partners with the esteemed Christian Cowan, producing the final 3 looks for Cowan’s New York Fashion Week collection.
In a uniquely remote collaboration, the opportune partnership fuses Cowan’s punkish appetite with the elegance of Miss Sohee couture.
Debuting the exclusive fitting process to her provisional sketches, Sohee Park talks on her experience of producing her second series in lockdown, and the evolution of her label since graduating.
LOVE: What was your favourite thing about collaborating with Christian?
Sohee Park: The fact that he loves to collaborate! He brought many artists together for this collection and I was thrilled to be a part of this big project!
LOVE: What was the starting point for the final looks?
SP: Christian came up with this brilliant idea of mixing punk, BDSM with my avant garde silhouettes.
The concept was something that I had never tried before and at first I found it somewhat challenging.
I was looking into the film Edward Scissor Hands (1990) – I instantly fell in love with an image of Edward holding Kim, who was wearing a white dress.
The contrast of the two characters was very intriguing. It really reminded me of our collaboration.
LOVE: Was there anything you found challenging?
SP: The concept itself was something that I have never tried before so it pushed me to try something different this time.
I really wanted to translate punk and BDSM but in a very MISS SOHEE way. Like all preps for fashion week, loads of research, sketching, it took countless hours of hand sewing, trials and errors.
I knew that my audience loved my first collection and wanted something more – so I thought this collaboration came at a good time.
It was a lot of pressure for sure as it is my first stage on NYFW, given the really short time frame.
LOVE: What was it like collaborating remotely?
SP: Due to COVID-19, I am actually quite used to it now. We shared our ideas over calls and shared sketches and fabric ideas.
A lot of trust was needed too in order to work on such projects remotely. Like my debut collection, I always tried to figure out ways to adapt to new challenges.
LOVE: How does this build on from or differ from your graduate collection?
SP: The past couple of months, after graduating, I was lucky enough to meet new people and work on new exciting things. I have matured a lot and this somehow reflected on my latest work.
I developed these three looks for NYFW from my debut (graduate) collection, I wanted something more upscaled and BOLD.
I used the same techniques of digital printing and hand dying all my fabrics. You would be very surprised that the fabrics used for these looks were all white/pale fabrics!
I digitally printed / hand dyed them to the specific color I envisioned. Even each little feathers were dyed individually to the right shade of pink!
LOVE: Describe the collection in 3 words…
SP: Romantic Chic and most importantly FABULOUS!
