Major: BFA Fashion Design
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
My thesis collection is titled Smile Mask Syndrome, named after a kind of psychological anxiety disorder that results in depression and physical illness as a result of unnatural smiles. It is commonly found in service industry jobs like restaurant servers, stewardesses, or celebrities.
I decided to focus on this idea of duplicity and I got the idea to design transforming garments using the anatomy of facial muscles as inspiration for silhouette and texture. My goal was to implicitly contain two contradicting designs in one garment. They present the “fake smile” before the transformation and the mood that is true but depressed after the “smile” is released.
The biggest feature of my collection is the transforming garments. Two designs coexist in one garment and this creates a great contrast. Four out of five garments are completed in half-scale. Half-scale and brightly colored fabrics like muslin require perfection and sophistication that are far superior to full-scale. This means that, as a designer, I have the ability to handling about fabrics and garment constructing skills.
