Each season, Concept Korea is a highly anticipated show at New York Fashion Week. Not a designer but a movement, it features Korea’s freshest talent as chosen by the Korea Creative Content Agency and the Ministry of Culture. For S/S16 we were introduced to two designers: Kaal E.Suktae by Lee Suk Tae and Jarret by Ji Youn Lee.
Kaal E.Suktae showed a modern collection, Dust to Dust, inspired by the Book of Daniel. Opening with a dark palette of black leather and wool, his materials were unconventional for spring, but it worked. Adorned with Western buckles and zippers in a trio of gold, he continued the retro theme with cowboy print shorts and jackets. I loved his unexpected and edgy choice to accessorize with duct tape like strips on the models arms and wrists. The effect was an army of avant-garde warriors in chunky sandals and prominently buckled heels. To emphasize the cycle of dust to dust, his final looks featured a clean white palette with burnout details that shimmered with metallic accents.
Photos by Matthew Passiglia 
For S/S16 Jarret played with the concept of alter-egos. Persona explored the two distinct sides of a woman’s personality – light and dark. Each piece in her collection hinted at this duality – a signature logo print was featured in black and white weaving together sheer and opaque silk. Silhouettes were equally revealing and concealed – high neckline dresses with deep leg slits, long jumpsuits with peekaboo shoulders and dark separates paired with sheer overlay reinforced the juxtaposition. Using cotton and fine silks, she showed expertly tailored shirt-dresses with long, plastic clasp belts. My favorites were her silk coordinating separates in pastel blue and carmine. The entire collection was incredibly wearable and presented and easy transition from day to play. 
