System RTW Spring 2024

Under a glowing light installation meant to evoke a sunset, South Korean designer Heesoo Kim presented his latest collection, drawing from the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley’s musings on nursing loneliness in beautiful surroundings. Despite the references from classic literature, Kim moves in the present.

The contrast translated into sharp-shouldered blazers nipped at the waist for men, and slouchy blazers for women. Details such as vintage-inspired fabric linings hidden inside a destroyed denim jacket added elements of disparity between the traditional tailoring that he focused on this season, and the modern mood.

More from WWD

• Halle Bailey Waxes Lyrical About Her Suit at Ami Paris

• Front Row at Paris Men's Fashion Week With Taeyang, Jared Leto and More

• Teyana Taylor, Eric Nam Make the Front Row at Explosive Rick Owens Show

Drawstring denim shorts were accented with cargo pockets, and a white waffle weave made for an airy tank dress. Snake-print coats and jackets on men and women were a key pattern, as Kim played with proportion that worked particularly well on outerwear.

The installation was designed by filmmaker Sam Youkilis, with the upcoming campaign shot by David Sims and styled by Emmanuelle Alt. Kim and Sims met at a recent fashion show in Korea, then Sims brought on Alt as well. These artistic collaborations are key, Kim said, as they are the first of several planned as he looks to expand.

The fashion world is eating up K-pop, with brands seemingly naming a new ambassador a day. Add to that K-beauty and K-dramas, and it might seem natural to capitalize on the sudden ubiquity. But Kim says that is not his intention.

“At System we don’t want to follow that trend,” he said. “It’s not about K-pop. We want to define our own brand identity and keep focusing on our base as dynamic and chic.” He says that Korea’s focus on the hyper-new means it cycles through trends fast, and he wants to build a more lasting structure for System’s global growth.

With European fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci descending on Seoul and putting on massive productions for recent shows, Kim wants to turn the style tables and create a global brand coming out of Korea. Their first stand-alone store is in the works, expected to open in Paris early next year.

Launch Gallery: System RTW Spring 2024

Best of WWD

• Windowsen RTW Spring 2022

• Louis Shengtao Chen RTW Spring 2022

• Vegan Fashion Week Returns to L.A. With Nous Etudions, Vegan Tiger on the Runway

Click here to read the full article.