Fashion Designer of the Week : Irony Porn(o) by Han Dong Woo

The first designer of Incognito's fashion week I want to introduce you to comes from a country I've been telling you about a lot lately : South Korea.  I discovered him browsing the site of Seoul Fashion Week. I was attracted by the name of his brand which is quite unusual : Irony Porn(o).

"The trend of this era is the erogenous zones of the contemporary women and sex seems like an elegant suit. I am in communion with this era through the clothes. For me clothing is like decadent sex communing with the world and a pornography for commercial issue.Therefore, it is the most pleasure, the most romantic love and the medium connecting a world of irony. "
This is how Han Dong Woo describes the concept of his brand Irony Porn(o). And though it was already translated in english on his site, I had to and tried my best rephrasing it to make it clearer. I had to quote Han Dong Woo's since he mentions women but mostly designs clothes for men. I like the fact he associates sex and clothes, pornography and fashion. While we seem to live in a society more and more sex free, I was stuck by the name of his brand because nowadays, pornography is something taboo (quite a paradox since boobs and vaginas are all over the place). So to put a noun such as porno in his brand, I thought Han Dong Woo was quite the brave and reckless type. 

My point with introducing you to this designer is to show you that fashion is not only appearance, but also carries ideas, concepts, that it is meant to make you think. I think what I wrote is something people have already said a thousand times but that is not always conveyed since we are focusing a lot on what the last trends are, who are the last trendsetters etc..while I was having a (huge) headache rephrasing this quote and trying to give a sense to it, I suddenly had the idea of going through all the collections Han Dong Woo designed and found one common thing :

 Fall/Winter Collection 2012

Women, women are definitely a great inspiration for Han Dong Woo in my opinion. That is why from time to time during his shows you will see female models pop out or will try to figure out if the models he chose are male or female just like on the picture above. Who are the male, who are the female on this picture ? It is really hard to say but you can easily imagine both sex wearing his clothes. That's how I came to understand (or hope so) why he said that sex seemed like an elegant suit. Sex is what defines if you are a woman or a man but also what makes you appealing to the other you have in front of you. Then the suit which usually is a man's attire, in our era has been feminised. In brief, what was  a piece of clothing for men and their weapon to seduce and express their masculinity has now become a weapon for women to seduce and express their femininity.

Fall/Winter Collection 2010

Sartorially speaking, Han Dong Woo is definitely someone to keep an eye on. He is one of the rare designer, according to me, that makes suit enjoyable and interesting because his influences are multiple. Since his first collection in 2010, Irony Porn(o) style has evolved , and his last collection, Fall/Winter 2012, is a great example of it. From suits and coats that were inspired by old asian clothing with mandarin collars to sporty chic clothing and japanese vampire mangas inspired clothing, Han Dong Woo sure did a very ecclectic collection, but with one goal in mind : that the wearer seduces people. No wonder the music piece chosen for his last show was "I put a spell on you".

What's your opinion on the concept of Irony Porn(o)  ? Where do you think the irony lies in Han Dong Woo work ?  I can't wait to read your point of view, so don't be shy and comment !