It’s been a spectacular season for Bo-min Kim, creative director at fashion label Blue Tamburin, which just showcased its latest collection during Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW), which was held from April 12 to 16.
It was the first time that a Korean fashion brand participated in all four major fashion shows in Paris, London, New York, and Milano, where it presented their latest collection themed “transcendence”, which featured a muted monochromatic palette.
Despite having her work featured during fashion week in different cities, Vancouver Fashion Week holds a special place in Kim’s heart.
“I started getting involved with Vancouver Fashion Week in 2016 when I was contacted, and in 2018 it was my first overseas collection,” said Kim. “Fashion Week became an opportunity to give me hope, courage, and challenge.”
Blue Tamburin’s philosophy: support beauty in mind, reveal the beauty to the world.
The brand was also featured during the Vancouver Kids Fashion Week, which took place from April 15 to 16. Just like last year, the brand chose former footballer Dong-guk Lee’s children Seol-ah and Soo-ah and Si-an as models for their fall/winter collection.
“I designed this collection with the hope of bringing happiness to all children,” said Kim. She also expressed her appreciation for the young models who said that they enjoyed the experience despite being nervous.
In the same way that K-wave has swept up the rest of the world, so, too, has Korean fashion.
“The theme of this collection is ‘transcendence,’” explained Kim. “I thought about transcendence in a religious and philosophical way. Before participating in Vancouver Fashion Week, I was the first Korean designer to attend all four fashion weeks (New York, London, Milan, and Paris), and made clothes with a prayerful heart because it was something I could not do alone.”
Korean models also walked the runway to showcase Blue Tamburin’s latest collection during the event. According to Kun-ho Lee, CEO of Rubicons Co., Ltd., a fashion design trading platform, out of the 15 models onstage, seven were from Korea.
“Designer Kim Bo-min is the first Korean designer to participate in the four major fashion weeks by invitation and from the first show to share with Korean models that they can go out on the global stage, they are participating with Korean models, such as holding an open model audition in Korea,” said Lee. “Korean models are also showcasing their abilities on the world stage.”
Ji-hoon Yoo, who works as a model muse for Blue Tamburin in Korea, said, “After attending London Fashion Week this spring, I came as a Vancouver model and felt full of liveliness, and I felt very rewarding as a model.”
Yoo added that they “felt a lot of passion” from the audience.
After the show, guests, models, and members of the fashion industry flocked to take pictures of designer Kim’s work, making the energy backstage even more electric – one model even thanked designer Kim for letting her wear such beautiful clothes.
Consul General Kyeon Jong-ho, Cultural Consul Kim Chang-wook, and singer Shaun were all in attendance on the last day to celebrate the opening of the Korean brand fashion show.
Koreans also took part behind the scenes as staff members who helped bring Vancouver Fashion Week to fruition.
Ji-Ah Seong managed the Korean marketing, Yoon-Jung Bae worked as a media coordinator, and Seong-A Lee was the sales marketing coordinator. Together, they worked to promote K-fashion, while inviting designers to participate.
About Vancouver Fashion Week: Since its conception in 2001, Vancouver Fashion Week has been dedicated to cultivating the success of both established designers and award-winning emerging designers with its global perspective and highly multicultural approach.
Website: https://www.vanfashionweek.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanfashionweek
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanfashionweek
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/VFWTV
BlueTamburin: https://bluetamburin.com/
Learn more about DailyJoongAng: info@daioyjoongang.ca