SUBCULTURAL SPACE: DIOR'S FIRST SOUTH KOREA SHOW RECREATES THE COMMUNITY ASPECT OF A SKATEPARK
Photo Courtesy of Dior
2 may 2022, for frame
Location
52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Brand, Design
Dior emphasized its relevance among younger generations with an outdoor Seoul runway and show that drew from skate culture.
Key features
Dior’s AW22 fashion show in Seoul simulated a skatepark, built between two buildings on the campus of Ewha Womans University. Constructed from light plywood, the luxury skatepark was contrasted with the university building’s highly tectological, modernist glass façades. Taking place at night, the show began with a breathtaking cinematic illumination of a female skateboarders' gang, dressed in Dior ‘uniforms’ – styles borrowed from the men's collection. A ramp replaced the traditional catwalk in the middle of the set. For the actual fashion show, the models joined from the sides of the ramp, on lower levels of the urban skatepark.
Frame's take
Nowadays, a skatepark is an urban architecture typology connected to citizens' perception of youth, independence and coolness. To place a skatepark on a university campus redoubles the meaning of the fashion show for younger generations. The first Korean Dior show clearly communicates the power of a young contemporary educated woman as an individual, part of a new sisterhood.
At the same time, the show is about beauty. The finale comprised a series of evening gowns that reinvent the volumes of the founding couturier's emblematic New Look silhouettes. Earlier this year, Dior shows in Paris used their runways as a tool to reframe art history. The Seoul show, meanwhile, evoked vital concepts such as involvement, communion, and sharing by creating space for togetherness.