Meet The Designers Of The Selects Showroom, Part One: C ZANN E, VERSO & EENK

The Selects Showroom represents nine talented Korean designers, bringing their creations to a global audience following New York Fashion Week. Once again, The Daily went behind the scenes with the next generation talent to talk about their new collections and the story so far.

Singer Hyunji wears designs by all nine designers of The Selects showroom (Courtesy)

First up, The Daily chats to Seo Jung Lee of C-ZANN E, Soon Jin Kwon of VERSO, and Lee Hyemee of EENK.

C ZANN E

Seo Jung Lee of C-ZANN E

When did you launch your brand?
2016

What themes/fashions can do people know you for?
Our main theme is Korean avant garde minimalism: the beauty of Korean minimalism and motifs with an avant garde twist.

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
The study of traditional Korean costume, and reinterpreting it to modernize it for the present. And also from every where! From nature and current social issues to my family and the people around me. Even from a little plant, a person passing by, or the color of the sky and sea. All thing around me inspires my design!

What is the key to your brand’s success?
Using and reinterpreting unique Korean motifs. The use of traditional Korean fabrics and accessories with high-end designs.
We also offer personalized and custom-made costumes.

What’s the focus this season?
The theme of this season iss ‘into the light’ through the color prism. I focused on using transparent color prism design pieces to give different aspects to the pieces. I want us to be happy again!

What’s next for the brand?
We launched our second genderless brand, CZE212. A lifestyle brand will be next to launch!

VERSO

Soon Jin Kwon of VERSO (Courtesy)

When did you launch your brand?
2019.

What themes do people know you for?
[Celebrating] the natural beauty of women.

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
Inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere: beautiful women, nature, fields, trees, sky, etc.

What is the key to your brand’s success?
We think the key is empathy. It’s reinterpreting things that are naturally familiar to our eyes through a VERSO aesthetic. It’s bringing empathy and newness together.

What’s been a signature of the brand?
Expressing something familiar in a new way.

What’s next for the brand?
We’re always thinking about the next step! The most recent step was opening an offline showroom in Hannam-dong. We want to meet more people and share stories.

EENK

Lee Hyemee of EENK (Courtesy)

When did you launch your brand?
EENK officially launched in 2015, starting with accessories and leather goods with the ‘H for Handbag’ and ‘G for Gold’ collections. It has expanded ready to wear, with concepts ‘I for Indigo’ and ‘J for Jean’ in 2017. The runway debut was in 2018 at Seoul Fashion Week.

What themes/fashions do people know you for?
I think people recognize my designs for their delicate touch, feminine details, classic silhouettes, and refined colors. I want to create stylish but timeless fashion pieces which are worth collecting.

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
From every little thing I see, eat, drink, hear, touch, and feel in my daily life!

What is the key to your brand’s success?
Being classic and contemporary at the same time.

What’s been a highlight for the brand?
The runway show presented at BOON THE SHOP Cheongdam flagship store for the Spring Summer ’22 season. We had a great number of guests, including the most influential industry professionals in the country and the press was amazing. It feels even more special as it was to become the last physical show we could’ve presented before the pandemic.

What’s next for the brand?
The goal is to keep going with the Letter Project until it hits Z, and then coming back to A and presenting a total archive exhibition of EENK—A for All, A for Archive! Beyond the project, my ultimate goal is to become the first global house brand based in Korea. Korean designer brands tend to grow older as the designer does, and then disappear after the designer leaves. There is no system yet where the creative director changes and carries on the brand throughout generations as the global house brands do. We’re aiming to build that system in the market!

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