Opening Ceremony of "Crafts in Fashion"
4 FIT Graduates Participated in this Special Exhibition
On Monday February 6th, the opening ceremony of the "Crafts in Fashion" held in The Seoul Craft Museum (SeMoCA) Exhibition Building 1. The theme of the "Crafts in Fashion" exhibition introduces the craft elements used in the works of the first-generation fashion in Korea.
Four FIT graduate students collaborated with The Seoul Craft Museum (SeMoCA) on the special exhibition. Hannah Kim, Yoojin Lee, Percy Batdorj, and Nicole Martinez’s designs were inspired by the main historical designers Kyungja Choi, Nora Noh, and Andre Kim, designing their clothing elements from a historical to a modern look.
The students’ works were selected during the 2022 June AAS Exhibition, when the director of the SeMoCA museum visited SUNY Korea. The director of SeMoCA stated, “[The students’ works] is way higher and better than what I expected, and it will be very difficult to make a garments selection.”
SUNY Korea’s FIT Professor Bonkuk Koo commented on why this exhibition was significant, saying, “Even if we are in the generation of digital or virtual, we always learn from history and it is the same for Fashion. To my memory, this is the first and biggest fashion exhibition that praises three masters in Korean fashion history. This exhibition will give priceless voices to the current generation that is working or studying in Fashion.”
Linda Kim, an FIT professor of SUNY Korea, praised the four student’s participation in this exhibition: “In general, notable museums like SeMoCA are hesitant to exhibit student works due to the quality of works produced and the many external criticisms they could face. However, our students' meticulously sewn and beautifully constructed pieces satisfied the museum's standards. I am very proud of our fashion design students and the exquisite and fascinating works they produced. And thanks to Director Heisoon Shin of the SUNY Korea Museum of Modern Costume, who served as a bridge for these students, offering the excellent opportunity to exhibit their beautiful pieces at SeMoCA.”
SeMoCa is the first public museum of craft art in Korea and recently opened in 2021. It is a prestigious museum that only exhibits works with technical, artistic, and cultural values of craft. This special exhibition is located on the 3rd floor of The Seoul Craft Museum Exhibition Building 1 and the duration of this exhibition will be from February 7, 2023 to April 2, 2023.