One of the last big things I did of 2017 was attend the Ladies of Curves Fashion Show. Tickets were 45,000 won which included a buffet and 50,000 won if you wanted to get a raffle ticket. The event was hosted at the Crown Hotel Itaewon at 6pm which is a bit difficult to get to from the station especially in the snow/rain and pollution that happened on that Saturday. Per Nathalie’s suggestion I took a cab from Yongsan which saved me a lot of stress.
Thankfully at the hotel there were signs up with directions to the event and a sign in. At the sign in I was checked off the list, given an itinerary and a stamp which didn’t look like anything but a bruise. The event was on the second floor in what seemed like a wedding venue space. There was a stage and a ton of circular tables pushed to either side of the room to make space for the cat walk. I tried figuring out a good spot to sit, a bit nervous since it felt like the first day of school without any friends, until I realized that nearby was Gina who I hadn’t seen since the Seoul Creatives dinner at Brera which was way too long ago. So I shoved my stuff at an empty table nearby that seemed to have a semi-decent view of the end of the runway, headed to the buffet to help myself and then when I couldn’t find any of the silverware decided to ask Gina and her friend. (Turned out the buffet continued on a lot further than I had thought and it was at the end). This was a good icebreaker/re-introduction and I ended up sitting with her friend because Gina was in the show as one of the models.
The start to the fashion show was the Ladies of Curves t-shirt line. During this portion they’d asked the models to write what curvy meant to them. For the most part it was three words sets per group of models, “Glamorous, vivacious, indestructible, fabulous, freedom, classy, strong, mesmerizing, truth…” and a lot more that the host, Nathlie read off as they walked past.
After the t-shirts there was a performance by Whitney Sol whose singing was delightful. She was the first of three performers the others being Anna and Greg Priester. All three performers did a wonderful job.
The first set of designs were done by Catherine Kelly at RIN Designs who does costume and makeup designs as well as running some Gangnam sewing classes, she also was selling hats in the vendors section. However I didn’t end up with any non-blurry photos of her “CEO boss lady/Manic Pixie Dream Girl/Rock Star Wannabe designs”. She’s also the only designer who walked the whole length of the catwalk and bowed towards the end.
Next was by French designer Kelly Diakité whose style is “street classic meets goth”. Her designs have been showcased at the Montreal Fashion Show as well as featured in Elle and Huf Magazine.
The 4th round was from the models closets to give an idea of how to style different body types.
5th was Yebs designs by Kwame Yeboah which showcase his Ghanaian heritage by using Ankara prints and his designs were showcased in the 2017 Seoul Africa Fashion Show. He also had a booth in the vendors section.
6th was Narsha Designs which was a variety of formal evening wear, and the designer has a shop in Itaewon.
Last but not least was Hani from Myunji. I got to see her after the show and tell her how much I enjoyed her work. She interviewed each of the models and made the clothing specifically based on them and their body types, and she’s been making clothing for women for over 5 years with an aim of “affordable luxury” for women of all shapes and sizes. She was delightful.
During one of the breaks I popped into the vendors section which was at the end of the buffet near. There were four vendors set up (two were designers) while I was looking around, one with beautiful handmade accessories by YogiYo Accessories. There were also desserts by Jackies Sweet Treatz . I ended up buying a pumpkin spice cupcake with cream cheese frosting and a peach cobbler in a cup. (Both of which were delicious) She also had delicious looking chocolate covered and alcohol infused strawberries but at that point I was out of cash.
The event was a lot of fun and I hope that it becomes an annual event. It was an amazing positive experience.