Woman’s Baeja

Kate Yunju Ko: "I was inspired by ‘Portrait of Yi Chae’ for the design of baeja for this show. Yi Chae was a Confucian scholar in the late Joseon period. In this portrait, he is depicted as a 58-year old literati-scholar wearing a black hat and white robe. Seated in a neat and dignified posture with a noble countenance, the portrait projects the integrity of an upright scholar. I tried to deliver the message of a ‘benevolent gentleman with knowledge’ like a literati-scholar in the portrait of Yi Chae through my design, which projects the personality of the wearer.

Cotton is used to express the Korean beauty of simplicity. Off-white, black, and dark grey \are used to reflect the frugal and clean life of a literati-scholar of Joseon Korea. Draping and binding tapes are properly fixed so that elegant modern feeling can be revealed from voluminous style. Simple lines and planes are re-interpreted to suit modernity, while seeking understated beauty by removing ornamentation."