ENDLESS JOURNEY: RUBINA

Rubina, who made her debut as a designer in March 1980, has created countless original costumes.
The exhibition "Endless Journey" is a place where you can meet 37 years of work created by the curiosity, enthusiasm, and challenge of Rubina, a designer who loves clothes and travel like you.

On the other hand, this exhibition was held with photographers who have their own sensitivity and philosophy such as Koo Bohn-Chang, Han Hong-il, Lee Gun-ho, Zo Sun-Hee, Ogh Sang -Sun, Hong Jang- Hyun, Kim Je- Won,Mok Jung-Wook, Suk-Jun, Cho Gi-Seok.

Sometimes full of energy, like a parachute of a pilot who is just about to fly, sometimes like a piece of mandala in the Nepal monk's palace, sometimes like a fateful woman I met in a traditional Moroccan market. The world of 10 photographers inspired by Rubina's clothes unfolds another story from the exhibition.

FOREWORD

Rubina loves clothes.

It is now 38 years since I began my first project as a fation designer, nervous and excited. Looking back, each day seemed new, like traveling to an unfamiliar place. To make clothes I traveled around, and as I traveled I repeatedly made new clothes like no other that existed on this earth.

In the traditional markets of foreign countries I like to bend an ear to the stories left behind in an antiques shop and remember that time, the colors and the textures. These experiences are reflected in Rubina crations, used as themes for my collections. The attraction of travel, which lies in the encounter with the unfamiliar, seeing, enjoying and feeling new things, is much like the attraction of fashion, which lies in bringing new things together to create beauty. Travel and fashion are indeed very much alike, at times clean and pure, at other times like a strong afterimage, and even in the way that they bestow meaningful gifts.

One by one, I now intend to take out my memories of travel, which has been a friend constantly at my side and given birth to the clothes created by Rubina.
I invite all of you on this ENDLESS JOURNEY under the lead of Rubina’s creations.

The word 'graphic' originally means to 'carve or draw a visual shape.' For a designer, graphic means carving one's thoughts on a garment. There are times when I paint geometric shapes with a brush, but at other times I combine different fabrics as if composing a picture.

I perceived such calculation to be the source of the sense of balance in the city, in much the same way that carefully adding different graphics to a garment can create overall harmony, notwithstanding the benefit of being natural.

For a garment to have a structural silhouette when worn by a model the pattern has to be three-dimensional. To properly put down the picture that I see in my head, I draw sketches, make a pattern with cotton cloth, do more sketches, then cut the final pattern. This process has to be repeated over and over again. Only when the garment that I wanted is finally produced do I feel at peace.

But of all the wonderful scenes that I saw, those that really stayed in my mind were a lone tree that had put its roots down in hard earth with not a blade of grass in sight and the clothes of the women of the native African tribes. From a distance, the tree looked like a white bird gazing at the sky. Up close it was a curious combination of all colors, from dark brown to grey, a color that couldn't be named. We've always called this "wood color" without really thinking about it.

In a sense, the strips function as a small comma, a pause in the process of dressing. Haven't you stopped and thought of something else while quietly tying a cord? As if making a quick stop somewhere on the road.

Of the 55 minority tribes in China, the Miao hill tribes are famous for the rich, bright colors of their traditional costume. Some call them the 'gypsies of the East.' They are skilled at dyeing, embroidery, and silverwork, and with just one look at the clothing and hair accessories of the women I knew they were exceptional.

I once spent the night in a place near Ephesus, Turkey, where ancient Greek and Roman ruins can be seen. Tables and chairs covered in white lace, waitresses wearing white lace dresses. Faraway the mountaintop is already dark and above it a big star shines. It seemed to be a different time to the rest of the earth.

The next morning, the sunlight that had come from the Aegean Sea penetrated the white lace curtains and once again the scene seemed removed from reality.

When I see sunlight streaming through gauze, loosely woven on a low gauge, I can recall the pleasant indolence of that day.

Sometimes I design clothes on the theme of hanbok, traditional Korean costume. Brocade has a subtle sheen that makes it a wonderful material.

I make a headpiece that a princess in ancient times would have daintily worn on her head as she traveled to see the sea.

When we see clothes from the past, contemporary designers thinks of the clothes we wear today. For a designer, time is an eternal source of inspiration.

In the past, people talked about making clothes as 'forming' clothes. We may use high-tech materials today thanks to scientific development, but regardless of past or present the act of making clothes requires the dreams and devotion of the maker. Of course, I chose this path in life because I liked making clothes so much, and it is always an enjoyable process.

In Buddhism, it is believed that the results of one's deeds in the present life will influence the next life. Samsara. It is likely that I will keep wandering and returning, and find myself making clothes in another world.

When you reach Marrakesh, the most dynamic city in Morocco, the reddish tones created by the old brickwork make you dizzy. At the traditional markets, the colors, sounds and smells can overwhelm you and make you lose your way.

The unfamiliar fruits and vegetables in baskets, the ornaments and fabric scraps of myriad odd colors and textures from an unknown period. Even the fragmented window in a corner of the restaurant was not just one color.