Collaboration of SNU with Danish KF was conducted under process of Fig. 1 as follows in South Korea and Denmark.
SNU teacher visiting KF for workshop
Professors of the Dept. of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design, College of Human Ecology, SNU visited KF, Denmark and participated in fur design development and working before industrial-educational collaboration workshop by KF furriers at SNU.
Pre-workshop for students at SNU
SNU teachers held a short-term workshop for participant students a week ago KF furriers visited South Korea for workshop. This workshop was held for patterning like a general textile through cutting and trimming the whole mink skin. Teachers instructed for students to work design technic using mink skin as large as possible throughout the process. It aimed to make students familiar with untrimmed mink skin with which they firstly dealt. Also before trimming high quality mink skin to be used at this workshop, relatively law quality mink skin supplied from KF was used for practice.
Furriers’ visit SNU for workshop with students, making samples
This workshop was held with 2 KF furriers who visited South Korea at SNU for 4 nights and 5 days along with participant students. Firstly, for students not familiar with fur materials, KF was introduced and its various real fur was shown. KF, a center of the international fur trade, has the largest fur auction house in the world, occupying 40% of the global mink production (KOPENHAGEN FUR n.d.a, b). There, auction takes place 5 times a year, various materials including about 20 million’s mink, fox, Swakara, chinchilla, seal, sable, rabbit and karakul skin are being offered (KOPENHAGEN FUR n.d.a, b). Based on above, material design was developed using various kinds of fur and finally development process of fur garment design was described. Considering its characteristic fur has difference from other general textiles in terms of cutting, sewing and finish, demanding a very complicated and elaborate working. Hence, firstly participant students were educated from furriers about how to treat, cut and sew fur materials with a variety of fur materials including mink, fox produced by KF, as shown from Fig. 2.
And then, students prepared an image of their inspiration and exchanged opinions with KF furriers to develop fur garment design. In particular, to make a design merely they sketched on paper real along with a material they selected, students who encountered fur material firstly concentrated on working with KF furriers in terms of cutting and sewing. As a result, for 4 nights and 5 days, students developed inspiration for their material design, set a design motive and through cutting, sewing and finish of fur, creative fur works were completed using multiple techniques like Fig. 3.
Students keep developing and finish designs in classes at SNU
Participant students completed works finally through developing and complementing material development technic design from workshop and applying it to a garment. Using completed material development design, sketch of fur garment design was done and students sketched freely wearing and schematization of a garment their inspiration was contained. Sketching was done considering how well their inspiration was expressed and how effectively their fur design technics were applied to garments as the most important elements.
SNU selects 5 designs of students and send to KF, KF 3 selects final designs among 5
Participant students had the time for sharing their completed fur garment designs together. They introduced their garment sketch, schematization, inspiration board, actual technic design to other students and selected five works by all students’ secret ballot. Five students getting the most votes produced a portfolio based on prior work and sent it to KF. KF selected three works evaluated as the innovative idea and design perfection when producing a real garment.
Students began to produce the real work of the selected design with connection to a local professional fur production. KF was used for every material and students completed the work through active communication and collaboration with the local production from dyeing to cutting and sewing.
Figure 4 shows specific design inspiration, sketches and results.
Design 1 simplified inspiration from trees of Northern Europe into Y-type motives. The entire pattern was completed through connecting their edges. The characteristic of this design is the visible inner side because the parts excepting the joints of Y is empty. As for color, centered on blue lines, light blue, blue and navy was mixed, as for material, mink were used for a body and fox having abundant volume was used for neck and sleeve, giving a differentiated feeling from the length despite the same color. Besides, leather was mixed partially so more casual and active feeling was added.
Design 2 was inspired by a skyline and a linear form of a skyscraper of a city. It expressed an ambivalent characteristic, say, feeling of flexible fur and that of upright of the building. The entire silhouette was expressed as a form of a round curve for the flexible feeling of fur and the inside fur was cut straightly for the feeling of the skyscraper. Dress color was expressed with a gray tone giving a feeling of the city skyscraper and sky blue, a color of the sky. As for material, tender Alpaca was used for body and mink was added for completion.
Design 3 was inspired by plasticity of the South Korean traditional fan. Even for a single color of the fan, a shadow by wrinkles, when spreading, shows varied colors, becoming the first motive of this work. A fan-shaped motive was arranged repeatedly and composed into three kinds of sizes, the larger it is, the farther down it goes. It was composed of yellow symbolizing light, pale gray symbolizing shadow, and deep blue supporting these two colors harmoniously. Such a design was applied to South Korean traditional male clothes, Dopo. Dopo is a male coat with very wide sleeves and long length covering knees, characteristic of long opening begun from a waistline at both sides and the back with Saejodae, a belt made of the traditional knots (Lee 1977). Every colorful motive was made of mink, and hood of the completed coat was designed with white ample fox fur.
Future Fur fashion show with KF and SNU at MoA of SNU, visiting of the Minister of the Ministry of Education, Denmark
On 20th, Jan. 2015, ‘Future Fur’ fashion show was held at MoA of SNU, Gwan-ak Gu, Seoul, under industrial-educational collaboration of SNU and Denmark KF (Figs. 5 and 6). This fashion show was held only in South Korea among 6 participant nations in 2014 and suggested a direction for future fur industry and design through students’ works and various kinds of KF garments. Before fashion show, every participant student gave a presentation on their design process during fur design workshop. Many persons participated in such a show with much interest and encouraged their efforts including students and professors, local fur producers, persons concerned in KF, SOFIE CARSTEN NIELSEN, The Minister of the Ministry of High Education & Science, Thomas Lehmann, Danish ambassador to South Korea, press and magazine editors.
Finalists visits KF with other countries’ students for ‘Imagine Talents’ fashion show
KF invited students selected finally by nation to Denmark and conducted the 2nd fur educational workshop during 3 nights and 4 days in 2015, 2016. Students from many nations visited KiCK, and introduced and shared their design development and working process (Fig. 7). KiCK is Kopenhagen Fur established the creative power house, KiCK (Kopenhagen International Centre for Creativity) in the heart of Copenhagen in 2013 (KOPENHAGEN FUR n.d.c). KiCK intends to bridge the gap between the fur and fashion industries (KOPENHAGEN FUR n.d.c). By taking the lead in the development of fur fashion, KiCK wants to help create momentum and growth in the fashion industry and within the creative (KOPENHAGEN FUR n.d.c).
In addition, they saw various kinds of fur garments, accessories and furniture manufactured and sold by KiCk, and had the time to learn from and exchange with designers at the local fur design workroom, working and material development process.
Next, they visited a mink farm for fur manufactured by KF and experienced a fur production process directly (Fig. 8). In particular, the impressing thing was for producers to prioritize welfare of a mink in the entire production process. Fur is obtained from living animals so cherished and respected much.
Finally, they visited the head office of KF where fur is manufactured as a product from the farm and the auction house where commercialized materials are distributed globally (Fig. 9). KF takes pride in its high quality so keeps rules strictly in fur production with modern mechanization in many part. However, in the work requiring the manual necessarily, it was very interesting that experienced masters are specially treated than those of other works. Through such a field trip, students could understand the entire industrial processes of fur including production and distribution.
As the most significant event during 3 nights and 4 days stay, KF held ‘Imagine Talents’ fashion show within 2015, 2016, Copenhagen Fashion Week (Fig. 10). This fashion show was the important event where participant students from many nations displayed their work, and SOFIE CARSTEN NIELSEN, the Minister of the Ministry of High Education & Science, parties concerned in fur in the world, fashion magazine editors participated with much interest in the fashion show. With students’ creative designs, it was evaluated as the fashion show that presented new design inspiration and a direction for future fur industry while assessing results of workshop program.
Exhibition around world also at SNU
This exhibition was held with fur works from ‘Imagine Talents 2015’ from 9th to 16th, April, 2015 at the exhibition hall, 1F, College of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design, SNU (Fig. 11). About 800 persons saw this exhibition with much interest including students majoring in Clothing and Textiles, SNU, students majoring in various fields of other schools also with professors. In particular, student works from 5 nations were exhibited firstly in addition to those of SNU students, arousing interest from viewers. Besides, on the wall of the exhibition hall, video of ‘Imagine Talents Show 2015’ held in Copenhagen was played, making viewers feel a fur fashion show scene vividly. Finally, this exhibition increased students’ recognition on creative fur design. Also it gave an opportunity to have much interest in collaboration of SNU and KF hereafter.