Joanna Youn is the joint creation of student designers and friends, Joanna Lee and Changmin Yun. The two met in their first year at RMIT where they both studied design. Realising their shared passions and interests, they started Joanna Youn shortly after and worked on it throughout their years at university together.
Their graduate showcase is the culmination of years spent honing their craft and comprises ten looks overall. Aptly titled The Korean Festival, it imagines a cast of characters who were once prevalent in Korean society, including female soldiers, brides and Korean mythological animals.
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“The process was very daunting at the beginning but we were very ambitious and excited,” Joanna and Changmin explain. “It was our first time creating such big and detailed garments so we spent a lot of time learning and failing before coming to the final product.”
Pairing unorthodox colour combinations with larger-than-life silhouettes, each design embodies a carefully thought-out persona. The result is as unpredictable as it is mesmerising.
Joanna and Changmin’s collection is one of the many groundbreaking student works that will be on display at the National Graduate Showcase x Emporium Melbourne as part of PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival on March 4. Held at the Royal Exhibition Building, the runway will feature 13 graduate designers hand-picked from Australia’s leading fashion institutions. It’s always an exciting glimpse into the future of Australian fashion and Fashion Journal is proud to be a long-time media partner of the event.
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Fashion Journal: Hi Joanna and Changmin! How did you both start working together?
Joanna: Changmin and I were passionate design students at RMIT who met in our first year of fashion school. We were both interested in fashion from a young age and fostered that interest through university studies. We began our label, Joanna Youn, and worked on it throughout our university years together.
Tell me about the collection you’re showing together for the NGS. What was your inspiration?
The Korean Festival is a hanbok couture collection that imagines a festival with various characters that play roles that were prevalent in historical Korean society, including laundry women, instrument performers, female soldiers, brides, queens, entertainers, fan dancers and Korean mythological animals. We were inspired by the rich history of Korea and wanted to reimagine Korean dress from a new perspective.
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What has the process of creating your collection been like?
We created ten looks for this collection and the process was very daunting at the beginning but we were very ambitious and excited. It was our first time creating such big and detailed garments so we spent a lot of time learning and failing before coming to the final product. We often had to make multiple versions before deciding it matched our sketches.
How would you describe your collection to someone who’s never seen it before?
The collection is bold and explosive using unorthodox colour combinations and shapes to create unique silhouettes. It’s unpredictable; unexpected textures and patterns play together and each design embodies a specific persona, embellished with details that harmonise together to create a holistic look.
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What are you both most proud of in your work so far?
We are the most proud when we’re able to see the final look come together on a model. It’s always a long journey to finalise each look down to every detail, so completing it and seeing it come together makes us feel extremely proud.
What do you wish you knew when you started on your collection?
We wish we were more open-minded in changing or altering our designs, as well as being more comfortable pushing our limits and going outside our comfort zone earlier on. Also, we wish we were prepared for the amount of toiles we would need to make for each look and the challenges it would take to finalise each one.
Who is exciting you the most in local fashion right now?
We believe our perspective is more aligned with historical designers and culture. We align with the creativity and carefree nature of the past in comparison to the rigidity of the fashion industry today.
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What about the local fashion industry needs to change?
The local fashion industry should be better at knowing what is objectively good and bad. Good design should elicit a ‘wow’ at first glance. Fashion design shouldn’t be treated as a hobby and requires great attention to detail. Local fashion institutions could change by objectively telling students what is good and bad to create productive improvements, rather than feedback based on emotions.
Who are your dream collaborators?
Our dream collaborators are Prada and Jacquemus. We are constantly inspired by their creativity and storytelling. Both brands have cemented their iconic status through unique aesthetics and constantly experimental design and imagery.
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Where do you hope to be in the next five years?
Over the next few years, we hope to be a part of the global fashion industry in the major fashion capital cities. We hope our designs can resonate and gain recognition with the wider audience so we can continue to cultivate our practice.
How can we see more of your work?
We are most active on our Instagram where we share our design process and collections. We will continue to create designs and update regularly so follow us to to stay up to date with our future projects.
Follow Joanna here.
This article Larger than life: Inside the whimsical student collection that takes cues from the traditional Korean hanbok appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-02-12 10:25:00
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