Tatler spoke to Paik Suk Chung of Recto, the niche Korean fashion label that’s dressing K-pop stars—and blurring gender divide in fashion
Korean fashion is having far more than a moment: with South Korean celebrities taking luxury houses by storm and fascination with K-culture reaching new heights, consumers the world over are lusting over idol-approved names such as Miss Sohee and Minjunkim. That’s not to say there wasn’t a global presence before the advent of Squid Game and Blackpink: Rejina Pyo and Rokh are two brands which have been regulars at European fashion weeks for several years.
One of the most exciting names to know right now is Recto, a Seoul-based ready-to-wear label. Founded in 2014 by award-winning designer Ji Yeon Jung, Recto is part of a new wave of Korean fashion that’s defining the contemporary fashion uniform.
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Stocked physically in Hong Kong’s Lane Crawford and globally on e-commerce sites such as HBX and Ssense, the brand’s minimalistic, androgynous, wearable approach to design has also won the likes of more than 250,000 followers on Instagram as well as appearing as the OOTDs of Korean footballer and Tottenham star Son Heung-min, internationally renowned DJ Peggy Gou and actress Gong Hyo-jin.
We spoke to Paik Suk Chung, the current co-creative director who came to Recto in 2020 after two decades at Hyundai Handsome, a prestigious Korean fashion company under The Handsome Group, about the secret of brand positioning and the potential of Asian fashion.
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