Also Journal

For Spring Summer 19 Also Journal has collaborated with designer Eudon Choi, showcasing the new collection in an exclusive editorial. We spoke to Eudon about masculine cuts for the female form and how his customer and the city he loves inspire him.

You trained in Menswear and tailoring at the beginning of your career but then moved into womenswear and started your own label in 2009. Why the transition and how has this influenced your work?

I like to see my brand as masculine tailoring with a feminine sensibility. My background in menswear means I always focus on using sartorial techniques and masculine cuts to shape the female form. I love hiding menswear detailing in womenswear and including things like a coin pocket in jackets.

We don’t feature many male designers on Also but you seem to have an affinity with grown up, intelligent women who want clothes they can actually wear. Who is the Eudon Choi woman?

Women really inspire me and help me to evolve the label. I feel my collections come alive when they have reached the customer, I design pieces that fit with their wardrobes and I love to see how they style them and make them their own. It’s so rewarding to see my vision realised in that sense. I have a very close relationship with the women who wear my clothes and am always listening to what they want and how I can improve their fashion experience. I want my customer to keep the pieces in their wardrobe for a long time, revisit them and keep falling back in love with them. I like to think that women come to me for their wardrobe staples, investment pieces that can be worn again and again. My pieces are classic with a twist.

Do you have a favourite item of clothing to design, and if so why? 

I am known for my outerwear which feels very natural for me but I also love trousers as they provide the perfect masculine/feminine crossover.

You are from Korea but have been in London a long time, what is it about the city that continues to inspire you?

The fashion scene in London is wonderfully diverse. People seem more confident in their fashion choices and as a result you see so many people both old and young with a great sense of style.

Being a London based Korean designer has provided me with more opportunities than I could ever have imagined. I feel very lucky to live here and be embraced as a designer. It’s such an amazing city, known for its diversity and innovation, it really gives me the freedom to be playful.
As a city it incubates young talent like no other and the support from the British Fashion Council is really amazing. The London woman is totally unique, I love to design pieces that marry into her wardrobe.

Tell us about your inspiration for the SS19 collection, what can we expect?

I always find inspiration in art, architecture and history, I like to reinterpret and reference others’ creative journeys in my own. For SS19 I took inspiration from the artist Ivan da Silva Bruhns, a self-taught carpet weaver.

I was drawn to Da Silva Bruhn’s ability to combine visually impactful geometrics and a palette of warm nuanced tones. Ochre and aubergine contrast harmoniously with radical patterns and parallel contours, echoing Da Silva Bruhn’s careful balance of decoration and utility.