-By Pratyasha Sarkar
JUNTAE KIM, a clothing brand founded by designer Juntae Kim based out of London and Seoul, has just shown their Spring/Summer 2024 collection. The line, dubbed “SLASHES AND HOLES,” was unveiled soon after the company was named an LVMH 2023 semi-finalist.
The seasonal collection pays tribute to the late, great Vivienne Westwood and pays homage to her “Cut and Slash” spring/summer 1991 collection. With a focus on “unravelling binary constructions: true beauty is not about constraining the body, but loosening it,” the collection transforms ages-old women’s attire into modern masculinity. The innovative genderless style modernises outdated textiles and expertise while contrasting old crafts with current techniques. In addition, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or status, wearers are exposed to inverted and reintroduced stereotyped Asian clichés.
The SS24 “SLASHES AND HOLES” collection’s centrepiece is a reimagining of Westwood’s iconic SS91 punk pieces. An incarnation of punk styling emerges, inspired by the 16th and 17th-century craze of tearing apart and sewing back together material from gowns. A contemporary fluid fashion emerged as a result of the rupture of gender, class, and body size-based beauty norms. Corseting of the female and male forms on the washed, gathered, and detailed looks are distinguished by Juntae Kim’s recognisable laser cuts and gathered slashes.
