Hyein Seo is a South Korean label founded by Hyein Seo and Jino Lee after graduating from the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts, alma mater to the likes of Martin Margiela, Raf Simons, Anne Demeulemeester and many more. The label has risen to fame thanks to a rebellious design language, and also partly to celebrity nods such as Rihanna wearing it to a Comme des Garçons show or G-Dragon in a music video shot in London. However, the truly unique, and captivating aspect of the brand is the way in which it captures the vitality of youth and modernity, with nods to its South Korean origins.

In the 2010s, the label was mostly known for its distinctive usage of eye-catching text that was sparsely, but cleverly placed on several pieces of clothing, carrying an anti-establishment element to it. The inspiration was drawn from many sources, such as Raf Simons, all the way to the cult classic anime, Akira. Most season’s signature pieces ranged from boiler suits to their iconic bomber jackets, with a staunch focus on proportionality and thematic messaging. Although officially offered as womenswear, the sizing system goes from 1 to 3, which is reflective of the brand’s philosophy that so long as the garment fits the wearer, arbitrary labels such as “Large” or “Small” simply pale in comparison.

In these earlier collections, much of the design language was already drawn from modern industrialism with a lot of the pieces having roots in workwear or military wear, with a dystopian colour palette attached. As the brand evolved, so did it’s focus and scope. Doubling down on its study of industrialism and technicality, the latest seasons incorporate a more consistent colour palette, nylon materials and technical silhouettes, which cements an already powerful brand identity, especially for a fledgling label in the context of the whole fashion industry. Hyein Seo’s evolution also involved using less graphic motifs, but now instead, the message is rather expressed implicitly through meticulous design choices, similar to Raf Simon’s transitory phase in creating punk clothing from the early 2000s. The brand served as one of the progenitors of the recently popular “subversive basics” trend, in which the garment’s relation with the human body is explored, with strange holes and cuts throughout a long t-shirt, as an example. Exploring the dynamism present in youth is an important cornerstone to Hyein Seo’s brand identity.

In the short film “Save Yourself”, a video depicts conversations held with young people with different backgrounds, all wearing Hyein Seo pieces. They discussed life experiences thus far in the topics of youth, love and freedom with the backdrop sometimes transitioning to dark urban alleys, or a melancholic city. The video ends in a photo much like a class photo from high school, but it’s ironic in this sense as the interviewees don’t fit the stereotype as “model high school students,” which adds a delicate, yet rebellious charm to the ending, speaking directly to the label’s design ethos.

Continuing its exploration with dynamism, the brand's latest offering for Spring Summer 2022 sees the majority of pieces made from woven nylon with standout offerings being technical knit jerseys, a cropped fencing jacket, as well as a nylon suit with small, sharp lapels adorned with a magnetic button closure.