Juun.J Fall 2023 - Paris Fashion Week.

(Images: Juun.J 2023)

I have been reviewing Juun. J, the South Korean avant-garde designer, Paris show's since 2017.  Returning to the runway after a three year hiatus, which would include of course the pandemic of 2020.  That threw our society into utter disarray, only to emerge into a rush of hyper consumption, but is still very much in turmoil.  And you can't blame the virus forever.  Such is the human condition in all of our folly, was the mishandling, politicization of the global pandemic, that could have been a deep retrospection for self improvement.  Offered to us from the natural construct, without any conscious reasoning.  Yet, we're always shifting blame to something else.  Are we solely products of our environments?  Maybe, but Jung Wook-jun has always been inspired by the fictionalized urbanism of a metropolis, those modern cities of concrete, glass and steel.   So, the postmodern and avant-garde have always been the draw card to a designer, who has mostly stayed within his oversized fits and fine tailoring.   Juun. J does have the romanticism and aesthetics of Japanese anime and the street wear stylizations of  Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai younger residents.  So, the Asian distinction has always been evident throughout Wook-jun collections over the years.  

Part of the Samsung group, the Juun. J brand name has been incorporated to represent one of the largest technology companies in the world.  Has this effected Wook-jun design imprint?    If one is to look at the collaboration with a conglomerate as a steering factor on an independent designer to shift course.   Juun. J's fall 2023 would be paradox to say the least, gone are the sleek styling and tailored looks, that even under his avant-garde banner, set a precedence of sophistication.   His latest collection is very much the opposite.  

Broken down and the reworked styles of past looks, Wook-jun has infused the more dystopian impression to his Fall arrays, casting a darker and somber imprint.   Possibly in light on the perpetual turmoil the human race is facing post pandemic, with distressed leathers and denim.   The collection has a focused, determined and warrior like presence, which is a major shift from his more anime related styles.  Maturing beyond the utopian-esque costume appeal, inspired by cities that have thrived after a major event.  Usually a nuclear war.   With fantasy aside, we all very much maybe about to emulate what could be deemed a fictional concept,  versed in reality.  Which is both exciting and horrifying to even conceive as a possibility.   We could be at the cusp of World War Three.

And it seems that fashion designers, as a trend for 2023, could be precognitively setting a decree, which, yes we have been there before ala the Cuban Missile crisis of 1960's; although with this tune we are somewhat sleep walking into oblivion.  This is not the first time humanity has faced the possibility of a nuclear war.  And while the Doomsday Clock tells us that we are 100 seconds to midnight, may we be styled accordingly.

At our final hour. 

___

(A.Glass 2023)