Whatever image you have of leather in fashion, it may be time for a rethink based on Korean brand Juun.J’s recent Paris showcase. A few months after its last stop in the French capital, the Samsung C&T Fashion Group label was back dazzling the Ecole de Medecine on Dec. 17 with a leather-inspired collection for Fall/Winter 2020.
The leather theme in Juun.J’s latest collection is indicated by its “ATOMAGE” concept – a reference to John Sutcliffe’s 1970s British magazine AtomAge, which played a pioneering role in recognizing leather’s place in fashion.
In typical Juun.J style, its F/W 2020 lineup reinterprets the past by cutting 1980s items and silhouettes in a new way. Its wide range of clothing and accessories includes leather-based coats, pants, and skirts. The brand’s tailoring combines with leather to create a stylish material that breaks fashion stereotypes, as shown by the collection’s new type of pleated skirt and innovative concept coat joining wool with leather.
Unique mix-match with jackets, shirts, and eco leather
A new formal trend, rarely seen in Juun.J’s recent collections, has received great attention since being unveiled in Paris. This style is based on shirts and ties, mixing them with various coats, jackets, skirts, and pants incorporating leather.
Other highlights to mention from the Ecole de Medecine saw Juun.J’s ever-changing Reinterpretation of Classic concept meet F/W 2020 with a redesigned 1980s jacket boasting bold shoulderpads extending more than 1cm. The show’s finale also drew gasps from the 400-member audience as 21 models walked in unison wearing leather hats and masks.
Samsung C&T Fashion Group’s Creative Director Jung Wook-jun stressed what he wanted to express with this collection. “The highlight is the silhouette and material,” he said. “The silhouette emphasizes powerful shoulders through a thick shoulderpad, while expressing contrast between items by coordinating with skinny pants.”
Jung also insisted that much of the material used in the ATOMAGE concept is eco leather, under the philosophy that “it is time for fashion to think about the environment.”
Collaborating to produce stylish earbuds and casual shoes
As much as earbuds are an increasingly common sight, Juun.J’s added its own style to this trend by collaborating with Samsung Electronics and its Galaxy Buds. 13 of the Juun.J models walked the Paris catwalk with Galaxy Buds plugged in – and the brand’s F/W 2020 collection includes Galaxy Buds leather cases for both the necklace and clip types.
Every season, Juun.J receives great attention and love from millennials due to its collaboration with other brands or designers. In addition to the Galaxy Buds, its latest collection features a new shoe infusing global brand Reebok with Juun.J’s design. The resulting new Pump Court shoes are seen as discovering a calm and impressive look by combining Juun.J’s sensibility of pursuing minimal and refined beauty with the footwear’s colorful style.
Scheduled to be released in the second half of this year, these Pump Court shoes will come in four colors – adding green to the season’s black, gray and white. There will be hats and socks in addition to the shoes, which will be available in more than 100 Reebok stores around the world. Rumor has it that Reebok has asked Juun.J to expand the collaboration to other clothing as well.
Juun.J’s womenswear coming to Korean department stores
A further development to watch in 2020 will be the arrival of Juun.J’s womenswear line at Korea’s biggest department stores.
Over the past year, the brand has garnered great popularity among women with its coats, jackets, and skirts – even while breaking the boundaries between men and women by presenting shirt-type skirts and dresses.
Juun.J’s womenswear line, which was officially launched in Spring/Summer 2019, successfully debuted in the brand’s Dosan flagship store over the past year and will be available at Seoul department stores starting this March.
