It is only days before his fashion show but Eudon Choi seems to be enjoying the excitement rather than having an anxiety attack.
Considering that this is only the second collection produced under his name, it is quite remarkable that he is not pulling out his (rather short) hair.
Instead, Choi is perusing through a dozen pieces of garments hanging on a rack in his tiny studio in East London.
"They are wearable yet edgy, but not too trendy, although I will probably add a couple of more show pieces," said the 35-year-old designer of his 2010/2011 fall/winter line, his eyes sparkling behind the black rimmed glasses.
Wearable yet edgy, they are indeed: the silky cotton T-shirts are soft to the touch; jackets and hooded parkas in thick canvas cotton are structured and accentuated with fastenings and studs; the colour palettes stay to muted tones of olive green, khaki, sand and cream.
But it is when worn by the models that they come to life. At the show on February 19, Choi's modern take on the military was fully on display as the models took to the runway sporting the contemporary collection he created for Vauxhall Fashion Scout's Ones to Watch.
"As I originally did menswear I borrow many of the techniques, so my designs have many details from menswear and tend to look masculine. But once you wear them or see a model wear one, you would see how feminine they are," said the designer, whose works were also part of the exhibition held during the recently ended London Fashion Week.
Dubbed as 'goldmine for talent' by Vogue UK, the off-schedule catwalk event showcased the works of four up-and-coming designers in London.
London has been very kind to this spirited, energetic designer who came to the fashion capital with several years of experience at established Korean menswear design house Time Homme.
"I have always wanted to give it a try outside Seoul, put myself to test on the international stage," said Choi. "After a bit of a stint as a designer, I have developed an interest in research. I wanted to be a designer who could last for a long time, someone who can develop designs based on their knowledge."
Although he already had a master's degree in menswear from Yonsei University in Seoul, Choi did another at London's Royal College of Art, in womenswear. "I came here looking for an answer but learned that you have to ask your own questions and find an answer on your own," he said.
His graduate collection in 2006, themed "Gisaeng (Korean geisha) goes to Studio 54" was bought by Rei Kawakubo's Dover Street Market. The collection was inspired by "a combination of '70s celebrities, the culture, the bling-bling." While he was doing research he came across a picture of Bianca Jagger, a fashion icon of the era and a fixture at the notorious hangout for the glamorous set.
And there was an epiphany. "On the day when I finished displaying the collection at Dover Street Market in the morning, Jade Jagger came by at the boutique," Choi said. The daughter of the former actress and rock 'n' roll legend Mick Jagger was there for a meeting for a DJ-ing stint, saw the collection and bought two of them right on the spot.
She proposed to work with him for her label, but he already had a contract with All Saints, a quality high-street brand quite firmly established in London.
And then he was approached by Twenty8Twelve, the brainchild of Sienna Miller and her sister Savannah, to add edginess to the brand. It turned out to be right and with him as a senior designer, Twenty8Twelve got even more media attention and sales soared.
It was "a very good learning curve" for Choi as he was left in charge of many aspects of the whole process and "had a chance to put together a collection on the catwalk at London Fashion Week".
But the self-confessed control freak was not satisfied and after about a year struck out on his own, launching an eponymous label. "Tailoring has been my signature from the get-go," said the designer. "The concept of tailoring originates from menswear and with my education and experience in menswear design, I had quite an amount of knowledge of the fundamental elements, which I found was in demand here."
With a deft hand, he will concentrate on creating "what the contemporary women want to wear everyday."
"I am not someone who does 'difficult' clothes, not a 'conceptual' designer. I don't like using fancy words and really can't stand being pretentious. At the end of the day, it's only a piece of garment and I just want to do something well-made."
