Korean fashion takes first step into the Net No longer limited to the catwalk, designers hold their first exhibit on World Wide Web / 1995년 10월 20일 THE KOREA HERALD

The perpetual dream of Korean designers to go international has been made easier to realize by the Internet.Korea’s first electronic fashion exhibition has been put on World Wide Web by Daum Comm
– unications, a young local company specializing in art and culture information.
A way for designers to have their creations seen without lugging boxes of clothes around the world, the ’95 Korea Fashion Exhibition on the Net is also a promotional exercise targeted to fashion fans around the world in preparation for the creation of The Korea Fashion Net in November.
The current exhibition includes photos of the works of top designers such as Jin Te-ok, Troa Cho, Lee Young-hee, Chang Kwang-hyo and Kim Young-joo along with personal profiles and iage stat- ements in English. All these designers have shown overseas in either the Paris or Milan collections.
Other designers to be included soon are Lee Shin-woo, Andre Kim, Ha Yong-su and Hong Mi-wha.
Also featured are some of Korea’s top fashion photographers such as Cho Sei-hon with his pictures for the latest line by Park Yoon-jung (daughter of Lee Shin-woo) and Kim Young-ho with his adverti- sing cuts for a local jeans company .
To furnish more comprehensive information on the Fashion Net. Daum is working in conjunction with the major designer groups including the Seoul Fashion Artists Association, the most established group of designers, and the younger groups such as New Wave in Seoul and the Joong-ang Design Group.
The plan of Daum go far and beyond this, however. The aim seems to be to cover everything which might possibly come under the vast heading of fashion from profiles of the hottest models to excerpts from local fashion magazines. For full information service, fashion news from around the world will also be monitored.
The Korea Fashion Net is foreseen to have the potential to become a strong marketing tool. This has been proven by some of the Korean conglomerates who have their own home pages on the net and have used them to create international buyer interest.
Fashion sites on Internet are already being used to advantage by the strong fashion countries. Italy has Made In Italy On Line, France has La Mode de Marin and America has Fashion Net.
Having made Korea’s own fashion site on the Net, Daum has also realized that , there are a lot of interested people who are still lnternet illiterate. A crucial part of their activities for the moment remains in providing instruction for business people, jounlalists and educators.
Daum was launched last year by two friends, one a photographer and the other a computer expert. The company has already gained quite a reputation with Virtual Gallery which introduces the works of Korean aitists and has featured such events as the Kwangju Biennale and the Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival.
Virtual Gallery was recently included among the top 5 percent of best sites on Internet in a survey by American consulting company Point Communications.
The ’95 Korea Fashion Exhibition on the Net can be seen through Oct. 31.
The address is: http://www.daum.co.kr/ fashion. (CYJ)