J. JS LEE is by Jackie JS LEE who was born in Seoul Korea and she came to London to take the Post Graduate Pattern Course at Central Saint Martin in 2007. And after her two years of working as a pattern cutter at Kisa London she came back to study at Central Saint Martin for her MA degree. Her MA Graduation Collection in 2010 received much positive press and buyer attention, and also was rewarded the revered Harrods Award; with her collection being house in the window of the Knightsbridge Department Store. In March she launched her eponymous label, J JS LEE featuring sleek and chic androgynous pieces in tailoring. Her vision for creating a label which defines a modern woman who is concerned with looking sharp in a uniquely feminine way has been given a platform to launch itself. - J J.S. LEE . (2010). Biography. Available: http://www.jsleelondon.com/biography.php.
Tribal isn’t quite what you’d expect from a designer renowned for clean lines and strict palettes but this is exactly what J JS Lee presented for autumn winter 2013- in her own, minimalist way, naturally. Focussing on tribal techniques rather than prints and colours, the Korean-born NewGen designer presented a unique collection laden in texture and applications. Knitted pencil skirts, boxy jackets and polo neck dresses were given subtle artisan details and deep woven, textured surfaces were visible on the key pieces. Silhouettes were typically pared down yet remained feminine and pretty, in a way only J JS Lee knows how. Highlights came in the form of over-sized structured knitted T-shirts, stepped hem pencil skirts and the oh-so-cool faux fur topped loafers. A strict palette of black, white, dusky pink and muted mint reflected the J JS Lee’s modern aesthetic far more than that of the ‘relaxed traveller’ the show notes suggested yet pushed the collection into a forward-thinking, feminine direction. Hardley ground-breaking yet this ultrawearable and covetable celebration of knitwear in all its most feminine and minimalist forms is one which we highly approve of. Bravo J JS Lee. - ELLE UK BLOG (2013)
Soft-Spoken: “I don’t really have a muse in my head or imagine any women when I’m drawing,” Lee says. Yet she often finds that she’s designing for someone much like herself: “a woman who has power in her job or field but has a very quiet voice and doesn’t make noise”—sartorially speaking, presumably, though the self-described “very shy” Lee admits her tutors in school constantly admonished her for failing to speak up. Her reserved, measured demeanor is reflected in subtle clothes that truly shine upon close inspection: They’re sleek in silhouette and devoid of embellishment (“People call my style cleanism, even more than minimalism”), save some pleating and embossed details at the collar and waist—she bonds neoprene to silk jersey to create these raised effects—which lend an airy, graceful feel to bodyskimming dresses, tops, and day jackets. Vote of Confidence: Won over by the soft hues and elegant yet relaxed shapes of Lee’s fall 2010 Saint Martins graduate collection, luxury department store Harrods bought up nearly the entire line straight off the school’s student runway, bestowing upon Lee the coveted Harrods Design Award as well as...a business of her own. Says Lee: “I didn’t plan to launch my own label, but the Harrods people bought my collection, so I had to register as a company!” Prices: From $628 (skirts, tops) to $2,355 (coats)
Following a BA in Fashion Design in Korea, Jackie came to London to complete a Post Graduate degree in Pattern Cutting at Central Saint Martins, and later returned to study at the institution for her MA. It was then that fashion press and buyers alike started to sit up and take notice of her talent, with her graduate collection highly lauded. The collection in question earned her the prestigious Harrods Award, and the line was then housed in the Knightsbridge department store. Launching her eponymous label, J. JS Lee, was always on the cards for the designer, and unsurprisingly, it seems that fashion has always been in her blood, a passion she inherited from her mother. “When I was really young, 5 or 6 years old, my mum was working for a fashion company where she was often hand knitting, and she always knitted clothes for me. I thought, ‘Ok, I want to do something creative, and make clothes this beautifully. Launching my own label was always the plan.”
An interesting observation, is that Lee’s two London stockists are both on the same road, Dover Street, in Mayfair. The area is known for herritage brands that are within close proximity to Bond Street and the tailoring heart of London, being Saville Row. From our research, it would appear that she did once stock on the online stockist ANTONIOLI, however we can no longer find any online stockists. Her original graduating collection was bought entirely by Harrods, however we don’t believe she continues to stock there. The Harrods Award was shared between Lee, who presented a collection that had a menswear and minimalistic feel, with clean lines, Skirts over trousers and prim little collars - and Lilly Heine, a Textiles student who gave us elegantly layered looks. Shapes were built up like geographical contours - square panels decreased in size but ascended in height. A simpler take on the theme saw shifts in pastel-muted shades adorned with just one shape, gently layered.
Always on the quest for the perfect pony, we loved the high-shine, expensive-looking style coming together backstage at the Jackie JS Lee show. The handiwork of session stylist Halley Brisker and his team, the low, side-swept look is elegant simplicity at its best. Drawing inspiration from the likes Jil Sander, the clothes are all about creating a silhouette through the strong structure. Halley said to compliment this through the hair, they knew they needed something simple, but with a break in it. So side-partings were strong, but not severe- the naturallooking texture of the pony giving the look a certain softness. To achieve the look, the team started by creating the perfect parting with a fine toothed comb- really taking into account each model’s face to create the most natural parting for them and securing with tecni art Fix Design from L’Oréal Professionnel for hold and added shine. Adding a spritz of tecni art Pli, they then twisted the ponytails up, left them for a bit then brushed through for a natural kink. The result: natural texture and flyaways which would float down the runway. Our favourite finishing touch: pretty pastel hair elastics to perfectly match the collection.
BLOUIN ARTINFO Marking Lee’s seventh show at the British event under NEW GEN sponsorship, the new line was inspired by the “ever changing colors and free movement of the iridescent jellyfish.” But just as she stayed away from clichéd notions of African prints for her “tribal” fall/winter 2013 collection, the Central Saint Martins graduate hinted at the underwater theme in a tastefully subtle way. The solid palettes went swiftly and fluidly from salmon pink and crisp blackand-white-white to aquamarine blue and deep navy. Though the pink doll dresses and jacket ensembles may bring Simone Rocha’s fall/winter 2013 line to mind, Lee introduced something more wearable and interesting thanks to wax-coated embellishments and sleeker silhouettes (the latter owing itself to her stint as pattern cutter for Kisa London).
BASE MAGAZINE Inspired by a trip to Berlin, one high-collared maxi dress in white and lime green was bisected horizontally by a dark navy line, keeping the two colours very much apart – the first of many references to the city’s infamous wall. It found its way into the collection by way of both colour and shape. Meanwhile, some of Lee’s stand out pieces took the theme of contrast in another, somewhat softer direction; dresses and skirts played on an inversion of the New Look with voluminous 1950s pleats at the front, synched into almost body-con standard sleekness at the back. It was in these effortless pieces that the skill of the designer was truly showcased. In terms of emerging trends, the abundance of all-white ensembles was in line with a number of other collections so far this week – including Margaret Howell hours earlier – the London designers evidently want their women clean and pristine next summer. As promised in the show notes, the collection was very much a depiction of opposing elements. However, Lee managed to work as a sartorial mediator, effortlessly blending, inverting and finishing them in a sleek style that is quickly becoming her signature.
J.JS Lee is by Jackie JS LEE who was born in Seoul Korea. Jackie came to London to take the Post Graduate Pattern Course at Central Saint Martins in 2007. She finished her MA course at Central Saint Martins in 2010, receiving the revered Harrods Award; with her collection being housed in the window of the Knightsbridge Department Store. In March 2010, she launched her eponymous label, J.JS LEE featuring sleek and chic androgynous pieces in tailoring. For her first collection after college, she won NEWGEN SS11 at London Fashion Week and is recognised as one of the fastest rising London-based designers.
SIMONE ROCHA BACKGROUND: In 2008, Simone completed her BA in fashion from The National College of Art & Design in Dublin. She graduated from her MA at Central Saint Martins in 2010. SIGNATURES: “Modern and strong yet romantic.” TRADEMARK PIECE: “The floating perspex brogue.” IDEAL CLIENT: “A woman who wants to wear beautiful things.” THE COLLECTION: “The west of Ireland.” FAVOURITE COLLECTION TO DATE: “Each season it is the most recent.” WHO EMBODIES THE SPIRIT OF YOUR BRAND? “Any woman or girl who can identify femininity.”
THOMAS TAIT BACKGROUND: Thomas is from Montreal, Canada. He completed a technical degree in womenswear at College LaSalle in Montreal, followed by an MA in womenswear at Central Saint Martins, London. SIGNATURES: “Clean, understated structure with a focus on curve-linear silhouettes.” “I felt like I’d been shouting for the past few seasons,” Thomas Tait said after his show today. “I wanted to do something quieter.” Given that Tait held his last show in a car park and sent out looks so Formula One-inspired you could practically hear the roar of engines, it was easy to see where he was coming from. And, to be sure, his latest collection was a much more serene affair. But it was interesting to observe the ways Tait absorbed his recent obsessions with sport and performance into pretty, and indeed rather ladylike, clothes. Notably, he made great use of a paper-thin nylon, draping it around otherwise fitted tops and dresses. The look felt fresh. Elsewhere, the activewear influence was most visible in the show’s varieties of anorak, the best of which were duster-length and featured parachute backs. At first, the active elements made for an odd pairing with the collection’s other key motif, the brightly colored feathers that were stitched onto collars or floated out of the openings of sleeves. But a logic suggested itself: In the end, this was a show of lightness and things that take air. This time, Tait made his point sotto voce.