Eudon Choi has decided to concentrate on preseason collections and focus on direct-to-consumer sales via his website and Instagram instead of putting his clothes on runways. Everyone must do what’s right for their brand—as Tom Ford famously pronounced in New York—and this reads as a pragmatic decision for a designer of pragmatic clothes. The signatures Choi has established—easy-to-wear, adaptable office-suitable style, buttons as decoration, pieces that can be wrapped and tied—all spring from the sensibility of a Korean who went through the British fashion education system and has shown in London for a decade.
Underlying all that is the fact that his prices are reasonable, and the as-seen-on-Instagram looks are commercially appealing in a way that is inclusive of different shapes and sizes. Choi was a menswear tailor before he found his womenswear groove—once you know that, you see why he can pull off collarless, gold-buttoned, wrap-over blazers and coats and make them work variously with kick-flares and tailored shorts. Through his e-commerce operation at the time of this writing, a tailored trouser suit can be bought for less than $1,300. He also has a strong line in minimalist yet colorful bags.
This collection, Choi said, was inspired by Constantin Brancusi. It was hard to see that connection, but no matter. What’s more consequential is that Choi manages the psychology behind his clothes well—a woman can recognize how his cocoon-back and tabard dresses can be belted to be both comfortable and flattering, how large sleeves will optically narrow waists, and so on. Those things could easily be lost on a runway—and anyway, why add the costs to the clothes? It’s not difficult to see why Choi thinks it makes sense to communicate the appropriateness of his line in this way.
