Design Elements of the Korean Traditional Costume Applied in the Works of Lee Young-Hee

이영희의 의상작품에 응용된 한복의 요소

The fashion designers in Korea can achieve the winning position in the competitive international market of fashion industry by adapting our own traditional beauty to the modem fashion design through the modernization of the Korean traditional styles. Therefore, this study attempted to analyze the works of the active Korean fashion designer, Lee Young-Hee, focusing on the subject how she incorporated the modem fashion with the elements of Korean traditional costume. In order to study this subject, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to collect and analyse the design elements of Korean costume used in the designer's works found from the major fashion magazines, FASHION TODAY, WWD, ELLE, BAZAAR, Marie Claire, Areumdown-Uri-Ot, The Beauty of Korea and FASHION SHOW from 1993 to 1999. The collected research data, 95 works, was counted and analyzed in terms of the formal characteristics borrowed from Korean traditional clothing items and their application techniques. Other aesthetic characteristics of her works such as color, fabric and pattern were also analyzed. As a result of the study, it was found that Lee Young-Hee has adapted many different kinds of major Korean clothing items including 'chima', 'paji', 'po', and 'chogori'. Also it was apparent to note that the formal characteristics of Korean traditional clothing items were successfully incorporated into her fashion design works expressing the beauty of oriental grace, naturalism, sophistication, and above all, the modem sense.