Ji Oh (Q4816)
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Ji Oh is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Ji Oh |
Ji Oh is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Ji Oh’s namesake label is a study in deconstruction. From season to season, she starts with the idea of a uniform and then completely “messes it up,” as she likes to say, adding her own angles, panels, buttons, and trompe l’oeil detailing to a classic staple like a white button-down shirt. Pre-fall 2020 really underscores that irreverent spirit of her brand. At the preview inside her CFDA incubator space, Oh spoke about being inspired by the utilitarian Dickies and construction vests that hang inside the window of a local uniform shop. She also noted that earlier this year she had the opportunity to visit one of the largest costume warehouses in England, where she discovered vintage London police uniforms.Those silhouettes informed much of her new lineup, including a pale blue shirt with a black panel covering the bust. A shirtdress slightly cinched at the waist had two front pockets borrowed from police garb too, as did the black crewneck sweater with shoulder patches. The pops of camo print and traffic-cone-color orange stood out, as did a new minidress silhouette with double front pockets on the skirt and a strapless bodice fashioned to look like the top of a pair of unzipped pants. Oh is constantly evolving her own uniform but her strong, focused techniques have staying power.
10 December 2019
When Ji Oh started contemplating her Spring 2020 collection, she began Googling collage artists, eventually zeroing in on one who used images of people riding dinosaurs. The oddball motif was exactly what Oh had been hoping for, since she set out to design fresh, playful garments, some of which were more humorous and ironic than her previous outings. Over the course of her young, still burgeoning career, Oh has pretty much stayed on the same course and focused on her tailoring techniques, reworking classic shirting and dress silhouettes with asymmetric cuts, textured fabrications and the option of customization (a top or skirt that can be worn various ways depending on how it’s tied or buttoned, for example). In recent seasons Oh has branched out a bit with check patterns and pops of colors, but rarely has she used a proper print, let alone a kooky one.It was nice to see Oh get a little less serious with her work, because she is light and fun in her everyday demeanor. The dino print might have been a little much if we’re talking about the selling power of this collection, but Oh deserves props for going out on a limb. She also experimented a bit more with denim this season, which was a winning exercise for her. The denim corset dress, oversize shirt, and hybrid skirt that looked as though a shirt tail was hanging from the bottom, all made from upcycled men’s jeans, deserve high marks. The check-print pieces were cool, too, but mainly because of their fit and the way Oh implemented her masterful use of deconstruction. If she experiments further in the coming seasons, maybe a print doesn’t have to be the main idea. Denim seems to be where she is thriving and having the most fun, and here’s hoping there is more to come down the line.
7 June 2019
Ji Oh knows how to make a beautiful shirt. Since launching her label in 2014, this item has become the anchoring piece of Oh’s brand, and over the years she’s refined it with great love and care. Now with her Fall 2019 collection, Oh has used her signature asymmetrical shirt silhouette as a jumping-off point for an entirely new, though not surprising, direction. This season, the designer introduced a range of menswear, but she does emphasize that it should and can be considered unisex for its versatility, fit, and gender-blurring aesthetic. The button-downs can be worn by anyone, whether it’s one of the versions printed with the chest, eyes, ears, and nose of a male sculpture or a boxier cut with stripes. There were beautiful longer shirtdresses, too, some that can be styled open at the bust to reveal a bit of skin.But it wasn’t all just shirtdressing. For Fall, Oh set out to create what she called a “fucked-up school uniform.” She’s made it her thing to take something traditional and twist it into a sculptural garment, something with tucks, odd angles, or mismatched buttons. She likes to make clothes that look a little unbalanced, and these were certainly that, but not in a bad way. Take, for instance, the long pleated skort or the thick pin-striped pants with a top half made from the bottom half of a suit blazer. She incorporated a preppy check pattern and two Ivy-style sweaters that could be worn a few different ways thanks to armhole cut-outs at the shoulder of each sleeve.With so many designers creating unisex collections these days, it was inspiring to see a woman interpreting menswear in a succinct way and with very few literal notions attached. The new direction felt organic overall. Oh is a terrific tailor, and anyone who wears her offbeat but sharp Fall wares, man or woman, will surely stand out.
13 December 2018
Ji Oh is a fan of the Salvation Army. Before she sketches or conceptualizes a collection, she hits the racks there and plays around with the clothing like a kid in a dress-up box. She will mismatch the buttons on shirts and tie sleeves into knots. This is where she gets most, if not all, of the inspiration for her sculptural, almost origami-esque ready-to-wear, and again this season she ventured back into the donation bins. This time, Oh rifled through the big-and-tall section and began experimenting with extra-large shapes and cuts. Thus, the pieces she presented were heavier and bulkier than the clothes in her previous collections, as in a long, belted overcoat made with menswear-inspired houndstooth fabric and featuring black strap detailing at the shoulders.She took blazers and reconstructed them into asymmetric dresses that had geometric pleating created through a taping technique Oh used on the inside lining. Other standouts included a covetable polka dot version of her signature white shirting and a chunky cropped cable-knit sweater that was reminiscent of something a Kennedy would have worn for fall football games. That being said, you really can’t peg Oh’s clothing to any one reference from the past or present. It was nice to see her break out with fresh textures and fabric weights for spring; hopefully, there is more where these came from in this designer’s near future.
14 June 2018
Last summer, Ji Oh traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, for some creative insight. She visited antique markets and vintage shops, many of which were chock-full of logo activewear from brands like Nike and Adidas. “You know, Gosha-esque kind of stuff,” she said, referring to the Russian pied piper of streetwear Gosha Rubchinskiy. Oh became interested in exploring the use of materials outside of her normal repertoire, which typically includes crisp cotton, fine leather, and luxurious wool and cashmere. “I have a lot of formality in my collections,” she said at her Fall presentation today. “This season, I tried to make things a bit more playful and fun—slightly more casual.” Oh’s signature shirting was spliced with pieces of fleece and sweatshirt material, creating a new juxtaposed style for her label that felt youthful and less constrained to strict, architectural silhouettes.Some of the garments were printed with “millennial speak,” as Oh referred to it, phrases that could have been lifted from a 20-something’s text messages: “V passionate” and “Stooooop” were two examples. These additions were a bit extraneous. Oh is such a clever tailor that the mixed fabrics and asymmetry in her collection are always able to stand out on their own without the help of cheeky wordplay. She also dipped her toe into the accessories realm with eye-catching sustainable mink hats and arm warmers. This collection was notable because Oh ventured into new territory while remaining true to the core vibe of her brand, save for the text chat. The fabric experimentation was great, as were some key pieces like the red leather and accordion-pleat skirt, the cut-out hoodie, and the cool take on a cropped bomber jacket with rectangular cargo pockets. Oh was smart enough not to go too deep into the streetwear category, and by attempting to make this oversaturated trend her own, she succeeded with flying colors.
12 February 2018
When you are a designer who does one thing very well, it can be challenging to break away and start anew. It can also be hard to build on that thing in order to keep it fresh and exciting. For designer Ji Oh, that thing has always been shirting. Each season, though, she’s proven herself adept at tweaking, ever so slightly, the deconstructed, architectural tops she is known for. Spring 2018 is the next iteration of Oh’s slow-but-steady transformation from upstart label to full and complete ready-to-wear line. The designer has added more dresses and skirts to her repertoire and introduced a wider range of trousers and tops. Her signature designs are still there and stronger than ever, including the beautifully tailored, striped oversize shirts that she redesigned with shorter sleeves and a row of buttons that are purposely misaligned.Oh experimented with more body-conscious strapless silhouettes for cool new spring dresses and played with pleating and paneling on knee-length skirts. The bright orange strapless dress with buttons down the front was the strongest of the bunch, as was a pretty crop top that was tied with a thick ribbon in the front. Whereas Oh’s previous collections had an androgynous edge to them, this one felt much more feminine and fun—softer, even—but of course still in line with her successful, tried-and-true DNA.
7 September 2017
At her Fall 2017 presentation inside The Standard High Line hotel, CFDA/VogueFashion Fund finalist Ji Oh made the case for breaking from sartorial traditions. “Nothing is really basic anymore,” the designer said when speaking about wardrobe staples. “Shirting especially shouldn’t be too basic—I try to tweak it as much as I can to add character to each individual piece.” The idea of deconstructing plain white button-downs is at the core of Oh’s brand, and this season she excelled in evolving that notion. A crisp white blouse was rendered asymmetrical, while other shirtdresses were off the shoulder or tied up at the waist. Oh also adorned some of her not-so-basic basics with thinly cut ties on the elbows of the sleeves and cut-outs on the cuffs.The designer was smart to tightly edit her wares, showing 29 pieces and a total of 15 looks. While the shirts were the stars of the bunch, Oh did incorporate some eye-catching knits and outerwear, like a stop sign–red leather moto jacket and a reversible baby blue shearling jacket. These particular items made their own statements, but as a full collection, Oh’s offering achieved the cool, succinctly curated character she was aiming for.
7 February 2017
With her eye ever trained on the polished, modern-day androgyne, it’s little wonder thatJi Ohtook up shirting as the crux of her Spring collection. In recent seasons Oxford shirts have found a rapt audience among young designers keen on reworking the staple in arty ways, rotating seams, deconstructing, and generally upping the ante. Oh is the latest to join their ranks; since launching her brand two years ago, she’s earned her fan base reinterpreting menswear idioms in abstract new ways.By her own admission, the designer is “not a Spring person” (her gorgeous outerwear of Falls gone by belies her true preferences), but she could have fooled many with this new outing. Her riffs on shirting ran the gamut here, every piece light and impeccably crisp. There were self-belting shirtdresses, ruched numbers, almost surreal geometric cut-outs, some shot through with a smattering of grommets, and others pierced by tough-looking yet delicate hardware. Oh’s use of fringe—at a time where the runways are still fairly dripping with the stuff—felt both judiciously light-handed and unexpected. One of the coolest styles of the bunch was a pair of gorgeous cropped trousers, slit to the knee to expose a curtain of fringe. The past couple of seasons have left no doubt that Oh and her label are growing into a force to be reckoned with—something further confirmed by the designer’s current status as a CFDA/VogueFashion Fund finalist.
13 September 2016
Ji Oh is known for her minimalist, architectural leanings, so it was a surprise to find airy chiffons and billowing silhouettes in her new Resort lineup. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but now that I look at it, this is the most feminine collection I’ve done,” she said. “In the past, it was really bold and a bit loud, but this is very subtle, and there are a lot of soft textures.”Oh typically avoids literal references in favor of an organic, intuitive approach; for her, it’s about taking something that feels timely—like a sheer, delicate fabric—and giving it a little twist. So she reimagined her signature open-back shirt in navy and blush chiffon, then paired it with a matching high-slit skirt, making for one of her sultriest looks yet. Other pieces were spliced with mesh for a “breezy” vibe, such as a pleated A-line skirt and a spongy neoprene sweatshirt. But Oh mixed in plenty of toughness to keep her customers happy, like the buckled utility straps that crisscrossed jumpers, deconstructed blazers, and crisp poplin shirts.
2 June 2016
Ji Oh let one of herdesign secretsslip at today’s Resort presentation. She explained that part of her process involves multiple trips to The Salvation Army where she digs through heaps of clothing, pulls out raggedy old oversize shirts, and literally starts playing with them. She twists the sleeves, ties the tails, and lifts the collars. In this exercise, Oh discovers new shapes and forms that eventually bring her to a new collection. This kind of sculptural shirting has become her bread and butter and for Resort, there were some striking new iterations on the table, particularly the striped tops with asymmetrical detailing.It was a tightly edited lineup this go-around, much more so than she’s shown in previous seasons, but Oh doesn’t necessarily need to worry about bulk. Her ready-to-wear is already minimal in nature and she succeeds in creating cool, modular clothes that pack a lot into one piece. This season, a sleek black sweater was constructed with long sleeves slashed at the shoulder so one could wear it the regular way or put their arms through the holes and tie the sleeves into a knot at the back. The designer also played with various button sizes and cargo pockets on beautiful, simple skirts. She used some atypical color, mostly blue, and even added slight, sheer panels to a couple of nicely conceived knitwear looks.At first glance, Oh’s selection seemed sparse, but then you get close up and you realize there’s a lot more there than first meets the eye. This is the designer’s bottom line and the USP of her brand.
22 June 2017
For seasons now, there’s been a spare kind of strength toJi Oh’s clothing. Her brand has a no-fuss female power to it that seems increasingly to nod at the Saskia de Brauws of the world. This season the designer evoked her quintessential client’s unwavering resolve and willingness to go against the grain. Fall marked one of Oh’s boldest collections to date—starting with the use of a terrific almost-highlighter yellow, which she praised for its “luminous energy.” The color came in strips of mohair, pieced together with black fabric as a light, swingy, and slightly cropped top (a high turtleneck version of which seemed to engulf the wearer) and also as a utilitarian-looking coat with wide cuffs.In what’s shaping up to be a fur-heavy season, Oh should be commended for her use of faux options to a convincing and luxurious effect. A particularly nice example of this was the wide shrug-like faux-fur band she placed across the top of an off-shoulder white button-down. If, last season, traditional ideas of sex appeal went more or less out the window, they slipped back in here in subtle ways that gelled with her aesthetic, like slit-to-there skirts. One only wonders what kind of fun Oh’s woman will be having next season.
16 February 2016
She’s “nottoopretty, but dressed well.” That wasJi Oh’s summation of her Spring woman, who had a kind of haphazard, jolie laide, and faintly aggressive quality. The designer’s muse was tough, and her presentation backdrop was a construction site–like mishmash of signage. Despite the streetwise jumping-off point, the clothes bore all the hallmarks of Oh’s signature pared-back polish. Basics with a twist are the label’s bread and butter (landing the line in doors like Barneys, Harvey Nichols, and Intermix), and this season offered them up in spades. There were pinstriped jumpsuits and a plunging silk slip dress; a cropped, cowl-neck sweatshirt; and easy wide-leg trousers. Change is incremental in Oh’s world of modern staples: This season an eye for utilitarian hardware (snaps and zippers and buttons, oh my!) and a somber palette grounded in navy and white lent things a more androgynous edge, in contrast to the punched-up reds, cobalt, and metallic silver of seasons gone by.The real news here was denim. It was the first time Oh had taken on the textile, and she whipped a single wash into contrasting patch-pocket jackets (using the reverse), pull-on trousers, skinny jeans, and more. Dressed well, indeed.
13 September 2015
Rakishness is a sorely underrated quality in clothes, and it may be just the niche for Ji Oh. Since launching her eponymous line in 2013, the designer has set her sights on basics-with-a-twist universality, but there's no denying that Oh's clothes are defined by a gorgeous degree of slimness-to-slouch that makes even her simplest pieces look kind of casual and louche.Resort '16 found Oh zeroing in on the expansive nature of the season, offering up solutions for the many occasions her customer will no doubt encounter. Rich, oversize knits and a boxy haircalf jacket will have plenty of buy-now, wear-now appeal when they hit stores; holiday dressing got a hell of a lot cooler thanks to Oh's liquid silver separates worn head-to-toe; and delicate draped tops will be well suited to January's warm-weather getaways. Oh's explorations may be cautious ones, but they surely paid off here, in what was easily her most sophisticated outing to date.
5 June 2015
For Ji Oh, home is where the heart is this Fall. The designer zeroed in on the kind of pieces you'd want to put on for working from home—sans the sweats. She whipped up louche basics that felt as nice as they looked: buttery lambskin camisoles, tie-waist baggy trousers, floor-grazing coats. All that languid ease found a bracing counterpart in a gorgeous grouping of acid green mohair separates. Oh's savvy when it comes to injecting a shot of sex appeal that's still within the comfort zone of her sophisticated shopper. To wit: pullovers with loosely woven fronts that exposed flashes of skin all over, and lovely long-sleeve knit maxi dresses whose boatnecks underscored that most underrated of erogenous spots, the clavicle. Nothing so risqué as to strike terror in the hearts of the more modest downtown girl, but all tantalizingly rakish.However keen her takes and albeit to covetable effect, Oh is treading well-covered ground with some of these pieces—she may need to find novel ways to warrant her young label's entry-level designer price point. But with a strong NYFW debut and myriad supporters (Barneys picked up the Spring collection in its entirety), she's off to a winning start.
11 February 2015
David Bowie's never a bad place to start. The rock god was the driving force behind Ji Oh's "Glamboy" Spring offering. He was most felt in striped blazers and slacks, in silver lamé skinny pants. At its strongest, Oh's suiting recalled the ice blue Freddie Burretti ensemble worn by Bowie in the "Life on Mars" video; a pair of baggy-yet-sharp ivory trousers had shades of the Thin White Duke about them. But the influence was neither overbearing nor even particularly literal. Oh is too busy creating contemporary basics to get bogged down much in the way of references. Sleeveless shirtdresses, pencil skirts, and scoop-neck blouses all made for sharp, versatile staples in a largely black-and-white palette with pops of red and the aforementioned silver lamé. In places, things felt a touch unfocused—a couple of semiabstract intarsia knits seemed less considered than other pieces. All told, though, this was a strong offering that left one keen for Oh's next.
14 October 2014