Byungmun Seo is a pattern cutting maverick. The London College of Fashion grad’s intuitive take on the twists, drapes and fall of fabric has allowed his pieces to take on a non-traditional style of pattern cutting for men.

For A/W12, Seo questions the reality of human identity – in his mind, it is a construct, one that sees a repressed self develop alongside an outwardly projected identity. To try and evaluate this philosophical stance the Korean-born designer juxtaposed layers of shape to create a complex, yet wearable, silhouette that is meant to mirror our divided 'self'. Dazed Digitial spoke to Byungmun about his technique and the challenges it brings.

Dazed Digital: Can you describe your A/W12 collection?
Byungmun Seo: This collection observes the two different selves of humans, one is the true self and the other is the repressed self caused by the external pressure in modern society. This concept has played a great role in creating a new silhouette for classic menswear tailoring.

DD: Your work plays with traditional ideas of pattern cutting and tailoring. How did you go about achieving this?
Byungmun Seo: The main issue for my design development was the process of pattern construction and techniques. The collection started by constructing two aspects of pattern cutting: placing pattern pieces in unexpected places and juxtaposing the garment patterns with either different types of silhouette or the same type in layers. I have always been obsessive about finding new ways of pattern cutting and playing with it to achieve various outcomes.

Dazed Digital: What are you working on at the moment?
Byungmun Seo: The concept for the next collection, which is about defining spatial relationships in 2D and 3D to create a new silhouette.

Photography Dohyung Lee