A.Hallucination (London, UK)

Two 30 year-old Menswear graduates from Central Saint Martins get together to form a brand focused on razor-sharp lines, sophisticated fabrics and a timeless fit, A.Hallucination. The designers Hwan Sung Park and Chung Chung Lee have cut their teeth at renowned fashion houses such as Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, Ozwald Boateng and Lie Sang Bong, Paris. Presenting their first collection entitled "The First Peal," the main theme is an interesting combination of modern and classic, inspired by the scenery of London such as London Eye with Big Ben and Gherkin. Lee and Park claim: “We would like to show the new ‘modern English dandy’ through our first collection. We think the mix of classic fabrics and modern design and cutting represent the true London. It’s like how St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge go so well together.”

How old are you?
Hwan: I’m a 30 year old boy.
Chung: 30 years old (same with Hwan)
 
How long have you been designing?
Hwan: I have studied fashion since I was 20 years old. (1998) (Actually three years gap between 1999 and 2001, while I served the military service in Korea) But I specialised in Menswear since 2005.
Chung: I had majored in Art & Design before I started to specialise in menswear from 2006. But I often have joined the design team as a staff or as a designer to help my father. (His father is famous fashion designer, named Lie Sang Bong, in Korea.)
 
Where are you from?
Both of us are from South Korea. Actually we call it ‘The Republic of Korea’.
 
What inspires you at the moment?
We are the menswear brand that reflects ‘Modern English dandy’, the character of a proper English gentleman augmented with contemporary detailing. So we always look for the English heritage and vintage stuff to get inspiration.
Also we often find out the inspiration from the stylish people wearing the nice clothes with a brilliant balance.
 
What is your current collection about?
For the last A/W 2010 collection, the main theme was an interesting combination of modern and classic, inspired by the scenery of london such as London eye with Big Ben and the Gherkin. For this coming 2011 S/S season, we keep researching for it, and discussed about the main theme so many times. At the moment, our new main theme is lightness and we got the inspiration from paper airplane.

Have you worked for any other designers in the past?
Hwan: I’ve worked for Burberry, Tom Ford, Alexander Mcqueen as a menswear design assistant and once worked for a design-consulting agency as a menswear assistant designer for short time.
Chung: I’ve worked for Lie Sang Bong, a famous fashion designer in Korea, for many years (he's Chung’s father) and have worked with many other local young designers for many projects. Also I once worked for Ozwald Boateng, Savile Row, for a while.
 
What was your favourite outfit from your youth?
To both of us, it is a well-tailored jacket from our youth. The tailored jacket is the most essential and must-have item! And well-tailored jacket with a good balance is our most precious treasure in our closet.
 
What are your plans now?
We have a plan to have a press day in New York by coming June, but not totally confirmed yet. Also we are applying the NEWGEN and on-off for the coming S/S 2011 collection. From the next winter, we are thinking of attending the Tranoi in Paris.

Can we buy your collection anywhere? If so, where?
Unfortunately, we don’t have any stockist at the moment. Because we are just starting-up label from last 2010 A/W season. So we focus on promoting ourselves now, and sales will begin in earnest from next season. (Actually we got few sales offers from some stores, but we put it on hold.)