FROM SEOUL TO PERUGIA: KOEUN PARK

Forme d'Expression is the label of Koeun Park. Born in Seoul, she trained in haute couture workmanship at the École de la Chambre Syndicale in Paris and completed a master's at Istituto Marangoni in Milan. She went on to design womenswear for Donna Karan in New York before founding her own company.

Forme d'Expression began in the mid-2000s and is based in Perugia, Umbria. Park chose the city to be within a short drive of the suppliers and makers she works with, and every piece is made in Italy.

A LIFE SPENT ON PATTERNS

Park has said she spends about eighty percent of her daily life on patterns. Her cutting draws on Italian, English and German systems: bias cuts, elbow darts, cutaway lapels and a particular way with the double-breasted jacket.

Production is personal too. Park cuts her productions by hand, and fuses, marks and prepares each garment one by one before it is sewn.

QUIETNESS AS A PRINCIPLE

The brand's language is restraint. Fabrics are chosen for drape and handfeel, colours stay muted, and complexity sits in the construction rather than in ornament. In Park's own words, she wants to make timeless and easy pieces. Familiar garments are shifted rather than reinvented:

• skewed trousers and hats whose lines turn slightly off centre
• sutured cotton shirts in slim, clean cuts
• wool, linen and cashmere blends with a dry, natural hand
• outerwear from short mess jackets to double-breasted chester coats

PIECES THAT BUILD A WARDROBE

Forme d'Expression designs each piece as part of a wardrobe. Coats, shirts, trousers and hats are developed to be layered across seasons, and a palette of carbon, anthracite, asphalt and off-white makes them easy to combine.

The result is clothing that becomes more personal the longer it is worn: luxurious in fabric, but never loud about it.

FORME D'EXPRESSION AT ORIMONO

Orimono carries Forme d'Expression's menswear, with a focus on tailoring, shirting and headwear. Our selection includes:

• cropped wool linen mess jacket, semi double-breasted car coat and wool cashmere chester coat
• baggy skewed wool linen pants and wool field pants
• slim sutured cotton shirts and the wool pop shirt
• skewed derby hats, field caps and Argo wool scarves
• pieces that pair with Ziggy Chen, Marc Point, Masnada and Y's

Read more about quiet, material-led tailoring in Ziggy Chen, or explore Forme d'Expression at Orimono.