'Art is a way for us to stay modern,' says Francisco Costa, creative director of Calvin Klein Collection's womenswear, before the opening of the World of Calvin Klein event in a custom-built structure on top of Seoul Station. Joining him in the South Korean capital are fellow creative directors Italo Zucchelli and Kevin Carrigan.
Asia has had a full dance card this year, with a queue of designer labels producing star-studded shows and events in the region's major cities. So far, we've seen Chanel in Tokyo, and Jean Paul Gaultier, Hugo Boss and Lanvin in Beijing.
Calvin Klein followed, with a 30th anniversary celebration for its underwear range and an exhibition, party and presentation of the label's ready-to-wear lines in Seoul.
The exhibition last week, titled 'Infinite Loop', was organised by the New Museum and curated by Lauren Cornell, the museum's adjunct curator and executive director of Rhizome. International artists such as Rafael Rozendaal, Scott Snibbe and the collective Flightphase paid tribute to Korean-American artist Nam June Paik, a pioneer of the video art movement in the 1960s. Their three installations explored the boundaries of technology and participatory art.
The centrepiece remains on public view at one of the city's busiest intersections. A programme of videos is looped and displayed on one of the world's largest LED screens, the 23-storey Seoul Media Canvas, which covers the outside of a building opposite Seoul Station.
'We've done multi-platform events. What is different about this one is the multimedia aspect,' says Carrigan who oversees CK Calvin Klein and the label's underwear and jeans lines.