“London Fashion Week is a much bigger platform than Seoul Fashion Week, so there was an increased pressure and stress that went into my SS19 collection,” says Korean designer and former K-pop star, Seung-Gun Park of pushBUTTON, backstage at his seminal show in the Capital.

In light of his show notes that explained, “obsessing about the show eventually led the designer to a state in which he felt like he was trapped in a square box and unable to escape,” he sighed, “I can’t believe I’ve done it! Now it’s done, I’ve released everything and I’m so happy. I can’t really feel any difference in showing in London or Seoul.”

And what about those boxy, solid ‘square shoulder’ silhouettes that gave shoulder pads of the 1980s a run for their money? Well, they too were born out of this figurative ‘square box’ that loomed over the SS19 design process; desperate scribbles of the repeated shape on a page materialised into the main silhouette of the show, playing into this idea of ‘power dressing’ that dominated the runways of SS19.

As far as inspirations go, the collection, in part, drew on the controversial ‘Sensational' exhibition from 1997, which featured works from the Young British Artists including Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst. “I wanted to imbue the value from that show into SS19,” he explains, for the pushBUTTON woman that is "young in spirit and loves themselves."

In our humble opinion, it's a fair and square and well-deserved progression for the cult, Korean brand – and we'll be watching this space closely! 

In case you missed it, discover our three standout shows from London Fashion Week, day two.