When you are a designer who does one thing very well, it can be challenging to break away and start anew. It can also be hard to build on that thing in order to keep it fresh and exciting. For designer Ji Oh, that thing has always been shirting. Each season, though, she’s proven herself adept at tweaking, ever so slightly, the deconstructed, architectural tops she is known for. Spring 2018 is the next iteration of Oh’s slow-but-steady transformation from upstart label to full and complete ready-to-wear line. The designer has added more dresses and skirts to her repertoire and introduced a wider range of trousers and tops. Her signature designs are still there and stronger than ever, including the beautifully tailored, striped oversize shirts that she redesigned with shorter sleeves and a row of buttons that are purposely misaligned.
Oh experimented with more body-conscious strapless silhouettes for cool new spring dresses and played with pleating and paneling on knee-length skirts. The bright orange strapless dress with buttons down the front was the strongest of the bunch, as was a pretty crop top that was tied with a thick ribbon in the front. Whereas Oh’s previous collections had an androgynous edge to them, this one felt much more feminine and fun—softer, even—but of course still in line with her successful, tried-and-true DNA.
