The play of light on vintage window frames was the starting point to Lie Sang Bong’s collection, which concluded the fall 2013 session of shows in Paris, after ten long days of runway. Those familiar with the Korean designer – a superstar in his homeland – will remember that past seasons focused on exploration of traditional Korean motifs.

But even if the windows may have had something of tradition, it was time to look past that and see the clean lines they created. Rarely does he work a print on this scale, nor is it such an integral part of the structure. Hair slicked back in a faux sidecut and flat creepers, Lie’s woman embraces her inner macadam punk, but does not depart from an elegant outlook. Volumes are delimited through tailoring on a jacket, leather inserts enhancing a neoprene jacket, and the lines of the frames provides the optical illusion of an exaggerated hour glass on a shift dress. Piping on black pieces evokes this structure in a subtle, unobtrusive way. Legs encased in leggings or trousers speak of a new sense of nonchalance in dressing.

There were occasional moments of puzzling excess, such as the cape with furry stripes across it, but in eschewing overly traditional Korean motifs in favor of something more graphic and modern, Lie Sang Bong has broken free of many of his idées fixes motifs. Let’s hope retailers pick up on this change of pace.

- Lily Templeton