Photo: courtesy of General Idea. Designer Bumsuk Choi.

Korean designer Bumsuk Choi (최범석) launched his luxury menswear label, General Idea, in the Spring of 2004. At the time of his launch, Bumsuk was considered the youngest designer who had ever joined the Seoul Collection in the Republic of Korea.

With Korean designers Doo.Ri, Richard Chai, and Thuy already mainstream names in women’s fashion, General Idea will be the first menswear designer to show during New York Fashion Week! The concept behind General Idea is a mix of avant-garde design with a sense of roughness, yet each piece still manages to remain extremely wearable.
The label’s spring-summer 2009 collection is very much about uniforms and military wear. For fall-winter 2009, General Idea will focus on tailored jackets inspired by geometric shapes and construction.
 
Since the start of General Idea, Bumsuk has done multiple collaborations with numerous companies in various industries. He helped design the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team’s Formula Racing Car in 2006, just shortly after the launch of the collection.  He then went on to design the packaging and uniforms for Heineken, to be distributed throughout Korea. Another impressive collaboration was designing for Absolute Vodka’s bottle for the 2007 campaign.  In 2009, Puma has contracted General Idea to design a limited edition collection for the Black Station Line, which is to be carried throughout Asia. Also General Idea, amongst other designers, has designed a couture piece for MAC Cosmetics in conjunction with their Hello Kitty themed collection launching next month!