CULTURE
For Tomorrow’s Elite
FRIDAY
16 JANUARY 9, 2009
Ne-yo
KUHO brings out
minimalist shapes
By Koh Young-aah
Those who were expecting to
see a runway full of bright, “sea-
sonal” clothes at KUHO’s 2009
Spring/Summer collection in
Seoul on Tuesday got a big sur-
prise.
Instead of the usual pastel and
bright shades common for the
season, the collection, titled
“Avant-garde Minimalism,” was
primarily in neutral tones —
white, mustard yellow, khaki,
lavender and navy.
The clothes showcased were
minimalist and structural, be-
ing consistent with the brand’s
usual style. Silhouettes were
baggy and did not accentuate
the bodyline.
“We intended to reassemble
and reorganize the existing
combinations of colors and de-
signs and intended to create a
new kind of unrealistic combi-
nation,” said a spokesperson for
KUHO, a brand of Cheil
Industries Inc., which is affiliat-
ed with the Samsung Group.
The avant-garde theme was
A view from Ulleungdo
pervasive throughout the collec-
tion. Most of the clothes were
over-the-top and futuristic.
Using what the brand called
“fake layering details,” the col-
lection showcased items that
looked like they were made of
separate tops and bottoms, but
were actually one-piece.
Pants suits with baggy bot-
toms stood out among some 50
looks that hit the runway.
Made of rather stiff materi-
al, the mini-dresses were cute
and girly. They were in boxy
shapes that did not reveal the
figure. Long jackets — in
lengths almost down to the calf
— with tuxedo collars were
also seen. Feminine touches
like chiffon details and see-
through sleeves were added to
these simple looks, making
them more apt for the warmer
seasons.
Top Korean models including
Jang Yoon-ju, Han Hye-jin and
Song Kyung-ah, who are also
active abroad, participated in
the show.
A high-end brand, KUHO is
Korea Tourism Club
Ne-yo back in Seoul
with Jamsil show
By Regina Walton
Contributing writer
On Jan. 11, Seoul’s R&B fans
will have something to cele-
brate. As he promised last year,
Grammy Award winning, R&B
singer and producer Ne-yo will
be back to perform.
Fans in Seoul got their first
taste of him live last April when
he performed at Olympic
Stadium. This weekend Ne-yo
will perform at Jamsil
Gymnasium, along with pop
group the Pussycat Dolls.
Ne-yo is on tour to promote
his third album, “Year of the
Gentleman.” His 2008 release
was recently nominated for six
Grammy Awards. The album
was inspired by the smooth
style of crooners such as Frank
Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.
This time, however, there
won’t just be a concert. X
Stream Productions will host a
public after party at 10 p.m. fea-
turing a special appearance by
Ne-yo at Club Answer in Seoul.
Hip-hop artist Carlos Galvan,
aka Cali-Mexci, will be the mas-
ter of ceremonies.
Ne-yo started writing songs
for popular music acts in the
late 1990s. He was thrust into
the limelight after he co-wrote
Mario’s hit single “Let Me Love
You.” After the success of that
single, Ne-yo’s celebrity grew
and he is now an established
writer.
In an email interview, Ne-yo
talked about making songs and
artists he’s worked with, and of-
fered advice for emerging musi-
cians.
Q: You started off as a per-
former but got your break as a
songwriter when Marques
Houston recorded your song
“That Girl.” How does it feel to
now be both a songwriter and
popular performer?
A: My first major placement
was with Marques Houston, but
that’s not all. I wrote a song
called “Bad Girl,” after that it
was Nivea, Christina Milian,
then B2K, Heather Headley.
Then it was the Mario, Mary J.
KUHO presents their collection for 2009 Spring/Summer in Seoul on Jan. 6. Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald
targeted toward women in
their late 20s to 30s who are
into simple and trendy fash-
ions.
Designer Jung Ku-ho, the art
director who is leading the
brand, started working with
Cheil Industries in 2003. Before
Mokpo and Ulleung receive best tourism award
By Lee Joo-hee
Mokpo City of South Jeolla
Province and Ulleung County
of North Gyeongsang Province
have been designated as the
best tourism destinations by
the Korea Tourism Club, a pri-
vate association aimed at fos-
tering the domestic travel in-
dustry.
The two areas were chosen as
HERALD INTERVIEW
Blige, Faith Evans, Musiq
Soulchild, Ruben Studdard,
Paula DeAnda, some more stuff
for Christina Milian, Beyonce,
Rhianna, Mario Vazquez, Megan
Rochelle ... I know I’m forgetting
people — Britney Spears,
Whitney Houston, Jennifer
Hudson, Celine Deon, Usher,
Chris Brown — and on and on.
Q: You also have a strong rep-
utation as a producer of hit
records. For example, you pro-
duced Rihana’s “Take a Bow”
and Beyonce’s “Irreplacable.”
How does it feel to have such
great success as a songwriter,
producer and performer?
A: It’s like this — if my song
falls at number three, and a
song I wrote for Beyonce falls at
No. 2, and a song I wrote for
Mary J. Blige falls at No. 1, I’m
still the first three, so it’s all
good to me. One, two, and three
is still me, even if it ain’t me as
an artist, it’s still me. My name
is still on the first three slots in
the Billboard charts, so I’m
good.
Q: Can you name some of
your favorite artists? What
artists and songs are in rotation
on your iPod?
A: My choice for this year has
got to be Lil Wayne. Wayne had
a fantastic year in 2008. Wayne
has been dope for a really, really
long time, and people are just
starting to notice it. Jazmine
Sullivan, newcomer to the
game, did really big things this
year. Katy Perry, another new-
comer to the game, did really big
things this year. There was a lot
of really good music this year.
Q: Can you name some of the
artists you’ve loved working with?
A: All artists are unique and I
love working with various
artists so that I can try out dif-
ferent styles, and as I’ve men-
tioned, I have worked with
many artists.
Q: You were baptized as
Shaffer Chimere Smith. How
did you get the name Ne-yo?
A: Everyone asks me that and
that, Jung made his name in
the industry by designing
clothes for hit movies including
“Tell Me Something” (1999) and
“Untold Scandal” (2003), while
at the same time running his
own boutique.
Jung studied at the Parsons
the recipients of the first award
to be given out by the associa-
tion. This was in recognition of
their work to expand infrastruc-
ture and marketing and other
contributions to increase visi-
tors.
The award ceremony will be
held at the Hamilton Hotel in
Itaewon tommorow.
Over 60 municipalities vied
for the prize. Six categories
most everyone knows that I got
called Neo by Big D Evans cuz
he said I saw music like Neo
from the Matrix. Then all of a
sudden everyone started calling
me that.
Q: You have a recording stu-
dio in Atlanta, Georgia, called
Carrington House and your own
production company called
Compound Entertainment. Do
you want to start your own
record company like Babyface’s
LaFace Records? Would that
also be based in Atlanta?
A: Compound is a label and
some artists associated with it
are Paula Campbell and Sixx
John and Shanell.
Q: According to reports you’re
also going to work with Marilyn
Manson. He performed in Seoul
at the ETP Festival over the
summer. How is your collabora-
tion with him going?
A: You’ll have to wait and see!
Q: Finally, what advice would
you give to those aspiring perform-
ers, songwriters and producers?
A: I say what I always say,
hone your skills. Take the time
to hone your skills. A lot of what
the business is today is meeting
the right person at the right
time. You’ve got to establish re-
lationships and connections.
Somebody’s going to hear your
music at some point — some-
one’s going to find out about it.
So you’ve got to be ready for
when your opportunity comes.
When I met with Def Jam I had-
n’t planned on auditioning for
them. But the deal happened
because I had the songs and I
was ready to perform.
For more information on the af-
ter party contact Club Answer at
(02) 548-7115 or go to their web-
site at www.clubanswer.co.kr. For
more information on the concert,
go to ticket.interpark.com or call
1544-1555. Learn more about Ne-
yo’s music at his website
www.yearofthegentleman.com
Regina Walton writes for
Expat Living and can be
reached through her blog expat-
jane.blogspot.com — Ed.
Art & Design School in 1987-
1989, after finishing his under-
graduate degree in Advertising
at the University of Houston.
He was also CEO of Ssamzie, a
leading maker of leather goods
from 2001-2002.
(youngaah@heraldm.com)
were considered for evalua-
tion, including visitor num-
bers and facilities and refur-
bishment for travelers’ conve-
nience.
Mokpo was praised for refur-
bishing Samhak Island and cre-
ating a public garden on Goha
Island. It also installed a pedes-
trian passage along its famous
archipelago of rocks.
Ulleung received high scores
Tom Cruise
Reuters
Tom Cruise to visit
Seoul next Saturday
By Yang Sung-jin
Tom Cruise will visit Seoul
next Saturday to participate in
promotional events ahead of the
release of his latest flick,
“Valkyrie.”
The 47-year-old actor is set to
meet with Korean fans along
with filmmaker Bryan Singer.
Korea is the only Asian country
the two celebrities will visit dur-
ing the promotional tour for the
film, reflecting Cruise’s affection
toward local fans, 20th Century
Fox Korea said.
Cruise will appear at the
hand-printing event at Yongsan
CGV theater at 7:30 p.m. on
Jan. 17. On Sunday, a press con-
ference is scheduled at 1 p.m. at
the Grand Hyatt Seoul, followed
by a red-carpet event in the
evening.
Despite the growing film mar-
ket in Korea, only a handful of
Hollywood actors and filmmak-
ers have visited Korea. However,
‘Dark Knight’ sweeps
People’s Choice Awards
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Holy,
People’s Choice Awards,
Batman! “The Dark Knight”
soared away with every trophy
it was nominated for
Wednesday at the 35th annual
fan-favorite CBS ceremony. The
caped crusader flick won five
awards, including favorite cast,
superhero, action movie and on-
screen matchup for Christian
Bale’s Batman and the late
Heath Ledger’s Joker.
“On behalf of all of the cast
from the movie, thank you very
much to the fans,” said Bale.
“Here’s to Heath.”
The CBS ceremony was hosted
by Queen Latifah and returned
to the Shrine Auditorium for its
typical star-studded live show
format, following last year’s
writer’s strike-friendly, pre-taped
program. Stars such as Adam
Sandler, Kate Hudson, Robin
Williams, Hugh Laurie and
Reese Witherspoon showed up to
accept their awards at the slight-
ly subdued ceremony.
“It’s such a great way to start the
new year,” Witherspoon, the “Four
for establishing a monorail on
the path to its famous Taeha
Lighthouse as well as a cable
car to observe the Dokdo
islets.
“Each municipality must put
greater efforts to break the
deficit in the travel industry,”
said Lee Jeong-hwan, presi-
dent of the Korea Tourism
Club.
“We hope to see not only mu-
www.jherald.com
Subscriptions: 1588-0533
Cruise has been willing to direct-
ly interact with Korean fans,
helping cement a positive image
here. Cruise has visited Korea
three times, to promote
“Interview with the Vampire,”
“Mission Impossible 2” and
“Vanilla Sky.”
Cruise’s latest visit in seven
years is expected to highlight
the role he plays in “Valkyrie,” a
film set in Nazi Germany dur-
ing World War II where German
officers hatch a dangerous plot
to assassinate Adolf Hitler. In
the film based on a true story,
Cruise plays Colonel Claus von
Stauffenberg. The film is set to
be released nationwide on Jan.
22.
Filmmaker Singer, mean-
while, visits Korea for the first
time. He has already built a
strong fan base in Korea be-
cause of his hit movies such as
“The Usual Suspects,” “X-Men”
and “Superman Returns.”
(insight@heraldm.com)
Christmases” star who won an
Oscar in 2005 for portaying June
Carter Cash in “Walk the Line,”
said as she accepted her award for
favorite female movie star. “A cou-
ple of years ago, I won a great
award for singing in a movie. This
year, I won an award for having a
baby throw up on me.”
Other recipients selected by
Internet voters in categories
spanning movies, television and
music included “Dancing With
the Stars” as favorite reality
show, Carrie Underwood as fa-
vorite female singer, “House” as
favorite TV drama, Brad Pitt as
favorite leading man, Angelina
Jolie as favorite female action
star and Ellen DeGeneres as fa-
vorite talk show host.
“I wish I could share this with
you,” DeGeneres told the audi-
ence while clutching her trophy
on stage. “I could throw it on the
ground and smash it into a mil-
lion pieces, and give each one of
you a little piece of it, but that’s
violent, and that’s probably why
you voted for me, because I’m
not violent.”
nicipalities, but also the general
public and tourism businesses,
promoting domestic travel first
to further discover and develop
every corner of the country,” Lee
said.
The club consists of about 100
members representing tourism-
related businesses, municipal
government officials and jour-
nalists.
(angiely@heraldm.com)