If you’ve ever visited one of ADER’s showrooms, you might have left with a cobalt blue-colored shopping bag and a slight craving for more creative space. After all, ADER Error has begun to take claim as one of Korea’s strongest leaders in fashion, with Vogue referring to them as "the Korean Vetements". Interestingly enough, both urban cultured fashion ventures were born in the same year, in 2014. The founders of ADER, a ragtag group of Seoulites who have studied at Central Saint Martins, the Fashion Institute of Technology and ESMOD, cleverly devised the phonetic Korean pronunciation of the word ‘other’ as their brand name. Their brand concept is reconstructing the “near-missed things" (all the daily objects in our lives that can be easily unnoticed) in an unorthodox style.
The exhibition set up by the design collective at D Project Space playfully highlights and gives a better understanding of such a slogan. ‘Near-missed things’ or the things we take for granted have been fantastically translated into interactive spaces that embody what is best described as a sensual mix of retro 80’s and modern chic. While vivid colors and plastic objects reminiscent of the era adorn the pathways (onto, laid throughout, etc...), the whole experience feels well-suited for today’s youth; As Korea’s contemporary youth culture is marked by boldness and an ever-longing for self-identity, ADER’s catchy ways of storytelling and style of revamping the mundane fit the bill. At D Project Space, everyday objects have been reinvented to offer insight into the ideology of ‘near-missed things’ and the result is a certainly "familiar yet strange, intimate but new" impression. Be ready to be lightly amused at this witty, oh-so-cobalt blue exhibition.