Humberto Leon is a designer and inventive director, however in the beginning, he’s a storyteller. “I feel that’s simply my approach of working creatively, is gathering as a lot data as attainable,” he informed WWD. “The by means of line of all my work is that I’m a historical past nerd.”
Following a nine-year stint as Kenzo’s artistic director, which he and codesigner Carol Lim left in June 2019 after eight years, the cofounder of Opening Ceremony found new methods to channel his interior raconteur: helming a music video for “Rising Up,” a single from rock band The Linda Lindas.
“Rising Up” led Leon to his largest musical endeavor but — partnering with Hybe and Geffen Information to launch the Dream Academy. The Ok-pop behemoth and the main label are becoming a member of forces to develop a multinational woman group within the model of Hybe’s hit troops BTS, Seventeen and NewJeans. Leon serves because the venture’s artistic director.
“I used to be so intrigued as a result of it simply felt like one thing so new and contemporary,” Leon mentioned. His personal numerous background (Leon is American with Peruvian and Chinese language ancestry) additionally impressed him to tackle the position.
After a whole bunch of hundreds of submissions, the Dream Academy’s finalists have been revealed on Aug. 28. Twenty younger girls from around the globe, aged 14 to 21, will compete for a spot in Hybe and Geffen’s new woman group, which has but to be named.
“Individuals ask me, ‘What’s the Dream Academy?’ And I’m like, ‘The Dream Academy is the story of those 20 ladies,’” Leon defined.
Behind the scenes of the Dream Academy artwork movie.
HYBE x Geffen Information
For the previous yr, the Dream Academy’s recruits have attended the primary Ok-pop boot camp of its sort in Los Angeles. Their ultimate audition course of can be documented in “The Debut: Dream Academy,” a brand new sequence airing on YouTube and Abema beginning Friday. Auditions will conclude in December, when the members of Hybe x Geffen’s international woman group are formally named.
The years-long course of of making this one-of-a-kind woman group may also be the topic of an upcoming Netflix docuseries, which debuts in 2024. Nadia Hallgren, the Emmy-nominated director of “Changing into,” will helm the yet-to-be-titled venture.
The Dream Academy has already been launched on display. Upon the reveal of the 20 finalists, Hybe x Geffen launched a seven-minute artwork movie directed by Andrew Thomas Huang. In lower than per week, it’s garnered greater than 1 million views.
Behind the scenes of the Dream Academy artwork movie.
HYBE x Geffen Information
As artistic director, Leon was closely concerned with the brief. “Something you’ve seen visually has gone by means of my lens,” he added. In collaboration with Oscar-nominated costume designer and superstar stylist Shirley Kurata, Leon curated every finalist’s wardrobe for the movie.
A part of Leon’s course of concerned detailed interviews with every finalist. By means of these intimate chats he not solely gleaned a way of their backgrounds and pursuits, however an thought of what causes mattered to them most. Conservation was a standard thread.
“The ladies talked loads concerning the atmosphere,” defined Leon. “They’re actually fascinated by the place the world’s going and what they should take care of.”
Leon and Kurata homed in on classic style, digging deep into the archives of Rodarte, Jean Paul Gaultier and Prada. Additionally they tapped into hip sustainable manufacturers like Ottolinger and Eckhaus Latta.
“We wished to make it possible for we have been celebrating this group as an entire, however that every considered one of them stand out as people,” Leon mentioned.
