Today 18 January 2016 Minister Delegate for Relations with Romanians Abroad Dan Stoenescu met with Academician Ionel Valentin Vlad, President of the Romanian Academy.
During the meeting with the President of the Romanian Academy, Minister Delegate underlined the role of the Romanian Academy played in our country's cultural development, being one of the pillars of Romanian society. Moreover, he saluted the institution's involvement in the "Educated Romania" project, which is dedicated to building an education system based on efficiency, meritocracy and identifying and supporting genuine talents at the highest level. For the Romanian communities abroad and in the neighboring countries, education is a means to preserve and develop Romanian identity.
Furthermore, the Romanian dignitary reiterated how important it was to Romanian-born persons and to persons pertaining to the Romanian cultural heritage to belong to a common identity sphere, such as is defined under Article 1, paragraph (1), point a of Law 299/2007.
The discussions of Minister Delegate and the president of the Romanian Academy also focused on the fact that the two institutions deem as greatly important the scientific studies and research works on the Romanian communities abroad, but also on the historic communities, which were relevant to the Romanian academic area both from a historical, and an ethno-linguistic perspective. In addition, they approached the possibility of facilitating interaction between Romanian researchers living in Romania and Romanian-born researchers living abroad.


text:
HomeTracksEvening Hymns "I Can Only Be Good" – Listen
Evening Hymns "I Can Only Be Good" – Listen
April 16, 2020 Jonathan Aird Tracks 0
Evening Hymns is one of the musical projects of Canadian Jonas Bonnetta, and today's featured song is the first new music under this name since 2015's 'Quiet Energies'. It's a song that enumerates all the reasons not to fall in love, or stay in love.Jonas Bonnetta says of the new song "It was difficult to write this while in a relationship. I was writing from the perspective of someone falling out of love and with the end in sight. Knowing that was going to come and that I'd have to deal with this intense destruction of all of these comforts and shared dreams that I'd known for years. Looking around and something just not feeling right even though it should have."
Photo: Caylie Runciman
Evening Hymns
About Jonathan Aird	1293 Articles
Sure, I could climb high in a tree, or go to Skye on my holiday. I could be happy. All I really want is the excitement of first hearing The Byrds, the amazement of decades of Dylan's music, or the thrill of seeing a band like The Long Ryders live. That's not much to ask, is it?
Jonathan Hultén "Chants From Another Place" (Kscope, 2020)
Forgotten Artists – The Cactus Brothers
Allan Doe: I listened to Deliverin' a lot while on board the USS Talbot in '71. It kept me going until I…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
without photo
Expat Corner
Mid-East
Daily Sabah >
US National Security Adviser Bolton calls for coup in Venezuela
DAILY SABAH WITH WIRES
Published 03.02.2019 00:00
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U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton on Saturday called for Venezuela's military to carry out a coup d'état against President Nicolas Maduro.
"To the Venezuelan military high command, now is the time to stand on the side of the Venezuelan people. It is your right and responsibility to defend the constitution and democracy for Venezuela!" National Security Advisor John Bolton said in a tweet.
The U.S. recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's interim president 10 days ago while four major European nations -- Britain, France, Germany and Spain -- have said they will do likewise unless Maduro calls presidential elections by midnight on Sunday.
The U.S. made similar calls previously to Venezuelan military to "intervene" on behalf of Guadio.
"We repeat our call to the Venezuelan military and security forces to support democracy and protect all Venezuelan citizens," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Dec 23. after Washington announced its support for Guadio.
Speaking at a demonstration marking 20 years since his predecessor Hugo Chavez came to power, Maduro ignored those demands and instead reiterated his call to bring forward parliamentary elections slated for the end of 2020 to this year.
"They (the opposition) want to bring forward elections, let's have elections," he said in a reference to the opposition.
Maduro, making his first public appearance since claiming to have survived an assassination attempt six months ago, accused Guaido of being a U.S. "puppet" in a coup d'état attempt.
The National Assembly is the only one of Venezuela's five government branches controlled by the opposition.
Guaido had earlier urged the armed forces to allow into the country humanitarian aid that would be gathered in Colombia, Brazil and a Caribbean Island.
"You, soldier... have the decision in your hands" to allow it in or not, said Guaido.
Maduro refuses to let aid into the country, claiming it would precede a U.S. led military intervention.
"We've never been nor are a country of beggars," he told thousands of his supporters in the heart of Caracas.
"There are some people who feel like beggars to imperialism and sell their homeland for $20 million," he added, referring to the amount of food and medicine aid offered by the U.S.
Previous in Americas The death toll from a dam collapse last week at a mine in southeast... Next in Americas U.S. President Donald Trump said it was important to keep a U.S. military...
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text:
This is Wärtsilä
CEO review
Wärtsilä Energy Business
Wärtsilä Marine Business
Manufacturing and R&D
Innovating for sustainability
Why invest in Wärtsilä
Sustainability at Wärtsilä
Responsible business conduct
Product design principles
Sustainability data
Materiality assessment
Reporting principles
Independent Assurance Report
GRI and UNGC index
UN Sustainable Development Goals and Wärtsilä
Operations of the Board of Directors
Responsibilities of the Board of Directors
The Board's committees
The President & CEO and the Deputy CEO
Operations of the Board of Management
Values and the control environment
Guidelines and communication
Remuneration report 2018
Risks and risk management
Risk profiles and responsibilities
Wärtsilä on the capital markets
Board of Directors' report
Wärtsilä's prospects
Dividend proposal
Five years in figures
Quarterly figures
Calculations of financial ratios
Consolidated statement of income
Accounting principles for the consolidated financial statements
Parent company financial statements
Parent company income statement
Parent company balance sheet
Parent company cash flow statement
Accounting principles for the parent company
Notes to the parent company financial statements
Proposal of the Board
The journey's next step
A year in the life of the Smart Marine Vision
Renewing the possibilities
An oceanic awakening
A sustainable alternative to chromium plating
Safety Day drives home the Road Traffic Safety message
Scrubber sales boom as sulphur limits tighten
Wärtsilä joins Climate Leadership Coalition
Realising the value of Smart Power Generation
Transforming the maritime market
Wärtsilä reports
Suomeksi | På svenska
2018 was the first full year of Wärtsilä's Smart Marine Vision in action, and progress unfolded more quickly and more intensively than any observer could have expected.
Add a note?
Andrea Morgante, Vice President Strategy and Business Development for Wärtsilä Marine Business, was always hopeful of such a result, however. "We believed the Smart Marine Vision made sense," he says. "We didn't think of it as a gamble. We saw that this had to happen, and I'm so glad to see the way it has accelerated."
The team behind Smart Marine certainly understood the underlying needs in the industry to embrace digitalisation, realise synergies, and work towards more sustainable operations. Their main concerns in the beginning, however, related to how quickly they would be able to bring people on board with the idea; from internal stakeholders, such as management and personnel, all the way to the customers themselves.
In Morgante's view, the reason the thinking behind the vision has spread so widely is the commitment from Wärtsilä's management. He points to the close involvement of the President of Marine, Roger Holm, and Group CFO Arjen Berends as being particularly important; "With leaders of this caliber challenging your views, the result of that process is almost guaranteed to flourish. Those conversations really served to strengthen our approach."
Compounding the benefits
Foremost among the events of a busy year of Smart Marine-related developments must surely be Wärtsilä's acquisition in March of Transas – a leader in marine navigation solutions, training and simulation services, and ship traffic control.
Investing in the vision and taking on the strategy has necessitated making such acquisitions. By bringing in companies like Transas and Guidance Marine, Wärtsilä has hastened the journey considerably, acquiring with them technologies that would have been extremely time-consuming, or perhaps even impossible, to develop organically.
"From a strategic perspective," Morgante explains, "the Transas acquisition brought us to a new level, as the first company able to cover the entire domain in terms of the technologies required for ocean transportation.
"Wärtsilä already held a strong position regarding everything related to the vessel – from power production and power delivery, to control automation and navigation. What we were lacking, for example, was expertise in port operations, which Transas has. We also missed fleet-operation solutions, which Transas has as well. This combination simply makes us the first company that can provide a complete end-to-end solution, providing everything the customer needs to go from A to B with their vessel."
'In practice' makes perfect
"There are certain things you just need to acquire as opposed to develop," says Morgante, "and it's amazing to see these new elements working in combination with the existing offering. The latest auto-docking project we carried out in Norway in November is a perfect example of how combining the technologies we have in our portfolio with completely new solutions, provides a competitive advantage for Wärtsilä. To succeed in that, we also needed the acquired capabilities, bringing in colleagues from across the organisation along with their technologies."
The operation that resulted – using the Norled Folgefonn ferry, as detailed below – emerged as the first fully autonomous dock-to-dock operation ever demonstrated. But Morgante stresses that world firsts are not necessarily the priority, impressive as they might be:
"The fact that we are seeing 'world firsts' of this or that merely shows that we are on to something. It demonstrates that companies believe that new solutions need to be brought to the market and that there is interest from the market in those solutions."
Ultimately, Morgante strongly believes that the winner in this field will not be the player to bring the most novelty to the market, but rather the one with proven technology and a strong list of references. Nevertheless, he is pleased to note the increased pace at which such developments are coming to light, and that the support required from customers is already present.
"Co-creation can easily become a buzz word if there are no practical implications. For us, it means bringing companies together - each providing their own expertise, their technological accomplishments, and access to their assets – to do something new. And this is extremely important when you're developing completely new solutions.
"For a new engine," he points out, "you can build on the extensive experience gained from previous ones. But if you aim to come up with something completely new, the technology itself is not enough. You need to have a customer with you so that you can demonstrate how the technology improves their business."
Updates keenly awaited
Morgante is already looking forward to seeing how other elements of the Transas offering will shape the way Wärtsilä serves its customers.
"What excites me most is that I felt Transas truly understood that we need to bring to the maritime industry the concepts that had been around for some time already on the consumer side. Deploying applications on top of the equipment you have already provided, for example, without the necessity for additional hardware. If you think about your iPhone, every year an OS update brings new functionalities, allowing new apps to develop and so forth."
"This is the super exciting part. And it's one element we acquired with Transas and are now using and deploying with our products. This is a race to develop the potential which already exists, in some ways. We've been working actively since the acquisition to connect the wealth of technology we have in our portfolio. This is one of the must-win battles for us – to connect the dots and find solutions that extract more benefits through the act of combining them: one plus one makes three, basically."
And for such an ambitious series of actions, a similarly ambitious outlook is a must. Morgante makes his personal commitment to Wärtsilä's purpose indelibly clear. "What we want to do is to change the world. Personally speaking, I want it tomorrow – not 30 years from now. It's inspiring the whole organisation to think in these terms, and by providing solutions like these for the existing fleets already out there, we're accelerating the process and bringing the future even closer."
2018 in Smart Marine
Wärtsilä integrated solutions on next-generation shuttle tankers
Four vessels are ordered by Teekay with fully integrated Wärtsilä solutions (DF engines, LNGPac, VOC recovery, pumps, inert gas generator, hybrid system, Eniram analytics); CO2 will be reduced by up to 40%.
Partnership with Concirrus for connected insurance
Wärtsilä launches Eniram SkyLight 3.0, to enable new data-driven business opportunities, including flexible insurance solutions, charter party compliance assessment, and vessel performance monitoring services.
Wärtsilä Global Customer Support Centre
Wärtsilä launches a Global Customer Support Centre to provide easily accessible, transparent, and high-quality online and phone support 24/7 for enquiries regarding all products and solutions in the portfolio.
Wärtsilä acquires Transas
Wärtsilä acquires Transas, a global leader in marine navigation, fleet operating solutions, simulators, and ship traffic control; Transas has a unified cloud-platform for managing operations across the ecosystem.
Wärtsilä Seals & Bearings develops remote services
New smart glasses with WiFi, Bluetooth, camera and microphone enable real-time communication with a remotely located Wärtsilä expert who can advise and guide the repairs using images, manuals and video footage.
Wärtsilä Smart Technology Hub
A next-generation centre of innovation and production is announced. It will also be a co-created state-of-the-art smart manufacturing campus, where the city, universities, suppliers, and customers can all co-exist and collaborate.
An Oceanic Awakening and SEA20 announced
Wärtsilä launches 'An Oceanic Awakening' and SEA20 at SMM. This global forum has the aim of connecting 20 marine cities to drive sustainability; Rotterdam, Hamburg and Helsinki have already joined.
Wärtsilä Hybrid Centre
Wärtsilä inaugurates the world's first real-scale hybrid centre in Italy. The centre will simulate real operations through data collected from the field, and will be used for training, R&D, and to improve factory efficiencies.
Redesigning organisation to enhance customer value
Wärtsilä announces re-organisation from three businesses into two – Wärtsilä Marine Business and Wärtsilä Energy Business – covering both new sales and services for the respective markets to deliver increased value to customers by better serving their needs throughout the full lifecycle.
Maritime Cyber Centre of Excellence
Together with Templar Executives, Wärtsilä opens the world's first International Maritime Cyber Centre of Excellence in Singapore, consisting of a Maritime Cyber Emergency Response Team and a cyber academy.
Acceleration Centre Singapore & IntelliTug
Wärtsilä, MPA, and PSA Marine will develop a harbour tug with autonomous navigation, technologies to dynamically maintain safe distances, prevent collisions, and allow tug operators to work with colleagues ashore via real time data connection.
Wärtsilä Lock Entry Assist
Wärtsilä develops a lock entry assist system to facilitate sailing on the St Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes; the system uses high performance GNSS and was tested on the CSL St Laurent, a 22,600 GT Trillium class bulk carrier.
Wärtsilä Automated Dock-to-dock System
The Norled Folgefonn, an 85m ferry, was able to leave the dock, manoeuvre out of the harbour, sail to the next port, manoeuvre through the harbour entrance, and dock alongside the terminal, all without human intervention.
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The journey's next step Renewing the possibilities Back to top
In co-operation
© Wärtsilä Corporation
Wärtsilä in social media


two profiles were found for Carerslink.org.uk in social networks. Among other social networks the website is represented in Twitter and YouTube.
The web server with the IP-address 79.170.40.231 used by Carerslink.org.uk is owned by Heart Internet Network and is located in Nottingham, Great Britain. There are many websites run by this web server. The operator uses this server for many hosting clients. In total there are at least 174 websites on this server. The language of these websites is mostly english.
The websites were created using the programming language PHP and they are hosted on a Apache server, which runs on the operating system Unix/Linux (Unix). The content management system WordPress in the version 4.9.8 is used. The HTML pages were created with the latest standard HTML 5. Both the inclusion of the website in search engines and follwoing of its hyperlinks is explicitly allowed.


Identify and use the safety practices that should be observed when welding with oxyacetylene gas.
Wear personal protective equipment. Wear welding gloves, helmet, leather apron, welding chaps, leather shoes, welding goggles, and other personal protective equipment to help prevent weld burns and injury. Make sure the welding goggles or face shield have at least a No. 4 filter lens. Do not wear clothing made of synthetic fibers while welding.
Fasten cylinders securely. Do not handle cylinders roughly. Chain cylinders in an upright position to a wall or cart. When regulators are not on cylinders, keep safety caps in place. Caps will prevent damage to cylinder valves.
Never use oil on welding equipment. Oil and grease may ignite spontaneously, when in contact with oxygen.
Open cylinder valves correctly. Open the valve on the acetylene cylinder no more than three-fourths of a turn so it can be closed quickly in case of emergency. Open the valve on the oxygen tank fully. While welding or cutting, leave the valve wrench in position.
Keep the tip pointed away from your body. Do not saturate your clothing with oxygen or acetylene. Before and while lighting the flame, keep the tip pointed away from your body.
Light the flame with an approved lighter. Using matches to light the torch brings fingers too close to the tip.
Set the operating pressure carefully. Never use acetylene at a pressure over 15 psi. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for the correct operating pressures for the metal being welded and for the tip size being used.
Do not smoke or allow anyone else to smoke near the oxy-fuel gas welder. If fuel gas were to leak from the unit, smoking could provide ignition and cause a fire or an explosion.
Treat the flame with respect. Keep the flame and heat away from the cylinder, hoses, and people. Never lay down a lighted torch. Be sure the flame is out before laying down the torch. Never walk around with a lighted torch.
Control flashbacks and backfires. Make certain that reverse flow-check valves and flash arrestors are installed on the oxygen and acetylene lines.
Do not leave the work area until the cylinder valves are closed. Be sure the cylinder valves are closed and pressure is relieved from the hoses before you leave the work area.
Never stand in front of a regulator while you are opening a tank valve.
Do not weld or cut on containers that have held flammable materials.
Remove regulators and replace protective caps before transporting cylinders.
Store oxygen cylinders away from acetylene cylinders. A non-combustible wall at least 5 feet high should be used to separate cylinders.
Handle hot metal with pliers or tongs. Do not leave hot metal on the welding table because unsuspecting persons may touch it and be burned.
Check connections for leaking gases. To prevent fires or explosions, use soapy water to check connections for leaks.


text:
Hye Eun, Kim
Copyright © 2015 (by) the authors.
Received : October 07, 2015
Accepted : November 27, 2015
hyk0010@hotmail.com
2. The key factors to consider with a focus on organisation
3. Strengths
4. Weaknesses
Seoul Fashion Week aims to be the world's fifth Fashion Week from the year after 2000. This has involved significant labour and investment, not all of which has been successful. This study analyses the strengths and weaknesses of SFW based on the London Fashion Week as a successful model. By identifying its obvious and less obvious characteristics, this analysis aims to diagnose SFW's current status in order to upgrade the event at an international level. Key factors are organisational body, designers, visitors, sponsors, schedule, venue, main events and supportive events. The following points have emerged from the research: the success of Seoul Fashion Week was based on the combination of separate collections, an appropriate fashion show venue, and the active role of new designers. The problems were: lack of an independent organisation, non-professional staff, lack of diverse visitors, exclusive governmental funding, late timing, excessive distance from the main European and American fashion markets, lack of sustainability of the main events, a limited variety of supportive events, the absence of online promotion and, last but not least, no distinctive features. The study concludes that Seoul Fashion Week has great potential with its fast growth and young designers. This should be complemented with an independent organisation and effective administration and strategy.
Seoul Fashion Week ; organisation ; buyers ; governmental sponsorship ; online promotion
Seoul Fashion Week is a biannual fashion showcase event sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan government. It aims to become the world's fifth leading Fashion Week, following London, Milan, New York and Paris ( Seoul Design Foundation, 2015a ). Although its 16-year-old history is short compared to others, its growth has been remarkable.
Several studies have been carried out on the subject of developing Seoul Fashion Week (hereafter, SFW): Analysis on the current status of Seoul Fashion Week and study on the methods of its mid- and long-term development ( Kim, 2012 ), Research on "Korean" collection as high added value fashion industry -by comparison of status and characteristics of domestic and international collections ( Joo, 2009 ), The development strategies of SFAA, Seoul collection ( Kim, 2008a ), The development strategies of the Seoul fashion industry ( Kim, 2008b ) and An exploratory study for the market of Seoul collection - from the collection participants' perspective ( Han & Lee, 2008 ). A number of press articles ( Ham, 2011 ; Kim, 2015 ; Lee, 2013 ; Lee, 2014 ), report the strengths and weaknesses of each collection, particularly in organisational terms. Organisational issues are crucial for assessing the present as well as planning future directions. It is also important to look into the success and problems in order to construct a correct and realistic development plan. However, no detailed academic studies about SFW organisational issues were made available after the year 2012, when separate collections were combined into one, despite the great quantity of news and magazine articles on this topic. The aim of this paper is to define the current situation of SFW, particularly after 2012. To do this, it is helpful to look at the key factors of some successful events of this kind. London Fashion Week (LFW) can be a good model as an independent, yet powerful, organisation.
The scope of this research focuses on the changes in SFW after 2012, particularly in terms of organisational issues. The issues of designers, prices and products are as important as organisational ones in order to produce an accurate diagnosis, as these, however, would be too wide to be considered in one paper, this study only focuses on organisational points. The research method is based on a review of the relevant literature, including online resources and news articles. With its efficient organisational body, the British Fashion Council (BFC) and its successful strategy (guests, sponsors, events etc.), LFW will be used as a standard against which to assess the current situation of SFW. It seems to be best to investigate both websites (i.e., LFW's and BFC's) because buyers and press alike regard Fashion Week websites as the best way to gain information about designers, schedules and events. This is confirmed by interviews (from other research projects) with buyers (7), press (21), stylists (2), photographers (1) and makeup artists (1) during 2015 SS LFW, 12-16 September 2014. All of them mention the homepage as their best information source. Then, by the standards from websites, SFW is investigated through journals, news articles and related websites, SFW, CFDK (Council of Fashion Designers of Korea), designers' websites and reports by governmental organisations (Seoul Fashion Centre, Seoul Institute, Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Design Foundation). This study aims to illustrate unnoticed success along with more obvious achievements, in order to devise specific strategies for SFW to become the world's fifth Fashion Week and launch Korean fashion internationally.
- 2.1. The key factors of Fashion Week in terms of funding and organisation
Fashion Week is a preview chance of the latest trend and trade-based events ( Kim, 2015 ). The world's four biggest Fashion Weeks are held in London, Milan, New York and Paris. These are followed by similar events in Berlin, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Istanbul, and other cities. New York Fashion Week is run by IMG Fashion, the world's leading producer, marketer and partner to the international fashion community. Although New York Fashion Week was established by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, it was handed over to IMG in 2001. New York Fashion Week was funded by Mercedes-Benz from 2007 until January 2015. Following this successful sponsorship, Mercedes-Benz has funded other Fashion Weeks, such as Australia, Berlin, China, Istanbul, New York and Tokyo ( , 2015 ). Paris is run by the French Fashion Federation and funded by private corporations such as Mercedes-Benz and Maybelline, New York. Milan Fashion Week is run by the National Chamber for Italian Fashion, a non-profit organisation, and supported by the City of Milan and other private companies although it is not clear whether this governmental support is financial or institutional help.
London Fashion Week is run by BFC and its main funder is the City of London, followed by the London Development Agency, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the EU's European Regional Development Fund. However, these sponsorships are for the Paris Fashion Week showroom fee. Normally most contracts are made during Paris Fashion Week, at the end of the Big 4 Fashion Weeks. Buyers confirm their contracts after seeing the major Fashion Weeks. So many LFW designers are represented in Paris showrooms during Paris Fashion Week. The City of London contributes 800,000 British pounds (₩ 1,440,000,000, ₩ 1,800 = £ 1). This is just 8% of the total expenses (Seoul Institute, 2014). The rest is covered by business sponsors (products, services or money), by profits from the fashion weekend, a consignment fee, and designers' fees.
Tokyo Fashion Week is run by the Japan Fashion Week Organization and used to be funded by Tokyo's city government until 2010. Now two thirds of the expenses (₩ 4,000,000,000) are covered by sponsorship from various companies. Berlin Fashion Week is run by Berlin Partner and supported by the title sponsor, Mercedes-Benz. Singapore Fashion Week (Audi Fashion Festival) is run by Asia Fashion Exchange, and its biggest sponsor (half of their budget) is Audi. The rest is from governmental organisations such as the Small and Medium Business Administration and STB (Singapore Tourism Board). SFW is currently hosted by Seoul Metropolitan Government and run by Seoul Design Foundation. Seoul City is almost the sole funder of Fashion Week (only 5% is from other sponsorships) ( ibid .).
Fashion Week sponsorship sources can be classified as private corporations and governmental funding. Independent sponsorships are from private corporations (New York, Berlin and Tokyo) and are divided into profit- and non-profit making. There is a mix of governmental and company funding (Singapore), and governmental funding (Seoul). Fig. 1 shows the differences in funding each Fashion Week.
Funding and profit- or non-profit making of each Fashion Week. (modified from Seoul Institute, 2014)
Among these, LFW is a suitable model for SFW to follow. Singapore Fashion Week tends to host well-known designers' garments shown at an earlier major Fashion Week, rather than run its own fashion show ( Seoul Metropolitan Government Fashion Advisory Team, 2009 ). SFW has not developed enough yet to be supported by a main sponsor such as Mercedes Benz. In fact, a big multinational company as a main sponsor using its own name would seem clash with SFW's intention to encourage the domestic industry. Further, relying on just one company for sponsorship makes it difficult to replace it when the contract ends. Thus, a better option for SFW seems to be to find a number of small, separate sponsors in order to decrease dependency on the government. Paris Fashion Week has various collections and fairs, including Prêt a Porter, Haute Couture, Who's Next, among others. However, because of its scale and complexity, it is not the best model for SFW to follow. Although Milan Fashion Week is funded by the City of Milan and LFW is funded by London's city government, both are run by non-profit organisations, recruit sponsorships and run businesses in order to fund their Fashion Weeks and associated events. However, LFW is famous as a gateway for new designers and its program is aimed at nurturing young designers. Of all designers participating in 2015 AW, 44.87% have run their own brands for less than 5 years 35 out of 78, including Generation Next and Seoul Collection (the details are in tables 4 and 2.2.1. Designers). Given the difficulty for new designers to sustain their labels, BFC, an organiser of LFW, can be taken as an ideal sample model to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of SFW so as to set up a future plan. In Table 1 , information from the LFW website is compared with the corresponding aspects of SFW.
Key factors from LFW and SFW Homepage (2016 SS)
(Retrieved 28 August 2015)
Organisational
body Participants
(Designers) Visitors
(Guests) Sponsor (funder) Schedule Venue Events Supportive events
London British
Council- have
event etc. Contact details
(sales, press),
stock list,
showroom,
look book Press (including
bloggers) and
buyers, press,
press portal,
galleries for
press Principal
other sponsors,
suppliers,
funders (EU,
Mayor of
Trade &
Investment) 18-22 Sep. The Brewer Street
Car Park (1sttime)
(2010-15:
Somerset House Catwalk
digital show,
film screening Pop-Up showroom, Unfold
(Irish Designers showcase),
exhibition, Lovebullets
ART exhibition, after
Party, Louis Vuitton Series
3 exhibition opening
gala, Belstaff event etc.
Seoul Hosted by Seoul
Run by Seoul
Foundation Contact,
profile, brand
concept, season
photos -no link
homepage &
social media Press, buyers
registration N/A 16-21 Oct. Dongdaemun
Design Plaza
(from 2014 AW) Seoul
Off show Give Donation
- 2.2. The key factors of SFW
Drawn from LFW and BFC homepages, these factors encompass: organisational body, designers, visitors, sponsor, date, venue, events and supportive events. Table 2 shows the changes in SFW from 2012 AW.
Changes from 2012 AW
Season Organisation
al body Designers
: catwalk show Visitors
(Guests) Sponsor-funder
: Seoul City Date
(Schedule) Venue Events Supportive events
2012 AW SDF 67(SC: 36, FTO:19,GN: 12) 2012
-3.875 billion
(3,875,000,000) 2-7 April
(6 days) Olympic
Park SFF-200 GIVE Donation
2013 SS SDF 56(SC :41, GN: 12,OS: 3) 22-28 Oct.
(7 days) War
Museum,
Xi Gallery SFF-200 GIVE Donation
2013 AW SDF 70(SC: 50, GN: 11,OS: 9) 2013
-3.1 billion
(3,100,000,000) 25-30 Mar.
(6 days) IFC Mall,
Square SFF- ? GIVE Donation
2014 SS SDF (27),
CFDK (25)
(run each
separately) 70(SC: 52, GN:18) 62,655
(IB-124,IP-53) 18-23 Oct.
(6 days) Hangang
Park, IFC
Mall SFF- ? Asian Fashion Forum, Art zone,
Camping zone, K-style Concert,
Pop-up stores, 800g fashion
donation, Galleria West pop up
store by Singapore designers at
SFW, Fashion filming (Nora Noh)
2014 AW SDF,
CFDK 86(SC: 60, GN: 17,OS: 9) 2014
-3 billion
(3,003,034) 21-26 Mar.
(6 days) DDP SFF-48 Fashion Collaboration-EXO+ GN,
(etc. Singapore Fashion Week
Trade Show-Blue Print attending)
2015 SS SDF,
CFDK 86(SC: 60, GN: 17,OS: 9) 55,558
(IB-212, IP-308,
B-114, P-786) 17-22 Oct.
(6 days) DDP SFF-33
(PT-5) GIVE Donation
2015 AW SDF(Sponsor-
CFDK) 83(SC: 57, GN: 21,OS: 5) 2015 (including
2016 SS)
(6 days) DDP No GIVE Donation
*From the year 2012, all financial support has been from Seoul Metropolitan City Government. * SC= Seoul Collection, GN= Generation Next, FTO= Fashion Take Off, OS= Off Show, SFF= Seoul Fashion Fair * IB= International Buyer, IP= International Press, B= Buyer, P= Press
- 2.2.1. Organisational body
The first fashion show in Korea was by Nora Noh on 29th November 1959 at the Bando Hotel ( Noh, 2007 ). The first regular group fashion show started from SFAA (Seoul Fashion Association) 1991 SS (November, 1990). In the 1990s there were a number of similar well-established fashion shows showcasing events such as the KDFA, SFAA and NWS Seoul Collections. SFAA, established in 1989, is led by designers from the Kookje Design Institute or the Choongang Design Contest. Since then, it has been holding two fashion shows every year. KFDA (Korea Fashion Designers Association), established in 1961, is based on boutique designers near Myoungdong and NWS (New Wave in Seoul), established in 1992 by new and young designers, when SFAA and KFDA were already established ( Park, 2000 ). Because of the different interests and goals, collections were held separately, despite Seoul City's combining efforts. In 1998, the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, together with Seoul Metropolitan Government, launched Seoul Collection as a event of ASEM which combined KFDA, NWS and other independent designers. In October 2000, Seoul Collection launched its first fashion shows. After that, there have been two fashion collections in Korea: the Seoul Collection and the SFAA Collection. Shows' schedules, ticket sales and PR are organised separately. This is wasteful of labour, money and PR, and weakens the collections in terms of attracting international attention to one city. Finally, after significant efforts towards unification, the year 2003 saw the first combined SS collection. However, this did not last beyond that year because of distribution problems in scheduling shows, fee administration, funding, tickets, etc. Until 2012 there were separation and unification in succession. Finally, one collection was held in 2012. It was hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and co-run by Seoul Design Foundation and CFDK (Council of Fashion Designers of Korea). CFDK was established in 2012 by combining separate designer groups, in order to "create a truly unified fashion designer association that will bring every fashion designer organizations and individual designers together" ( Council of Fashion Designers of Korea, 2015 ). Since then, CFDK has worked together with, or against, SDF for SFW. Table 3 shows the chronological order of fashion collections in Korea and Seoul Fashion Week's organisational bodies.
Collections and organising bodies in chronological order
Number of collections Organising bodies Funder of collection
1990s Three (KFDA, SFAA, NWS) KFDA, SFAA, NWS different funders
2001 SS(Oct, 2000) Two: Seoul Collection (KFDA, NWS) SFAA Collection Korea Fashion Association, SFAA Seoul Metropolitan Government,
Ministry of Trade & Industry
2003 SS One: Seoul Collection
2003 AW Two: Seoul Collection, SFAA Collection
2004 SS One in two locations
2007 AW Separate: Seoul Collection, SFAACollection
2009 SS Two: Seoul Collection, SFAA Collection
2012 SS Two: Seoul Collection, SFAA Collection Seoul Fashion Centre (in Seoul BusinessAgency), SFAA Seoul Metropolitan Government,
Ministry of Knowledge Economy
2012 AW One- Seoul Collection Seoul Design Foundation All financial support is from Seoul
2014 SS-2015 SS Seoul Collection Seoul Design Foundation, CFDK
: MOU between two
(Run by Seoul (27), CFDK (25) in 2014 SS)
2015 AW Seoul Collection Seoul Design Foundation (CFDK: Sponsor)
* SFC was closed in December 2011 and all responsibilities were handed over to SDF. (Seoul Institute, 2014)
- 2.2.2. Designers
There are various types of designers showing exhibiting at the Fashion Week ( Table 4 ). Almost half of them have run their businesses for less than five years. It is hard to survive for young brands because of financial problems, weak brand identity, inability to keep regular customers, etc. This is why a nurturing program is needed. SFW has Generation Next, which supplies venues on a smaller scale than is needed for Seoul Collection. This is a chance for new designers to operate on smaller budgets, participate in shows and contact buyers, press, and even the public.
The running years of participating brands in 2015 AW SFW Seoul Collection
(excluding Generation Next's 21 designers)
20 , Mar Brand SONGZIO Ordinary
People MUNSOO
KWON VanHart di
Albarzar HEICH ES
HEICH beyond closet Jehee Sheen SLING STONE
Director Zio Song Hyuncheol Chang Munsoo Kwon Dooyoung Chung Sanghyuk Han Taeyong Ko Jehee Sheen Jongcheol Park
21, Mar Brand THE CENTAUR kimseoryong ANS AN YOONJUNG CARUSO La doii RESURRECTI ON the studio K J KOO SONO DRS SUPERCOMM A B
Director Ranji Ye Seoryong Kim Yoonjung An Kwanhyo Chang Doii, Lee Jooyoung Lee Hyejin Hong Jinwoo Choi,Yeonjoo Koo Deresa Choi Bonnie Lee
22, Mar Brand POST DECEMBER Kwakhyunjoo collection PAUL&ALICE LE QUEEN couture sumisumi PartspARTs NOHKE CHOIBOKO SOULPOT STUDIO how and what
Director Sohyun Park Hyunjoo Kwak Hyosoon Joo Youseok Moyung Sumi Jeong Seonok Im Misun Chung Bokho Choi Soojin Kim Byoungkyu Park
Year 2009 2003 2010 2007/8 2012 2011 2011 1973 2009 2003
23, Mar Brand FASHION STORY JUNG HUN JONG LIE SANGBONG KAAL E. SUKTAE Push-BUTTON KUMANN YOO HYE JIN MISS GEE COLLECTION BIG PARK Steve J & Yoni P ARCHE METROCITY KIM CHUL UNG MODE
Director Hunjong Jung Sangbong Lie Suktae Lee Seongkeon Park Hyejin Yoo Choonhee Gee Yonsoo Park Hykseo Jung, Seunyeon Pae Choonho Yoon Chulwoong Kim
Year 2008? 1985 1997 2003 2012(1979) 1979 2011(1980) 2006 2013 1992 1979/80
24, Mar Brand ENZUVAN DEMOO PARKCHOON MOO CRES E DIM Jain Song S=YZ JARRET KYE BAKANGCHI
Director Eunzu Hong Choomoo Park Hongbum Kim Jain Song Yoojin Song Jiyeon Lee Hanhee Kye Hangchi Park
25, Mar Brand Monte Milano SUUWU yang CANEZOU kiok JO MYUNG RYE MAG & LOGAN LOW CLASSIC ANDY & DEBB ultimo
Director Seohee Oh Suuwu Park Heedeuk Yang Bomin Kim Kiok Kang Myungrye Jo Logan, Sunhye Chung Mungsin Lee Seokwon Kim, Wonjung Yoon Dongsoon Kim
Year 2003? 2012? 2007(2000) 2006 1989 1977 2006 2009/10 1999 1985
* As Generation Next (21 designers) consists of designers who have been in business for under 5 years, this table does not include their launching year. Because of their small size, it is hard to find informationof some designers. * Renamed brands, such as KUMANN YOO HYE JIN or BIG PARK are included in the original brands' launching year rather than their rebranding year. Despite reforming and rebranding, these companieshave kept the same organisation and funding power.
- 2.2.3. Guests
Unlike other Fashion Weeks, SFW is open to any ticket holder. Therefore, the guests include press, buyers, VIPs, celebrities, students, etc. Conversely, the four major Fashion Weeks are tradeonly events, only open to press, buyers and VIPs. In 2015 SS, the number of visitors to SFW was 55,558, whilst the visitors to LFW were 5,000, that is, almost ten times less. Moreover, contract amounts were significantly different (See Table 5 ).
Number of visitors and amount of contracts at 2015 SS SFW and LFW
2015 SS SFW 2015 SS LFW
Date 17 (Fri)-22 (Wed). Oct. 2014 (6days) 12(Fri)-16 (Tue). Sep. 2014 (5 days)
Participating Designers Catwalk show 86 Fair 33 Catwalk show 82 Showroom 170
Number of Visitors 55,558
(including designer's guests, students, etc.)
International Buyers: 212,
Domestic Buyers: 114,
International Press: 308,
Domestic Press: 786 5,000
(buyers, journalists, bloggers, broadcast crews,photographers)*
Total value of Contracts $2,000,000 $155,000,000 (£100 million)
* The numbers of buyers, press and others are not shown separately.
Seoul Metropolitan Government has been the sole funder from 2012 AW, contributing 3.1 billions in 2013, that is, 29.9% of the government's fashion budget made available in 2013 ( Seoul Institute, 2014 ). This figure keeps decreasing: 4.9 billion in 2008, 3.1 billion in 2013 and 2.7 billion in 2015. As mentioned earlier, sponsorship from companies has only covered 5% of the total expenses in SFW. However, LFW distinguishes between main sponsor, other sponsors, suppliers, and funders contracted seasonally by BFC.
- 2.2.5. Time
SFW is held in March and October. Table 6 is a 15 AW schedule of the world's Fashion Weeks. Buyers and press travel from New York to London, Milan and Paris without break. Buyers interested in new Asian brands keep their leftover budget for Asia, mostly Tokyo. However, most of the buying is done by the end of the Big 4.
Fashion Week Schedule
New York London
London Milan
Milan Paris
- 2.2.6. Place
Collection venues have changed much through time. Some were more proper for fairs or exhibitions than fashion shows and have been criticised for not representing Korean tradition, the good features of Seoul, the current development of the Korean fashion industry, as well as for their inadequate accessibility by transport ( Han & Lee, 2008 ; Kim, 2012 ). From 2000 to 2004 AW, SFW was held at Coex, then it was moved to SETEC (near Hagnyeoul Station) from 2005 SS to 2012 SS. In 2012 AW, it took place at the Olympic Park at Jamsil, and then moved to the War Memorial Museum and Riverside Park, IFC Mall. Finally, in 2014 AW, DDP (Dongdaemoon Design Plaza) was open and SFW was held there.
- 2.2.7. Event
SFW included Seoul Collection and Generation Next in 2015 AW, and will do so again in 2016 SS. Seoul Collection is the biggest business showcase for established designers. Generation Next represents 1-5-year-old designer brands and is a gateway for the new generation. There is Off Show as well, taking place outside DDM.
Until 2015 SS there had been Seoul Fashion Fair for trade shows including menswear, womenswear and accessories (50 or more companies), with the chance of a presentation show. It also featured GIVE Donation, a donation market open to public (no entrance fee) showcasing donated designer products.
Despite its relatively short history, the growth of SFW has been remarkable. Its size is huge (around 55,000 visitors) and the number of shows is as large as that of 31-year-old LFW.
- 3.1. One organisation
SFW had suffered from the fragmentation of its organisational bodies, the main drawback to its development ( Joo, 2009 ; Kim, 2012 ; Seoul Institute, 2014 ). Finally, in 2012 AW, one combined SFW was held and solely run by Seoul Design Foundation, funded by Seoul Metropolitan Government since 2008, 13 years after the launch of Seoul Collection. This consolidation can help upgrade SFW to a world-class Fashion Week.
- 3.2. Venue
Another issue has been the venue. Previous options, such as SETEC, on the outskirts of Seoul, were more suitable for trade fairs. Visiting individual brand showrooms was inconvenient especially for buyers, who usually prefer this way of gleaning information about companies. SETEC had been built to host trade shows, not fashion events ( Han & Lee, 2008 ), and cannot represent the cultural heritage of Korea ( Kim, 2012 ). After some experimenting (Olympic Park, War Memorial Museum, IFC, Yeouido Park), SFW was finally held at DDP. DDP represents the cultural advancement of Korea, particularly in fashion and design ( Dongdaemoon Design Plaza, 2015 ). It is situated near Dongdeaemoon, a fashion market and industry hub in Seoul, centrally located and well served by public transport, with easy access to designers' showrooms and historic sites such as Gyeongbokgung Palace and Deoksugung Palace, among others.
- 3.3. The active role of young designers
It is crucial for young designers to play an active role in trading. Almost half of SFW's brands are under 5 years old and cannot afford to open their own stores. On a domestic scale, the increase of multi-shops in department stores, shopping malls etc., helps keep young designers in business. Whereas well-established brands have their own regular clientele, young designers expect to find new buyers and customers in the international market. Apart from supporting Fashion Week, Seoul's Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, through the Korean Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), encourage this expansion by funding, for instance, Seoul's 10 Soul (2010 to present) and Concept Korea.
The exporting amount of Korea's fashion manufacturing industry (Market Share data) was the world's third in the 1980s (after Hong Kong's and Italy's), sliding to fifth in the early1990s; then in 1995 it plunged to ninth and its downturn still continues ( Hong et al., 2010 ). In the 1980s Korea was exporting garments made by a low-cost workforce but as labour cost increased, many manufacturers moved to countries cheaper in labour, such as Indonesia or Vietnam. This is why Korea's market share figures have dropped. However, the Seoul Metropolitan Government Fashion Advisory Team (2009) points out that Korea is the place where the entire process of the fashion industry is connected, from planning, design and manufacturing to distribution. This distinguishing feature of the Korean fashion industry could be applied to promising young designers willing to enter the international market. This would enable Korea to go back to its prime.
An expert survey by Seoul Institute (2014) about the problems of SFW shows that the constitution of an independent professional operational body (32%), a budget increase (27%), legislation on related business and system maintenance (27%), etc. Kim (2012) points out the lack of an independent, sustainable operation system and organisation (the problems of hiring the agency), venues, differences in the brands' price ranges, the ineffectiveness of invitations to international buyers, the failure to present SFW as a business event, an identity problem and an equally confused concept of Fashion Week and its designers. Joo (2009) also points out the absence of international guests and buyers, lack of business results (little international trade, too much focus on celebrities attending), a chaotic operational system (SFAA, Seoul Collection, Seoul Fashion Centre and Seoul Fashion Association), lack of continuity in the support program for new and young designers, inadequate venue (SETEC, see 3.2. Venue), mismatch between business and publicity, absence of subsidiary events. Through background research focused on organisational issues, some of these problems can be reduced on the basis of some key factors.
- 4.1. Organisational body
After years of adjustment, Seoul Design Foundation finally became one organisational body in 2012. Far from being independent, however, SDF is part of the government. Further, it does not have enough staff members. In Seoul Metropolitan Government there are only four or five people in charge of fashion events. Their duties include not only Fashion Week but also, for instance, planning a fashion museum. So, it is hard to consistently focus on Fashion Week throughout the year ( "Fashion industry team organisation chart", 2015 ). As to its running body, the BFC has 37 people working for Fashion Week and related events. In SDF, on the contrary, there are only 8 in charge of Seoul Fashion Week: these are the fashion team at the Fashion Culture head office run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Their duties include not only SFW but also the administrative role of the Export Support Centre, Fashion Creative Studio, the promotion of global fashion brands, the management of the Modelist contest ( Seoul Design Foundation, 2015b ). In this situation, hiring an agency is unavoidable. Table 7 shows the succession of SFW running bodies.
SWF running bodies from 2005 to 2014
Year Funder Runner Running show/ event
2005-2011 Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul Fashion Centre Nongovernmental
operational agency running professional agency for
fashion show and convention
2012-2013 Seoul Metropolitan Government Nongovernmental operational agency
2014 Seoul Metropolitan Government Seoul Design Foundationagency Non-governmental
operation agency
An agency normally consists of area specialists. Because SDF selects its agency after a fair and open bid, it can conduct a project efficiently and transparently. However, a new contract is made every season. This hinders long-term administration because the people in charge of one project change with every new contract. For the possibility of extending contracts, the agency focuses on short-term goals and immediately profitable events. Fashion Week, however, is a business tending not to produce instant results. Buying takes time and cannot be judged in the short term: if buyers want to make a contract with a young new brand, they normally look at one or two years of their activity for sustainability of brand identity, survival, etc. This kind of job is unsuitable for agencies, as they are mostly assessed by their immediate results. This prevents SFW from planning long-term, focused development strategies. After combining separate collections into one, there still remains to form one professional, independent organising body on the model of BFC. Further, including Caroline Rush, CEO of BFC, most of members are PR experts. This enables them to run strategic short- and long-term events. From March, the Seoul Design Foundation appointed a general manager, Kuho Chung (Vice-President of Fila Korea) in May 2015, in charge of the planning and management of Fashion Week from 2016 SS for two years ( Lee, 2015 ). His is not a full-time position, though. In order to draw a whole, unified picture, planning should be accompanied by strong apolitical, non-profit, organisation and staff.
- 4.2. Guests
Not only Joo's (2009) but also Han and Lee's research (2008) highlight the absence of buyers from Fashion Week through a survey of participants. The collection is open to the public. Fashion design students can access the show, which can be instructive; but it is a trade show, so the presence of visitors outside the industry can hinder the concentration on trade. The reason why the event should be open to public started from Korea's unusual distribution structure. Whilst in most Western countries buyers purchase items at fashion shows to be sold in department stores and independent boutiques, in Korea fashion brands operate quite independently and there is no notion of a 'buyer'. Without buyers, (and aside from the press) the seats are typically given or sold to students, which would be virtually unthinkable in other Fashion Weeks. In fact, fashion collections in Seoul have been regarded as a way of presenting designers' work rather than selling it. For this reason the credibility of SFW in the mind of the international fashion community has been rather shaky ( Lee, 2013 ). Nowadays multi-brand fashion concept stores are increasing. The first multi store was 'G. Street 494' at Galleria department store in 1997, and started to increase from 2000. In 2007, there were 80 stores and 70% of them sold imported goods ( Park, 2007 ). During 2015, the department store, shopping mall, road shop, online shopping mall, and even retail brands have been increasing its multi stores; department stores have changed their display into a zoning system, which was not specified by brands ( Samsung Design Net, 2015 ). Inroads are being made into changing the system, but this is likely to take time.
If an internal problem is distribution, an external one is the combination of time and location: Seoul Fashion Week's schedule is late compared to other Fashion Weeks, and Korea is geographically distant from the main trade locations, that is, Europe and America (this will be discussed in 4.4. Time and Location). Due to the distance from the main trade locations, as much as 30% of the SFW budget is spent on guests' travel expenses, accommodation and stay. BFC too spends a significant amount of money on guests. However, it is always pointed out that there is an issue about the quality of both buyers and the press ( Kim, 2012 ). This naturally means insufficient returns compared to monetary investment. Lee Kio points out some of SFW's problems in this area. One of them is that the number of contracts is low compared to other Fashion Weeks'. Myung You Seouk, a Hempel CEO, also stresses SFW's lower achievement compared to European, American and even Chinese fashion fairs ( Lee, 2013 ).
For PR purposes, huge numbers of celebrities are invited to the show. However, because their attendance causes competition in media coverage and monopolises public focus, buyers and press can hardly concentrate on the show itself ( Joo, 2009 ).
- 4.3. Sponsorship
SFW is wholly funded by Seoul's Metropolitan Government. Sole sponsorship can be a problem if it cuts down its investment. If an alternative cannot be found (it takes time to find sponsors), the event must be downsized. This obviously affects the credibility of Fashion Week. The ratio of dependency on government should be gradually decreased through funding from more diverse places and ways.
The sponsoring company supports products and services or spends money for its own promotion as suppliers and funders. So, the company logo and information should be visible. Although the sponsored party's homepage is the best permanent tool for exposure, there is no mention of sponsors on the SFW homepage.
- 4.4. Time and location
There is a fixed time for ordering next season's stocks for a department store or shop. Buyers set their budgets and items and draw up contracts during and just after the Fashion Week event, after watching the fashion shows. This is what normally happens in the four major Fashion Weeks. As table 6 shows, SFW takes place later than the Big 4, so most of the contracting between buyers and brands is over by then. It is always a problem to set the date, because of the impossibility to squeeze the Seoul event between the main Fashion Weeks, and this is due to the buyers' movements. If SFW is moved earlier than the Big 4, buyers can see it first, make their notes and postpone the contract to after they have watched the four Fashion Weeks. However, because of domestic sales and the manufacturing calendar, January or the beginning of February and August, or the beginning of September, are too early for designers to prepare their collections. The physical distance from the main markets is not the sole organisational problem; however, it can be considered in terms of SFW's targets. Its advantages include closeness to the Asian and Middle Eastern markets. If it is developed separately in the Asian market, schedule and venue matter much less. Because the mainstream market is Europe and the USA, trends start from there. Thus, it is helpful to have a stock list there to promote and sell to the Asian market. This issue should be developed further.
- 4.5. Main event
Over all, as can be seen in table 2 , there is no consistency among the events scheduled. There used to be Fashion Take Off (2011 AW to 2012 AW), inspired by BFC's Fashion Forward program ( Ham, 2011 ), as a bridge between Generation Next and Seoul Collection, to help young designers establish their brands. In 2012 AW the scale of Seoul Fashion Fair was a lot larger (200 brands in 2012 AW) than in 2015 SS (33), when it stopped. In 2014 SS there were many events scheduled, but in 2015 AW hardly any. Although it is a period of transition, it is better to keep up consistency. If one event is set, however, it is better to alter its contents through trial and error than cancel the whole thing. Continual change in the main event affects the credibility of SFW. Once the event is set, it is necessary to wait for a while to know its results. If SFW set up a long-term goal for the next 10-20 years, it can set a direction towards it. Seoul's current goal to be the world's 5th Fashion Week or fashion capital should be accompanied by more detailed and realistic directions.
If the first weakness is the problem of the persistency of the main event, the second one is the lack of different collections according to brand size. SFW only has Seoul Collection and Generation Next which both of which are under 5 years old. The differences between these two are show size and funding. There is no difference in their method. In the case of LFW, there are fashion show and presentation show. A presentation show features a small number of garments (normally more or less 20) on digital film, at a closer distance from the audience, with three or four shows in two hours. Guests can have a closer look at the clothes and talk business in-between shows, thus getting to know items and brands. Digital showcasing displays brand identity and images more widely. The showroom is actively run as a vibrant place for trade, not only for fashion show brands but also for accessories or small-sized brands.
- 4.6. Supporting event
Supporting events are for attracting guests or the public. They can be related with business, education, entertainment, etc. However, an official supporting event of SFW is Give Donation, which sells donated clothes from participating designers. In 2015 SS of LFW, there were numerous such events: Vodafone London Fashion Weekend, Live streaming of fashion show, BBC broadcasting of three documentary series, the highlights of fashion show broadcast in 19 major underground stations during the Fashion Week period, fashion film screenings, photobooth service (taking photos of guests, to print and share through Facebook), pop up store, eBay BFC contemporary shop, Oxford street, LFW special window display and style seminar at a main shopping street in London, Decoded Westfield (online opinion making competition), an exhibition of fashion photographer, David LaChapelle at the bus stop near Somerset House, the location of LFW and parties in collaboration with magazines or big clothing companies. In addition, there were LFW digital Talks about important issues in fashion, live-streamed worldwide. One of themes in 2015 SS was: "can you bring real luxury online?". This issue covers industry and academia: beside being commercial, it also takes into account the future of fashion. If SFW organised more supporting events for education and promotion, for professionals and non-professionals, for the domestic and international markets, it would be helpful for both the present and the future of SFW.
- 4.7. Online promotion
Homepage and social media are effective PR tools, as there news can be updated, responses can be seen almost in real time and communication can take place bilaterally. However, the SFW homepage and social media do not function well. The homepage is not fully transferring information about Fashion Week and its designers. They check the details of SFW and its designer information through its homepage and, nowadays, the social media. Many people use social media (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram) which can be updated on a daily bases. Further, it would be efficient to have links from designer profiles to their social media to learn the latest about their brands. Finally, updating news and fashion shows in real time and disseminating the information through the social media are effective promotional tools that can save money on PR. So, it is natural for Fashion Week to invite power bloggers such as buyers and press as guests.
Apart from updating images and news, LFW uses live streaming of fashion shows. This can overcome the time and location problem because the internet can be accessed anywhere, in real-time, and at any time. In 2015 SS, 196 countries watched live streams of LFW ( "London Fashion Week", 2015 ). This would otherwise be impossible in the actual fashion show.
As to technical problems, it is important to collaborate with IT companies; in 2015 SS, Topshop collaborated with Facebook and Instagram, and Burberry with Twitter, with cloud-based real-time TV and video clips shared through Twitter for world-wide communication.
- 4.8. The characteristics of Fashion Week
LFW is renowned for showcasing creative young new designers; New York Fashion Week is for a practical and saleable collection. Then, what is the distinguishing feature of SFW? It needs to be specific in order to attract buyers and press to the event. It needs to reflect what is and what will be strong in Korean fashion and SFW. The vibrant presence of young designers can be one solution, so SFW can be settled as a showcase of young designers in Asia, similarly to LFW.
Advanced Korean IT technology can be used as an innovation hub in Fashion Week. LFW combines fashion showcase with digital tech by showing Fashion films, digital presentation shows, live streaming and real-time communication. For example, House of Holland collaborates with Metail, an online fitting room, by creating a customised model called MeModel according to the wearer's size and tastes. Customers can try the garments on in real time when watching the live-streamed catwalk show. If this technique is matched with young designers' collections, it will be enough to attract young audiences, with their buyers and press.
The strengths and weaknesses of SFW
Strengths One organisation Union finally achieved after a long struggle to combine since the launch
Venue Settled as a fashion market and industry hub in Seoul, centrally located and well-served by publictransport, with easy access to designers
The active role of young designers Almost half of designers in SFW have been in business for under five years
Weaknesses Organisational body Independent organisational body with PR professional staff (strong apolitical, non-profit organisationand staff ) in charge of Eashion Week all year round is needed
Guests Lack of buyers and press from the unusual distribution structure Insufficient returns compared tomonetary investmentHuge numbers of celebrities: hard to focus on trade
Sponsorship sole governmental sponsorship
Time and location late Fashion Week calendar compared to major Fashion Weeks, distance from main market
Main events inconsistency, unclear distinction between Seoul Collection and Generation Next
Supporting events not enough events to attract guests and to supplement main events
Online promotion lack of information, no online promotion
The characteristics no distinguishing feature to attract buyers and press
Seoul Fashion Week, a biannual fashion showcase, has put significant time, effort and money into becoming one of the world's leading Fashion Weeks. The strengths and weaknesses of SFW have been analysed on the basis of a number of headings (organisational body, designers, visitors, schedule, venue, events) drawn from the homepage of London Fashion Week, its most successful counterpart. Throughout its 16-year old history, SFW has grown to the size of a world-renowned Fashion Week. Its greatest achievement is that it finally has combined a number of different collections into one. Secondly, the venue seems now settled as DDP, in the design and fashion culture centre of Seoul. Finally, a number of young designers are actively participating and making new contracts. However, there have been a number of problems ahead of becoming the world fifth Fashion Week. 1), despite having one organisational body, SFW is not independent and there are not enough specialised staff: the event is actually run by private operation agencies; 2), it should be focused on trade rather than on the general public; 3), it depends exclusively on government funding; 4), the SFW schedule is incompatible with those of the major Fashion Weeks and its location is far from the American and European fashion markets; 5), the main events are not sustainable; 6), there are not enough supporting events to attract guests and to supplement main events; 7), the SFW homepage and social media are not actively used for promotion; finally, there is no distinguishing feature to SFW yet. Therefore, if fast growth and the active role of young designers mean that its future is positive, SFW should have one independent, active, powerful, specialised organisation in order to conduct sustainable, long-term planning, reduce governmental dependency and recruit private funding.
An awareness of SFW's current situation and problems means that more down-to-earth solutions can be found. Fashion is a high added-value, yet very sensitive, industry. If SFW overcomes its weaknesses and learns from successful Fashion Weeks, it will become the world's fifth event of this kind, which is the aim of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. If the following research is accompanied by a development plan, it would be possible to achieve this goal; it can be useful to conduct studies of successful Asian cases, such as China Fashion Week, as well as planning the future direction of SFW through other, smaller, Fashion Weeks. An in- depth interview with designers would also help towards a fuller diagnosis of the situation. Invitations of international buyers and press from Europe and America should be considered with more attention. This study only deals with organisation. However, there are many other issues, such as designers and their prices or products range for trade. If this research is followed up, it could help towards setting up a realistic plan for an appropriate governmental policy.
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Lee K. O. 2014 서울패션위크 세계적 축제로 발돋움해야 [In search of Seoul Fashion Week to be a Global festival]. Sports Khan Retrieved April 10, 2015 from
2015 Retrieved September 27, 2015, from
2015 About Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Retrieved September 9, 2015, from
Noh N. 2007 노라 노, 열정을 디자인하다 [Nora Noh, designing ambition] Hwangkmnachimpan Seoul
Park S. H. 2000 Comparative study on fashion trends between Korean and foreign fashion collections in the 1990s. Unpublished master's thesis Seoul National University Seoul
Park S. H. 2007 패션 유통 핵심 축으로 부상 [Select Shop becomes the core of fashion retail]. Apparel News Retrieved September 4, 2015, from
2015 2015 S/S 유통 동향 [2015 S/S Market/Retail Report] Retrieved August 10, 2015 from
2015 2015년 패션 봉제 사업 종합계획 [A fashion sewing comprehensive plan in 2015] Retrieved April 4, 2015, from
2015 패션팀 조직도 [Fashion team organization chart] Retrieved April 24, 2015, from
2014 서울시 패션정책 마스터 플랜 수립을 위한 연구 [The research into establishing master plan of Seoul Metropolitan Governmental Fashion Policy] The Seoul Institute Seoul
2009 2009서울시 패션산업 발전 방안 [A Fashion Industry Development scheme of Seoul Metropolitan City 2009] Seoul Fashion Centre Seoul
Citing 'An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Seoul Fashion Week with a Focus on Organisational Issues '
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AU - Kim, Hye Eun
TI - An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Seoul Fashion Week with a Focus on Organisational Issues
Kim, H. E. ( 2015). An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Seoul Fashion Week with a Focus on Organisational Issues. Fashion & Textile Research Journal, 17 (6) The Society of Fashion and Textile Industry. doi:10.5805/SFTI.2015.17.6.895
& Kim, HE 2015, An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Seoul Fashion Week with a Focus on Organisational Issues, Fashion & Textile Research Journal, vol. 6, no. 6, Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.5805/SFTI.2015.17.6.895
[1] and HE Kim , "An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Seoul Fashion Week with a Focus on Organisational Issues", Fashion & Textile Research Journal, vol. 6, no. 6, Dec 2015.
Kim, Hye Eun and . "An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Seoul Fashion Week with a Focus on Organisational Issues" Fashion & Textile Research Journal, 6. 6 2015:
Kim, HE An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Seoul Fashion Week with a Focus on Organisational Issues. Fashion & Textile Research Journal [Internet]. 2015. Dec ; 6 (6) Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.5805/SFTI.2015.17.6.895
and Kim, Hye Eun . "An Analysis of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Seoul Fashion Week with a Focus on Organisational Issues." Fashion & Textile Research Journal 6 no.6 () Dec, 2015): http://dx.doi.org/10.5805/SFTI.2015.17.6.895


text:
Temptation by Fire(7)
By: Tiffany Allee
"She was attractive," Thomas said, his voice as interested as a scientist noting a bug's intriguing color pattern.
I gave him a brief nod and pushed the image of the woman's shoulder-length blond hair and big green eyes from my mind. But the vision of her slender build and long legs shoved its way in, along with the realization that those legs would wrap around my waist just perfectly.
Hell yeah, she was attractive. In another time and place…well, another time and place didn't matter. I was here and now. And in the present, she was a liability who could have ruined everything.
But I couldn't help the bit of admiration she stirred in my chest. Not a lot of men stood up to me, let alone a little slip of a girl like her. I knew exactly what I looked like with the scars and tattoos. Not exactly Prince Charming.
Ava. That's what the other woman had called her when she'd gone into that trance—or whatever the hell it was. She looked like she was scared of the whole damn world, but she hadn't backed down when I got in her face.
"And the fire?" Thomas asked.
Damn. He was back to that. "They were trying to scare you. It was probably the worst way to die they could think of." I kept my voice smooth and even, a trick I'd perfected through the years of living among demons. Hiding lies was a necessity, something I rarely thought about anymore. But the girl had thrown me off my game, and I felt oddly unbalanced. I couldn't afford to be off-balance, not right now. Not with justice so close. Not with command of my own cell so near my grasp.
"How sweet." Thomas grinned.
His expression made my hands clench more tightly around the steering wheel, but he started talking about business—shit I needed to oversee to make sure some fucking party he was throwing next weekend went off without a hitch. I only half listened, but I was thankful he dropped the conversation about the woman. Ava.
I left Thomas at his downtown apartment, as planned, then headed for Pulse.
Careful to drive in a way that would make me difficult to follow, I kept one eye on my rearview mirror until I parked safely in the back of the club. Sure, there was next to no chance someone who worked for Thomas—or the demon himself—would happen by and recognize the Navigator I drove, but you never knew. I was alive because I was careful.
And because I was as much of a bastard as the things I hunted.
Of course, I didn't kill humans for fun and energy. Demons fed off of humans, usually during torture. I'd heard there were other ways for them to get the necessary power they needed from us to survive, but I'd yet to come across one who didn't get theirs the old-fashioned way. Theories—and that's all the Venators really had—suggested that the demons' collection of energy from their victims was necessary to maintain possession of a human body.
But who the hell knew? Venators didn't spend a lot of time on research. We spent our time hunting them. To eliminate them from this world, but also because their blood ran in the tattoos that gave us our power. Blood that had to be obtained from living, possessed people.
I'd be damned if we weren't nearly as fucked up as the demons.
I walked around the glass and trash-strewn alleyway that separated Pulse from its neighbor: a "massage parlor" that sure did a lot of business at night. Pulse was a ratty old nightclub and a front for a cell of Daemon Venators—an ancient society of demon hunters.
The Venators were the closest thing I had to family now. Hell, it would be closer to say that Franklin was the closest thing I had to family, because the Venators didn't exactly have potluck get-togethers.
With the exception of our local sister cell's leader, a tough fucker named Mateo, whom I could contact in case of emergency, one had to be a cell leader to be given information on how to reach other Venators. Keeping information on a need-to-know basis kept the Venators alive. A captured man could be tortured until he'd offer his soul, but he couldn't give information he didn't know.
You couldn't be too careful when hunting demons.
I knocked—loudly. It was past two o'clock in the morning, and the bar had closed an hour before. With a groan, the heavy door opened, revealing my teacher, Franklin.
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Modern living is all about utilising your space for functionality and comfort.
Clever designers at the French home furnishing brand, Boulon Blanc, have created a coffee table that can convert into a dining table in one simple move, enhancing and adapting to your home's needs.
And yes, it's as clever as it sounds.
The inspiration for this nifty creation, which has over 300 customised parts, came from aeronautics and watch-making. Rather than using the standard X-shaped mechanism adopted by our ironing boards, they opted for a helicoid motion, which they found to be much more efficient.
It took over two years and 22 prototypes to reach the final design – an intuitive and functional table with a sleek, contemporary aesthetic.
When fully extended, it's three feet in height and can seat up to five people. Easily transportible, it it would look great in a kitchen or dining room when fully extended, and would work well as a coffee table in a sitting room. It's minimalistic design means that it will work well with any room style and colour palette.
As you can see, both table positions have their own unique style and come in a range of colours to suit your home.
Like this? Then you'll love these small space living ideas.


One of the most complete tools to edit all your audio files.
A complete app for users that want more for managing their audio files.
One of the most complete tools for audio files edition.
One of the most complete apps for managing audio files for you to try with this free version.


text:
High-Design Hotels in Surprising Destinations
WHEN YOU PICTURE YOURSELF on safari, you probably don't envision sleeping in a tent that has a fleeting resemblance to a UFO. The rocky coast of Newfoundland conjures images of rustic cabins, not sleek, glass-sided boxes.
Kempinski Hotels Focuses Portfolio Expansion on Africa
Kempinski Hotels, Europe's oldest luxury hotel group, has announced plans to expand its portfolio of luxury hotels in Africa. With two new properties opened in Kenya in 2013, Kempinski looks to add five more hotels to its African portfolio in the next year.
Luxury Submarines are Newest Trend at Monaco Yacht Show
The submersibles on offer cost from around $1.5 million to $4.2 million depending on their size and underwater range.
Top 20 Most Popular Outbound Destinations for Chinese Travelers
In conjunction with the booming Chinese travel market, TripAdvisor™, the world's largest travel site, today released a list of the top 20 most popular outbound destinations for mainland Chinese travelers.
Laucala Island Launches Innovative Fullscreen Video Website
Laucala Island, the beyond-five-star, private island luxury resort located in the Fijian Pacific archipelago, announces the launch of its new experiential website at Laucala.tv.
Jumeirah Hotels London Offer Virtual Concierge
The luxurious Jumeirah Carlton Tower (pictured) and boutique Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel have announced that their service will be upgraded to include a chic Apple iPad in each room.
U.S. Spa Industry Revenue Increases to 14 Billion Dollars
The International SPA Association (ISPA) has released key statistics from the ISPA 2013 U.S. Spa Industry Study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Top 7 Luxury Travel Trends
International luxury travel network, Virtuoso®, reveals the top seven travel trends to emerge from Virtuoso Travel Week, happening this week in Las Vegas. Top Trends:
Laucala Island Immerses and Submerses Its Guests with New Submarine
Dietrich Mateschitz, co-founder of the energy drink company Red Bull, announced his recent purchase of a DeepFlight Super Falcon submersible for Laucala Island, the private island resort located in the Fijian Pacific archipelago.
Silversea Cruises Appoints First Female Captain, Margrith Ettlin
For the first time in its nearly 20-year history, a female captain is at the helm of a Silversea ship.
Trump Finalizes Agreement For Trump International Hotel, The Old Post Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Today, The Trump Organization finalized its deal with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) on plans to redevelop the iconic Old Post Office Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. now that Congressional review has finished.
Louis Vuitton Buys Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France
LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the world's leading luxury products group, today announced that it has acquired Hotel Saint-Barth Isle de France from majority owner Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners (AJ Capital Partners) and others.
JW Marriott Launches Nightly Refresh Program
JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts is pleased to announce the debut of its Nightly Refresh Program, a curated nightly turndown service offering a rotation of complimentary amenities developed to help guests relax and rejuvenate while on the road.
Small Luxury Hotels of the World Breaks into New Markets
Small Luxury Hotels of the World™ (SLH) has extended its global reach to include Kazakhstan, Lebanon, The Grenadines, Antigua, the Spanish resort of Marbella, and Texas.
Langham Hospitality Group Doubles North American Footprint
Langham Hospitality Group (LHG) is doubling its North America footprint by 10 July 2013.


An easy and educational learning tool for kids learning their name, numbers and alphabet. Made with soft felt and pipe cleaners perfect to bring on the go and fits in your child's hand. As you can see it got a lot of usage from the bent pipe cleaners!
I cut out a piece of sturdy cardboard 6 by 9 inches. Using hot glue apply glue on the cardboard and stick black felt down covering the entire cardboard front and back.
Using assorted pipe cleaners thread on beads of your choice. For the first row, I put my child's name, then rows abacus style of 1 to 10, then at the bottom, two rows of alphabet letters. Once complete threading the beads in the order you would like, figure the layout you would like them to be on the felt. I put name, numbers, and alphabet.
Grabbing the pipe cleaners with your beads in the order you like, one by one, place over the felt and fold over the felt on both sides. Where you fold the pipe cleaners on both sides apply hot glue to hold the pipe cleaners down. Repeat until you are finished.
Using extra black felt or any felt, cover the backing where the pipe cleaners were glued so it does not get snagged. Sometimes the pipe cleaners ends could be sharp, as well.


text:
Jean Ramsay1
Jean Ramsay is the daughter of Reverend James Ramsay and Rebecca Akers.2,1 She married Aretas Akers, son of Aretas Akers and Jean Douglas, on 19 March 1795.1
From 19 March 1795, her married name became Akers.
Children of Jean Ramsay and Aretas Akers
Caroline Akers2 d. 1867
Aretas Akers+2 b. 1799, d. 21 Apr 1855
James Ramsay Akers+2 b. 1813, d. 1877
Aretas Akers1
M, #219672, b. 1799, d. 21 April 1855
Aretas Akers was born in 1799.1 He was the son of Aretas Akers and Jean Ramsay.2 He married Isabella Larking, daughter of John Larking, on 9 May 1821.1 He died on 21 April 1855.1
He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Kent.1 He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Kent.1 He lived at Malling Abbey, Kent, EnglandG.1
Children of Aretas Akers and Isabella Larking
Jane Mary Akers2 d. 1863
Mary Elizabeth Akers2 d. 1 Jan 1918
Reverend Aretas Akers+2 b. 18 Nov 1824, d. 18 May 1900
Maj.-Gen. Charles Style Akers+2 b. 21 Sep 1828, d. 1887
Caroline Ramsay Akers+2 b. 6 Oct 1830, d. 6 Apr 1910
James Ramsay Akers1
James Ramsay Akers was born in 1813.1 He was the son of Aretas Akers and Jean Ramsay.2 He married Mary Louisa Goodrich in 1840.1 He died in 1877.1
He graduated from Caius College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, EnglandG, with a Master of Arts (M.A.)1
He also had two sons.1
Children of James Ramsay Akers and Mary Louisa Goodrich
Louisa Akers2 d. 1865
Ellen Akers+2 b. 28 Dec 1845, d. 31 Aug 1905
Mary Louisa Goodrich1
Mary Louisa Goodrich married James Ramsay Akers, son of Aretas Akers and Jean Ramsay, in 1840.1
From 1840, her married name became Akers.
Children of Mary Louisa Goodrich and James Ramsay Akers
Louisa Akers1
F, #219675, d. 1865
Louisa Akers was the daughter of James Ramsay Akers and Mary Louisa Goodrich.2 She married John Beale.1 She died in 1865.1
Her married name became Beale.
John Beale1
John Beale married Louisa Akers, daughter of James Ramsay Akers and Mary Louisa Goodrich.1
He lived at Maidstone, Kent, EnglandG.1
Ellen Akers1
F, #219677, b. 28 December 1845, d. 31 August 1905
Ellen Akers was born on 28 December 1845 at Dover, Kent, England.2 She is the daughter of James Ramsay Akers and Mary Louisa Goodrich.3 She was baptised on 1 February 1846 at Dover, Kent, England.2 She married Brig.-Gen. Arthur Augustus Sanders, son of John James Saunders and Isabella Susanna Boyd, on 17 August 1871 at St. Leonard's-on-Sea, Sussex, England.2 She died on 31 August 1905 at age 59 at Red House, Overbury, Worcestershire, England.2
From 17 August 1871, her married name became Saunders.2
Children of Ellen Akers and Brig.-Gen. Arthur Augustus Sanders
Arthur Ramsay Saunders2 b. 14 Aug 1872
Isabella Margaret Saunders2 b. 7 Oct 1873
Cyril Saunders2 b. 1 May 1875
[S6679] David Gardiner, "re: Armstrong Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger LUNDY (101053), 25 May 2013. Hereinafter cited as "re: Armstrong Family."
Alice Frances du Pont1
F, #219678, b. 13 December 1912, d. 13 March 2002
Alice Frances du Pont was born on 13 December 1912 at Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.1 She was the daughter of A. Felix du Pont and Mary Chichester.1 She married James Paul Mills in 1935.1 She died on 13 March 2002 at age 89.1 She was buried at Emmanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery, Middleburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, U.S.A.2
From 1935, her married name became Mills.1 She was a flight instructor for military pilots during the Second World War at Long Island, New York, U.S.A.1 She was a race-horse owner and breeder.1 She lived at Middleburg, Virginia, U.S.A.1 She lived at Hobe Sound, Florida, U.S.A.1
Children of Alice Frances du Pont and James Paul Mills
Phyllis Mills1
James Paul Mills, Jr.1
Mary Chichester Mills1 b. 1937
[S219] Announcements, New York Times, New York, U.S.A.. Hereinafter cited as New York Times.
[S6239] Find a Grave, online http://www.findagrave.com. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave.
Caroline Akers1
Caroline Akers was the daughter of Aretas Akers and Jean Ramsay.2 She married, firstly, J. Allot Osborne.1 She married, secondly, John Borton.1 She died in 1867.1
Her married name became Osborne. Her married name became Borton.
J. Allot Osborne1
J. Allot Osborne married Caroline Akers, daughter of Aretas Akers and Jean Ramsay.1


text:
Directional Couplers: Their Operation and Application
Oct 23, 2020 | Directional Couplers, Engineering Resources
Urvashi Sengal
Applications Engineer, Mini-Circuits
Directional couplers are an important type of signal processing device. Their basic function is to sample RF signals at a predetermined degree of coupling, with high isolation between the signal ports and the sampled ports — which supports analysis, measurement and processing for many applications. Since they are passive devices, they also operate in the reverse direction, with signals injected into the main path according to the devices' directionality and degree of coupling. There are a few variations in the configuration of directional couplers, as we shall see below.
Ideally, a coupler would be lossless, matched and reciprocal. The basic properties of three- and four-port networks are isolation, coupling and directivity, the values of which are used to characterize the couplers. An ideal coupler has infinite directivity and isolation, along with a coupling factor selected for the intended application.
The functional diagram in Fig. 1 illustrates the operation of a directional coupler, followed by a description of the related performance parameters. The top diagram is a 4-port coupler, which includes both coupled (forward) and isolated (reverse, or reflected) ports. The lower diagram is a 3-port structure, which eliminates the isolated port. This is used in applications that only need a single forward coupled output. The 3-port coupler can be connected in the reverse direction, where the port that was formerly coupled becomes the isolated port:
Figure 1: Basic directional coupler configurations
Coupling Factor: This indicates the fraction of the input power (at P1) that is delivered to the coupled port, P3
Directivity: This is a measure of the coupler's ability to separate waves propagating in forward and reverse directions, as observed at the coupled (P3) and isolated (P4) ports
Isolation: Indicates the power delivered to the uncoupled load (P4)
Insertion Loss: This accounts for the input power (P1) delivered to the transmitted (P2) port, which is reduced by power delivered to the coupled and isolated ports.
The values of these characteristics in dB are:
Coupling = C = 10 log (P1/P3)
Directivity = D = 10 log (P3/P4)
Isolation = I = 10 log (P1/P4)
Insertion Loss = L = 10 log (P1/P2)
Types of Couplers
Directional Couplers:
This type of coupler has three accessible ports, as shown in Fig. 2, where the fourth port is internally terminated to provide maximum directivity. The basic function of a directional coupler is to sample the isolated (reverse) signal. A typical application is measurement of reflected power (or indirectly, VSWR). Although it can be connected in reverse, this type of coupler is not reciprocal. Since one of the coupled ports is internally terminated, only one coupled signal is available. In the forward direction (as shown), the coupled port samples the reverse wave, but if connected in the reverse direction (RF Input on the right), the coupled port would be a sample of the forward wave, reduced by the coupling factor. With this connection, the device may be used as a sampler for signal measurement, or to deliver a portion of the output signal to feedback circuitry.
Figure 2: 50-Ohm Directional Coupler
Performance can be optimized for the forward path
High directivity and isolation
The directivity of a coupler is strongly affected by the impedance match provided by the termination at the isolated port. Furnishing that termination internally ensures high performance
Coupling is only available on the forward path
No coupled line
The coupled port power rating is less than the input port because the power applied to the coupled port is almost entirely dissipated in the internal termination.
Mini-Circuits ZCDC20-E18653+ is a coaxial directional coupler with 20 dB nominal coupling across the 18 to 65 GHz frequency range. This model provides RF input power handling up to 12W and passes DC current up to 0.48A
Figure 3: Performance curves for Mini-Circuits' ZCDC20-E18653+
Bi-directional couplers:
This coupler type has four ports, all accessible for the customer to use. It has a symmetric design, allowing forward and reverse signals to be sampled simultaneously. It is the designer's responsibility to properly match or terminate both coupled ports.
Figure 4: Bi-directional coupler schematic
Symmetric design
Input and output ports are interchangeable
There are two transmission lines. Coupled line works the same as the mainline
It has forward and reverse coupling
Design is critical to maintaining good performance in both directions.
The directivity of the coupler depends on how well the isolated port is terminated.
Mini-Circuits' ZGBDC35-93HP+ is a coaxial bi-directional coupler with 35 dB nominal coupling across the 900 to 9000 MHz frequency range. This model provides 250W RF input power handling and passes DC current up to 3A
Figure 5: Performance curves for Mini-Circuits ZGBDC-93HP+ bi-directional coupler.
Dual Directional Couplers:
This third type of coupler is a combination of two 3-port couplers with their main lines cascaded, and their internally terminated ports facing each other at the interface between the couplers. This configuration provides bi-directional coupler action, but with independent use of the coupled ports. The primary advantage is that a mismatched load applied to either port will not affect the other.
Figure 6: Dual directional coupler schematic
Performance can be optimized for both forward and reverse paths
Higher directivity and isolation can be achieved
Provides forward and reverse coupling
Directivity of one path is not affected by mismatch present on the other path
Can also be used to simultaneously monitor both the forward and reverse power of a system
Usually involves two back-to-back directional couplers
Larger size compared to directional and bi-directional couplers
No coupled line is present (not accessible at both ends)
Higher insertion loss than the single directional and bi-directional coupler
Mini-Circuits DDCH-50-13+ is a stripline-based surface-mount dual-directional coupler with a 50 dB nominal coupling ratio across the 20 to 1000 MHz frequency range. This model provides up to 120W RF input power handling and DC current passing up to 4A.
Figure 7: Performance curves for Mini-Circuits DDCH-50-13+ dual directional coupler
Directional Coupler Applications
Reflectometer
When connected as shown in Fig. 2, the coupler provides a sample of the reflected wave at the coupled port. This allows measurement of reflected power, representing the degree of mismatch of the load. When placed at the transmitter output, this configuration can monitor the VSWR of the antenna system, both for measurement and monitoring. Many RF systems include adjustments for minimum VSWR, while others include detection of excessive VSWR for circuit protection, usually by either reducing power or shutting down.
Figure 8: Schematic of a 3-port directional coupler in a simple reflectometer setup.
Forward sampling
When connected in reverse, the coupled port provides a sample of the output (forward signal), attenuated by the coupling factor. This sample can be used for waveform monitoring, spectrum analysis, and other test and measurement functions.
Leveled generator
The sample may also be used to drive feedback circuitry. One important application of this type is leveling the amplitude of a signal generator, providing a constant signal source for a test system.
Figure 9: Schematic of a 3-port directional coupler in a levelled generator setup.
Receiver intermodulation test setup
The test signals for 2-tone testing may be combined in either a directional coupler or a power combiner. Both methods will provide the necessary isolation between the signal sources.
Figure 10: Schematic of a 3-port directional coupler in a receiver intermodulation test setup.
Bi-directional Coupler Applications
Forward and reverse sampling
Although reflected power or VSWR is important, it may be more useful to simultaneously sample both forward and reflected signals. This function is provided by a bi-directional coupler, which allows monitoring or measurement of output power (forward) and reflected power (reverse). Built-in test (BIT) systems, production testing, and routine operational monitoring all benefit from bi-directional coupling.
This is a circuit element that provides measurement of forward power and reflected power (typically calibrated as VSWR). This is a common, and highly useful, test function in RF laboratory and production test environments. A reflectometer may be either the sampling portion of a stand-alone power/VSWR measuring instrument, or it may be implemented as a component within a test system, communication equipment, or other RF system (e.g, MRI or RF heating).
Dual Directional Coupler Applications
As noted above, and in Fig. 4, the dual directional coupler acts as a bi-directional coupler, but with separate forward and reverse coupling paths. This provides isolation that eliminates the effects of mismatch of one path on the other path.
Reflectometer (More accurate results than bi-directional)
The typical use of bi- and dual direction couplers is the reflectometer. When implemented using a dual coupler, accuracy is improved, especially under conditions where one coupled port or the other may have significant mismatch.
Directional couplers are important devices in RF systems. Their ability to sample either the forward or reverse direction of signal propagation allows a wide range of applications in test, measurement, monitoring, feedback and control. This note should help system designers understand the function, architecture and performance of the coupler, to select a suitable type for their particular application.
Find the right directional, bi-directional or dual directional coupler for your application from the hundreds in Mini-Circuits catalog.


Happy Talk Like Pirate Day. I have added a Pirate filter to filter all posts and make me sound like Pirate. Anyway have fun ye Picaroon. Arrrrr. Walk the plank! Aarrr! Be sure to read some of the posts, as the filter adds in some random Pirate jargon, avast. Can be funny.
Hmmmm, I wonder what other special days we can come up with? How about Talk Like A Geek Day . Got any good ones? Let me now, leave a comment.
UPDATE: It seems as though this filter borked my site, so I have disabled it for ever, me matey. Aaarrr!
Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day was written by Matt Read. Matt is the owner of this site and primary author. He also tweets, posts photos, stars in videos, listens to music, makes software, develops Habari, and creates websites.
Thanks Alex. Living right next to Quebec, Ottawa, I can understand.