The mom of South Korean menswear rides the K-wave

Her garments are worn by stars like Lee Jung-Jae of “Squid Video games,” Choi Woo-Shik of “Parasite” and associates of the K-pop sensation BTS. But when the South Korean vogue designer Woo Younger-mi produced her international debut in 2002, couple folks considered superior-stop style could appear out of a state recognized for its war-torn heritage.

Woo, or Madame Woo, as she’s typically referred to as, is arguably a person of the most prosperous Korean designers. She is the chief govt of Strong Corp., a corporation that controls two successful labels: Good Homme and Wooyoungmi. She turned the 1st Korean member of the French Federation of Manner in 2011, and her Wooyoungmi line is now a staple at luxury stores like Le Bon Marché, Selfridges and Ssense.

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Woo has lived on and off in Paris for about 20 several years, and has experienced entrance row seats to South Korea’s emergence as a cultural juggernaut. It is a phenomenon that she has contributed to and benefited from in the course of her occupation, she said.

Born in 1959, Woo grew up in Seoul in the course of a time of rapid economic improvement that followed the stop of the Korean War. “The nationwide motto was ‘work challenging and dwell effectively,’” she mentioned. “Caring about style was noticed as a social evil, in particular for guys.”

But Woo had an unconventional upbringing that gave her a organic affinity for the arts. Her mother, an art teacher, dressed her and her 4 siblings in one of a kind, do-it-yourself garments that produced them stand out at school. Her father was an architect with only occasional work who socialized with American troopers, gathered rare items and invested in his look. Between his possessions, she recalled, have been parts of Bauhaus home furniture, European manner journals and a extensive, leather coat reminiscent of 1 Clint Eastwood may well have worn.

“At that time, 95% of adult men dressed the similar,” she said. “Fathers wore satisfies and uniforms to their places of work and factories, but my dad expended 80% of his enthusiasm on seeking good,” she claimed, citing him as the explanation she at some point pursued menswear design and is frequently impressed by artwork and architecture.

“Honestly, I felt ashamed by…