WOOYOUNGMI
TypePrivate Company
IndustryFashion
Founded2002, Paris, France
FounderYoung-mi Woo
Headquarters
Seoul
,
South Korea
Key people
Katie Chung (Creative Director)
ProductsApparel and accessories
Websitewww.wooyoungmi.com

Wooyoungmi is a South Korean menswear clothing brand launched in Paris by the designer Youngmi Woo in 2002.[1] It is sold through own-brand stores and global retailers. Art and architecture are sources of inspiration for the brand.[2] The brand has become known for tailoring.[3] In 2014, The Korea Herald wrote that “Wooyoungmi has become the most successful Korean independent menswear designer brand.”[4]

History

Youngmi Woo was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1959.[5] Her father was the head of an architectural firm, which allowed him to travel extensively, bringing home international magazines, which a young Youngmi studied, growing curious about the world outside Korea. Along with her mother, who taught both art and piano, they did their utmost to use what they had to provide a creative environment for their five children.[6] She took up fashion studies at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. On graduating in 1983 she was selected to represent Korea in Japan's Osaka International Fashion Competition, and won.[6] In 1988 Youngmi Woo launched the menswear brand Solid Homme, starting with one shop. Today there are 21 stores opened with Hyundai Group, as well as others with Lotte, Shinsegae and Galleria.[6] In 1993 Woo Youngmi and some young designer friends begin ‘New Wave’, as a platform for young designers to show their work. This paved the way for today’s Seoul Fashion Week.[7]

Founder & CEO Youngmi Woo

Designer Woo Young-mi founded her eponymous brand WOOYOUNGMI in 2002.[4] In 2002 WOOYOUNGMI was launched in Paris.[7] Youngmi wanted to establish a designer brand that allowed her the freedom to design for the vision she holds of her ideal man.[6] Wooyoungmi has shown on the Paris Menswear Week since 2003.[8] In 2011 Wooyoungmi became an official member of La Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine.[9] Also that year the brand collaborated with London department store Selfridges on the event "My Coat, My Gift," Five young London creatives were asked to redesign the brands' best-selling Coat No. 51. The resulting designs were exhibited in a special pop-up at Selfridges, with a percentage of the sales of the coat during the event donated to charity. In 2012, under the art direction of daughter Katie Chung, Wooyoungmi began collaborating with artists for the creation of their advertising campaigns.[6] Artists to have taken part in this project, to name a few, are sculptures Guerra de la Paz[10] and Korean sculpture Osang Gwon with his unique blend of sculpture and photography[11] and painter Clemens Krauss. In June 2014, Wooyoungmi launched a capsule collection with online retailer Mr Porter.[12] In September of that year Woo Youngmi was named one of 500 people shaping the global fashion industry by the Business of Fashion in their 'BoF 500' 2014.[2] Katie Chung, daughter of Woo Youngmi, was announced joint creative director in 2014 and presented her first show in June 2014 for SS15.[13]

In 2014, The Korea Herald wrote that “Wooyoungmi has become the most successful Korean independent menswear designer brand.”[4] Founded in the 1980s, as of 2016, the fashion house Solid Corporation consisted of two men’s labels: Wooyoungmi and Solid Homme.[14] In 2016, GQ Magazine wrote that “having shown every season in the French capital since 2003 and broken into the western market with high-end stockists such as Selfridges in London and Bon Marché in Paris, Wooyoungmi has established itself arguably as the flagship Korean men's brand in Europe."[14] Founder Woo and her daughter Katie Chung handle design as of 2017.[15][16]

Corporate

WOOYOUNGMI is part of the private company called Solid Corporation. Youngmi Woo and her family members including her daughter Katie Chung hold the shares of the corporation. Solid corp is founded in 1988 in Seoul, Korea by Youngmi Woo and her younger sister Janghee Woo with their first men's wear brand SOLID HOMME.

Stores

WOOYOUNGMI has 24 stand-alone stores in Asia with one European store in Paris,[17] and is stocked in London's Selfridges, Paris' Le Bon Marché and Marais in Melbourne, Australia.

References

  1. ↑ "Designer profile, brand concept & interview". jamoollife.jp. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-04-25. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  2. 1 2 "Woo Youngmi". Business of Fashion.
  3. ↑ "Wooyoungmi Partners with Mr Porter on a Capsule Collection", Robb Report, August 23, 2014, retrieved February 22, 2017
  4. 1 2 3 Ji-sook, Bae (February 14, 2014), "Woo Young-mi seeks homegrown fashion in Paris", The Korea Herald, retrieved February 22, 2017
  5. ↑ Fashion Windows: Wooyoungmi Archived 2010-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Robin Mellery-Pratt (November 26, 2014). "Woo Youngmi Says Focus on Design and Trust Your Team". Business of Fashion. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Menswear Monday: WOOYOUNGMI". Interview Magazine. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Contributors - Woo Youngmi". Style. Style.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18.
  9. ↑ "Trois nouveaux membres à la Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine - Gentside". Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
  10. ↑ "Guerra de la Paz for Wooyoungmi". Another Magazine. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Osang Gwon", The Steidz, November 22, 2014, retrieved February 22, 2017
  12. ↑ "Exclusive Interview". Selectism.com. June 3, 2014. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  13. ↑ "katie-chung-chez-wooyoungmi-affaire-famille". Newton Magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-09-30.
  14. 1 2 Carvell, Nick (November 25, 2016), "Will Solid Homme's Success in Korea Translate to Britain?", GQ Magazine, retrieved February 22, 2017
  15. ↑ Verner, Amy (January 21, 2017), "FALL 2017 MENSWEAR Wooyoungmi", Vogue, retrieved February 22, 2017
  16. ↑ Foreman, Katya (January 22, 2017), "Wooyoungmi Men's Fall 2017", Women’s Wear Daily, retrieved February 22, 2017
  17. ↑ "Wooyoungmi European flagship store". Fashion Trendsetter. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
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