# Lee Young-hee

> Lee Young-hee is a textile heritage label based in Seoul, South Korea. Behind the label: Lee Young-hee (1936–2018). Known for hanbok brought to the Paris runway, in silk and organza.

- Canonical: https://thecastindex.com/designers/lee-young-hee
- Country guide: https://thecastindex.com/houses/korean-designers
- Facts checked: 2026-10-22
- Author: Kaiser Khan (Founder & Editor)

## Quick facts

- Behind the label: Lee Young-hee (1936–2018)
- Based: Seoul, South Korea
- Focus: Textile heritage
- Makes: Hanbok

## Who is behind Lee Young-hee?

Lee Young-hee had no formal training and opened a hanbok shop in Seoul at 40. In 1993 she showed hanbok at the Paris prêt-à-porter, which the Korea Times describes as a first for a hanbok designer, and in 2004 she opened a museum of Korean culture in New York. She died in 2018. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds her silk-organza hanbok Clothes of Wind, and the Musée Guimet in Paris exhibited the roughly 1,300 pieces her family donated.

## Timeline

- January 1981: Holds her first solo show, at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul. (source: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/05/121_249151.html)
- 1993: Shows hanbok at the Paris prêt-à-porter. (source: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/05/121_249151.html)
- 2004: Opens the Lee Young Hee Museum of Korean Culture in New York. (source: https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/05/121_249151.html)
- 4 December 2019: The Musée Guimet opens an exhibition of her donated collection, running to 9 March 2020. (source: https://fashionunited.fr/actualite/culturelle/mode-coreenne-le-musee-guimet-met-en-lumiere-les-creations-de-lee-young-hee/2019112622483)

## Sources

- [Korea Times — Lee Young-hee obituary (May 2018)](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/05/121_249151.html) — checked 2026-10-22
- [V&A — Clothes of Wind hanbok by Lee Young-hee, FE.413-2022](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1724831) — checked 2026-10-22
- [FashionUnited — the Musée Guimet shows Lee Young-hee (26 November 2019)](https://fashionunited.fr/actualite/culturelle/mode-coreenne-le-musee-guimet-met-en-lumiere-les-creations-de-lee-young-hee/2019112622483) — checked 2026-10-22