Houses / South Korea
South Korean fashion designers to know
Korean fashion runs from Paris-calendar menswear (WOOYOUNGMI, JUUN.J, SONGZIO) and womenswear (KIMHĒKIM, EENK, MINJUKIM) to Seoul streetwear such as ADER error and Andersson Bell, GENTLE MONSTER eyewear, and hanbok from Lee Young-hee to LEESLE. Each profile lists what the label makes and dated milestones, every one with its source.
How this guide works
What counts, and what we leave out
This is an introduction, not a ranking. We chose twelve labels that between them cover Korean menswear, womenswear, streetwear, eyewear and hanbok, and that have a public record we could check.
Paris facts come from the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode’s official calendars for every season from FW24 to SS27, which we read ourselves. On those calendars, Korean labels showing or presenting included WOOYOUNGMI, JUUN.J, Solid Homme, SONGZIO and SYSTEM in menswear, and KIMHĒKIM, EENK, TIME and, until 2025, Rokh in womenswear. Where sources disagree on a date, the profile says so.
Facts were checked on 22 October 2026. If you represent one of these labels and see something out of date, send us a correction.
At a glance
The labels at a glance
| Label | Designer | Since | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| WOOYOUNGMI | Woo Young-mi, with Katie Chung | 2002 | Menswear: relaxed tailoring in luxury fabrics, shown in Paris every season |
| JUUN.J | Jung Wook-jun | 2007 | Menswear: oversized, street-inflected takes on classic tailoring |
| SONGZIO | Artistic director Jay Song | 1993 | Menswear: “paint on black”: each collection starts as a painting on black canvas |
| MINJUKIM | Minju Kim | 2015 | Ready-to-wear: playful, avant-garde womenswear with a fairy-tale streak |
| KIMHĒKIM | Kiminte Kimhēkim (Kim In-tae) | 2016 | Couture and eveningwear: tailoring with couture details that reinterprets the heritage of Korea’s Gaya confederacy |
| EENK | Hyemee Lee | 2013 | Ready-to-wear: the Letter Project: each season takes one letter of the alphabet as its theme |
| REJINA PYO | Rejina Pyo | 2014 | Ready-to-wear: sculptural womenswear in bold colour, mixing Korean and British influences |
| ADER error | A Seoul creative team whose members are not named publicly | 2014 | Streetwear and contemporary: a “post-minimal” take on streetwear, and big collaborations |
| Andersson Bell | Dohun Kim | 2014 | Streetwear and contemporary: a Scandinavian-meets-Korean aesthetic, named after a Swedish surname and a Korean temple bell |
| GENTLE MONSTER | IICOMBINED (Gentle Monster) | — | Accessories: experimental eyewear and installation-style stores |
| Lee Young-hee | Lee Young-hee (1936–2018) | — | Textile heritage: hanbok brought to the Paris runway, in silk and organza |
| LEESLE | Hwang Lee-seul | 2014 | Textile heritage: everyday clothes built on hanbok elements such as the git collar and goreum ties |
Profiles
Who they are and what they make.
-
Menswear · Seoul and Paris
WOOYOUNGMI
Woo Young-mi, with Katie Chung
Woo Young-mi started the Seoul menswear label Solid Homme in 1988 and launched WOOYOUNGMI in 2002; her daughter, Katie Chung, has been joint creative director since 2014, The Business of Fashion reports. The Fédération describes a signature of relaxed tailoring in luxury fabrics with artistic embroidery. WOOYOUNGMI showed on the official Paris menswear calendar in every season we checked, from January 2024 to June 2026, and Solid Homme presents there too.
- Since
- 2002
- Makes
- Menswear, and womenswear since 2020
- Trained
- Fashion studies at Sungkyunkwan University, from 1978
- 2003 Shows in Paris for the first time. Source ↗
- 2011 Joins the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine, the first Korean brand to do so, KED Global reports. Source ↗
- September 2023 Opens a Paris flagship on Rue Saint-Honoré. Source ↗
- 28 June 2026 Shows its SS27 collection on the official Paris menswear calendar. Source ↗
-
Menswear · Seoul
JUUN.J
Jung Wook-jun
Jung Wook-jun founded JUUN.J in 2007 around a concept the Fédération records as “Diversion of Classic”, and the label now sits within Samsung C&T’s fashion division. It showed on the official Paris menswear calendar every season from January 2024 to January 2026. Its SS27 show, planned for June 2026, was cancelled; the brand cited the designer’s health and said it aims to show FW27 for its 20th anniversary, Fashionsnap reported.
- Since
- 2007
- Makes
- Menswear and womenswear, within Samsung C&T’s fashion division
- Trained
- ESMOD Seoul (graduated 1992)
-
Menswear · Seoul and Paris
SONGZIO
Artistic director Jay Song
Founded in 1993, SONGZIO builds each collection from an artwork painted on black canvas, a process the house calls “paint on black”, according to the Fédération and its own site. It runs separate men’s and women’s flagships on Rue Charlot in Paris and the Galerie Noir flagship in Seoul, and presented on the official Paris menswear calendar every season we checked, from FW24 to SS27.
- Since
- 1993
- Makes
- Menswear and womenswear, sold from flagships in Paris and Seoul
-
Ready-to-wear · Seoul
MINJUKIM
Minju Kim
Minju Kim studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, won the H&M Design Award in 2013 and launched her Seoul label in 2015. In 2020 she won Netflix’s Next in Fashion. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds one of her dresses, from Spring/Summer 2021, and staged a Fashion in Motion event with her in 2023.
- Since
- 2015
- Makes
- Womenswear
- Trained
- Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp
-
Couture and eveningwear · Seoul
KIMHĒKIM
Kiminte Kimhēkim (Kim In-tae)
The Fédération dates KIMHĒKIM to August 2016, though the Korea Herald dates its debut to 2014. The label reinterprets the heritage of the ancient Gaya confederacy through tailoring and couture-level detail. It joined the official Paris womenswear calendar for SS20 in September 2019 and presented in every season we checked, from FW24 to SS27; it opened the first day of Paris Fashion Week for FW25.
- Since
- 2016
- Makes
- Womenswear
- Trained
- Learned clothesmaking from his grandmother and trained in France; previously at Balenciaga
-
Ready-to-wear · Seoul
EENK
Hyemee Lee
Hyemee Lee founded EENK in Seoul in 2013. It began with accessories before adding womenswear and menswear, and gives each season one letter of the alphabet as its theme, the Fédération notes. After several shows in Paris, it joined the official womenswear calendar in March 2026.
- Since
- 2013
- Makes
- Womenswear, menswear and accessories
-
Ready-to-wear · London
REJINA PYO
Rejina Pyo
Born in Seoul, Rejina Pyo moved to London in 2008, completed an MA at Central Saint Martins and founded her London label in 2014, according to its own site; before that she was lead assistant designer at Roksanda, Tatler Asia reports. She is a Korean-born designer working in London rather than a Seoul label, and her work mixes Korean and British influences in sculptural shapes and bold colour.
- Since
- 2014
- Makes
- Womenswear
- Trained
- MA, Central Saint Martins
-
Streetwear and contemporary · Seoul
ADER error
A Seoul creative team whose members are not named publicly
ADER error was founded in Seoul in 2014 by a creative team that does not name its members, Maeil Business reports, and describes its look as “post-minimal”. In December 2021 it became the first Korean brand to collaborate with Zara, and it has since opened flagships outside Korea, including Shanghai in November 2025.
- Since
- 2014
- Makes
- Contemporary unisex clothing and accessories
-
Streetwear and contemporary · Seoul
Andersson Bell
Dohun Kim
Founded in Seoul in 2014 and designed by Dohun Kim, Andersson Bell takes its name from a Swedish surname and a Korean temple bell, a nod to its Scandinavian-meets-Korean look. It made its runway debut at Milan Men’s Fashion Week in June 2023, and its site lists collaborations with Levi’s, Crocs and Clarks.
- Since
- 2014
- Makes
- Contemporary menswear and womenswear
-
Accessories · Seoul
GENTLE MONSTER
IICOMBINED (Gentle Monster)
The Seoul eyewear brand is known for experimental frames and stores designed like installations; its official site lists the Haus Nowhere store in Shenzhen and its Jentle Salon and Jentle Garden pop-ups. Its collaborations include Jentle Home with Jennie of BLACKPINK in 2020 and two collections with Maison Margiela, in 2023 and 2024. We could not confirm its founding year from a primary source, so we leave it out.
- Makes
- Sunglasses and optical frames
-
Textile heritage · Seoul
Lee Young-hee
Lee Young-hee (1936–2018)
Photo: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
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.
- Makes
- Hanbok
- January 1981 Holds her first solo show, at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul. Source ↗
- 1993 Shows hanbok at the Paris prêt-à-porter. Source ↗
- 2004 Opens the Lee Young Hee Museum of Korean Culture in New York. Source ↗
- 4 December 2019 The Musée Guimet opens an exhibition of her donated collection, running to 9 March 2020. Source ↗
-
Textile heritage · Jeonju
LEESLE
Hwang Lee-seul
Hwang Lee-seul founded LEESLE in Jeonju in 2014 after studying forestry rather than design, the Korea Herald reported. The label turns hanbok details such as the git collar and goreum ties into everyday clothing. Jimin of BTS wore its hanbok slacks at the 2018 Melon Music Awards, and it made its Milan Fashion Week runway debut in September 2022.
- Since
- 2014
- Makes
- Modern hanbok and everyday wear
- Trained
- Studied forestry, not fashion design
In person
Where to see Korean design in person
Seoul Fashion Week, run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is the home stage: its SS27 edition ran 1–6 September 2026 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Lotte World Tower. Our Seoul Fashion Week guide explains the public ticket lottery and livestreams.
Several labels here show in Paris every season during men’s and women’s fashion week; the fashion week calendar has the dates. For hanbok in a museum, the V&A in London holds a Lee Young-hee hanbok.
For Korean beauty, read our K-beauty, J-beauty and UK glow comparison, and for agencies and how to apply as a model in Korea, the South Korea modelling guide.
More designer guides: Indonesian fashion designers to know · Malaysian fashion designers to know · Thai fashion designers to know · Vietnamese fashion designers to know · Japanese fashion designers to know · Mexican fashion designers to know · Brazilian fashion designers to know
Sources
Sources
Each milestone above links its own source. These are every page we relied on, checked on the date shown.
Represent one of these labels and spotted an error? Send a correction with a link to the record.
Quick answers
Korean designers, answered
Which Korean designers show at Paris Fashion Week?
- On the official Paris calendars from FW24 to SS27, Korean labels included WOOYOUNGMI and JUUN.J (menswear shows), Solid Homme, SONGZIO and SYSTEM (menswear presentations), and KIMHĒKIM, EENK, TIME and, until 2025, Rokh in womenswear.
Who designs Wooyoungmi?
- Woo Young-mi founded the label in 2002, after starting Solid Homme in 1988; her daughter, Katie Chung, has been joint creative director since 2014, according to The Business of Fashion.
Did Minju Kim win Next in Fashion?
- Yes. Minju Kim won Netflix’s Next in Fashion in 2020, seven years after winning the H&M Design Award in 2013. The V&A holds one of her dresses.
What is modern hanbok?
- Everyday clothing built on hanbok elements such as the git collar and goreum ties. LEESLE, founded by Hwang Lee-seul in Jeonju in 2014, works this way; its first Milan Fashion Week runway was in September 2022.
Is Gentle Monster a Korean brand?
- Yes, Gentle Monster is a Seoul eyewear brand. Its collaborations include Jentle Home with Jennie of BLACKPINK in 2020 and collections with Maison Margiela in 2023 and 2024.