EENK was founded by designer, Hyemee Lee who has an exciting and diverse background as a designer. With a career spanning womenswear, menswear, childrenswear, textile, and accessories, her designs have no boundaries within fashion categories and naturally reflect her extensive experiences as a designer.

Always up for a challenge, Hyemee is forever seeking new adventures, and her never-ending curiosity and passion directs her in her unexpected, unconventional approach to fashion. Hyemee sat down with Crash to talk all things EENK during her participation in the KOCCA Metaverse Fashion Festival. Discover her showcase now at the official website: www.kmff2022.com

@eenk_official

Talk to us about your most recent collection…

For SS2/23 we presented our first solo show in Paris with the theme World Wild West, inspired by the pioneering spirit of the old wild west as a metaphor for exploring uncharted territory across the globe. The collection consists of colors and patterns inspired by the sunset, bold silhouettes from a romantic and relaxed mood, and a witty mix-n-match of materials that stirs the imagination, representing iconic western style in a contemporary reinterpretation. Surprisingly Carla Bruni joined the runway with a live performance, which was overwhelming. I’ll never forget the moment.

Where are you based as a brand and why?

Seoul. I majored in fashion at the university and worked for fashion companies in Seoul. It is a city where I have spent over half of my life, and all of my fashion life’s history.

What inspires you to get creative?

Everything I experience inspires me and keeps me creative. What I see, hear, wear, eat, and everyone I meet.

Who do you look up to the most?

I admire everyone who runs their own business and takes charge of the creative process in parallel.

Tell us about the moment you knew you wanted to be a fashion designer…

I originally majored in computer science when I entered university and met my roommate, who was majoring in art. Being beside her all the time, I started to think of what I wanted to do for a lifetime. So I impulsively took a test for changing my major in the summer of my first year and decided to transfer my major to fashion design.

What’s your favorite part of the process? 

I love collecting and editing references for the moodboard every season and when I implement the silhouette pattern that I have in mind through the modeling and draping process.

Least favorite part…

There isn’t a particular part that I don’t really like.

What are your aspirations for your brand for the next year…

We are going for another show in Paris this season as a way forward to elevate the brand to grow into a global brand. I’m looking forward to becoming more robust as we grow both inside and out.

Next 5 years…

We have been running through a ‘Letter project’, where we started with A through. We are coming back to A for Archive after the project hits the alphabet Z, to present a brand archive exhibition going through the brand’s history, from A to Z.

Next 20 years?

My ultimate goal is to become the first global house brand based in Korea. Korean designer brands tend to grow older as the designer does, and then disappears after the designer leaves. There is no system yet where the creative director changes and carries on the brand throughout generations as the global house brands do – my goal is to become the first and build that system in Korea.