Lee Young-hee

Lee Young-hee
Name	Lee Young-hee
Birth date	1936
Birth place	Seoul, Korea
Death date	2018
Occupation	Fashion designer, costume historian
Known for	Modern hanbok revivals, global promotion of Korean traditional dress

Lee Young-hee

Lee Young-hee was a South Korean fashion designer and costume historian renowned for modernizing the traditional hanbok and introducing Korean dress to international fashion audiences. Over a career spanning decades she blended elements from Joseon dynasty textile traditions with contemporary haute couture techniques, presenting work in venues such as the Palace of Versailles and participating in cultural exchanges with institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her influence connected practitioners across Seoul, Paris, New York City, and Tokyo, shaping perceptions of Korean cultural heritage during events including the Expo 2000 and the Seoul Fashion Week circuit.

Early life and education

Born in Seoul in 1936 during the Japanese rule of Korea period, she grew up amid transformative eras including the Korean War and the subsequent industrialization of South Korea. She studied costume and textile history at local institutions that engaged with traditional Korean arts, and later pursued advanced study and research that intersected with archives and collections at the National Museum of Korea, the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, and regional textile studios in Gyeonggi Province. Her early apprenticeship drew on techniques preserved in provincial ateliers linked to the Joseon dynasty court wardrobe and artisan networks around Jongno District.

Career and design work

Lee established a design atelier in Seoul that became a hub for reinterpretation of ceremonial and everyday hanbok forms, training a generation of designers who later worked in houses across Paris, Milan, and London. She combined hand-dyeing methods found in the Bojagi tradition with patternmaking approaches visible in French couture and Italian tailoring. Her studio collaborated with museums and universities—including the Korea National University of Arts and the National Folk Museum of Korea—to catalog historical garments and to digitize patterns for preservation projects funded by bodies such as the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Lee also developed commercial lines sold at department stores in Seoul and flagship boutiques in Myeongdong, while maintaining bespoke atelier commissions for diplomats, celebrities, and cultural delegations preparing for events like the Asian Games and state visits. Her practice engaged with textile suppliers in Jeonju and dyeing workshops on Jindo island, fostering regional craft economies and linking makers to international supply chains used by firms in Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Signature collections and style

Her signature collections reimagined the jeogori and chima silhouette through alterations in proportion, fabric choice, and ornamentation that referenced motifs from Goryeo celadon inlay and Joseon dynasty court embroidery. She favored natural fibers sourced from producers in Andong and color palettes informed by traditional Korean pigments such as those cataloged in the Dancheong schema. Collections presented at Paris Fashion Week and private salons in New York City emphasized a dialogue between hanbok drape and contemporary evening wear structure, often juxtaposing silk satin with hand-stitched hemp and incorporating techniques used in Korean royal court costume manufacture.

Critics compared her approach to revivalists in other traditions, noting parallels with figures associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement and innovators who bridged folk costume and high fashion in Europe and Asia. Her work featured in editorial spreads alongside designers from Maison Margiela, Chanel, and Christian Dior, underscoring cross-cultural conversations in periodicals distributed in Seoul, Tokyo, and Paris.

Collaborations and exhibitions

Lee participated in numerous exhibitions and cultural programs, cooperating with curators from institutions like the British Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. She staged retrospectives that toured to venues including the Seoul Arts Center and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Collaborative projects paired her atelier with artisans from Icheon pottery studios, contemporary jewelers from Busan, and multimedia artists associated with the National Gugak Center to create interdisciplinary shows for festivals such as Hi Seoul Festival and international biennales.

Her diplomacy-minded exhibitions accompanied state cultural delegations to the United States, France, and China, and she worked alongside cultural ministries and organizations like the Korean Cultural Center networks to curate programs that combined fashion presentation with lectures given at universities including Columbia University and Sorbonne University.

Awards and recognition

Lee received recognition from Korean institutions and international bodies, including honors conferred by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and lifetime achievement acknowledgments from the Korea Fashion Association. She was featured in lists of influential cultural figures alongside recipients of prizes such as the Order of Cultural Merit and engaged in advisory roles for UNESCO-linked intangible cultural heritage programs. Internationally, museums acquired pieces of her work for permanent collections alongside artifacts from the Joseon dynasty and contemporary designers represented in the holdings of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Personal life and legacy

Her personal archives—comprising sketches, textile samples, and correspondence with institutions like the National Palace Museum and the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration—remain a resource for researchers and practitioners. Lee mentored designers who now lead studios in Seoul and academic programs at institutions such as the Ewha Womans University and the Hongik University College of Design. Her legacy persists in contemporary dialogues about cultural preservation, museology, and transnational fashion exchange, influencing exhibitions, curricula, and the ongoing global visibility of hanbok as both heritage garment and modern fashion statement.

Category:South Korean fashion designers Category:1936 births Category:2018 deaths