Kuho Jung laughs so much you'd never guess he was the Creative Director of Korea's largest fashion powerhouse, Samsung Cheil, which can't be an easy job. He also designs one of its most successful and talked-about brands, Hexa by Kuho. Oh, and he's also designed the costumes for seven different films on the side. Last month, we spoke over the phone, him in Paris—where he's presented his collections since last February—and me in New York. Back in Korea, Kuho was then kind enough to show our photo correspondent, Jiho, around his Seoul studio. Check it out!
Photos by Jiho Hwang.
Shop all Hexa by Kuho here.
Alice Newell-Hanson: What can you tell us about the collection we'll be seeing at OC this spring?
Kuho Jung: The collection is about Jane Eyre. Before this season, I'd always been inspired my menswear from different periods but this time I decided to go with something very feminine and 19th-century.
ANH: The setting (a Paris library) and the show were so cinematic.
KJ: Yes! I’ve actually worked on costumes for films too. I like to work outside of fashion, in a way.
ANH: Why did you decide to move your shows from New York last season?
KJ: In the beginning, all my fashion influences were from New York because I studied at Parsons. All of the designers I was inspired by lived in New York—that’s why I wanted to have my show there. New York has become very commercial in a way. There is a lot of disposable fashion. I still believe in really well-made and experimental clothes. After presenting my first collection in New York a lot of people asked me to go to Paris. So, after 14 years, I decided to go. There is more creative responsibility there, rather than the commercial side. I'm happy I've moved!
ANH: Has Paris changed the way you design?
KJ: Everyone said my first show in New York was too conceptual, so I tried to tone it down a little bit to make it easier. When I had my first show in Paris, last February, it was more conceptual.
ANH: Would you say there is a consistent Hexa by Kuho aesthetic?
KJ: I love fashion and from the beginning I believed in very strong, conceptual, well-made clothes that will last. Since I was a student I've been buying a lot of clothes. I work with clothes to buy clothes. Some pieces you can only wear for a couple of seasons but some you can wear for five, ten years. And they still look good and people still comment. I try to stick to my own concept of making well-made clothes with a strong identity so people will keep them for a long time.
ANH: What pieces do you still have from when you were studying?
KJ: If I tell you it might reveal my age! But I have first-collection Margiela and first-collection Jean Paul Gaultier. People still comment on these pieces. Well-made clothes are well-made clothes!
ANH: Which pieces are you glad you haven't kept?
KJ: I used to wear Claude Montana with the big 80s shoulders! I can't wear that anymore. And a lot of Yohji Yamamoto. At that time in New York, in the late 80s and early 90s, it was a big thing to be avant-garde. There was a lot of black, Margiela, and Comme des Garçons.
ANH: Especially if you were at Parsons.
KJ: Yes, everyone wore black! And I came from Texas. I arrived with a red check shirt and denim and I was quite shocked when I walked into Parsons for the first time
Photos by Jiho Hwang.
Shop all Hexa by Kuho here.
Alice Newell-Hanson: What can you tell us about the collection we'll be seeing at OC this spring?
Kuho Jung: The collection is about Jane Eyre. Before this season, I'd always been inspired my menswear from different periods but this time I decided to go with something very feminine and 19th-century.
ANH: The setting (a Paris library) and the show were so cinematic.
KJ: Yes! I’ve actually worked on costumes for films too. I like to work outside of fashion, in a way.
ANH: Why did you decide to move your shows from New York last season?
KJ: In the beginning, all my fashion influences were from New York because I studied at Parsons. All of the designers I was inspired by lived in New York—that’s why I wanted to have my show there. New York has become very commercial in a way. There is a lot of disposable fashion. I still believe in really well-made and experimental clothes. After presenting my first collection in New York a lot of people asked me to go to Paris. So, after 14 years, I decided to go. There is more creative responsibility there, rather than the commercial side. I'm happy I've moved!
ANH: Has Paris changed the way you design?
KJ: Everyone said my first show in New York was too conceptual, so I tried to tone it down a little bit to make it easier. When I had my first show in Paris, last February, it was more conceptual.
ANH: Would you say there is a consistent Hexa by Kuho aesthetic?
KJ: I love fashion and from the beginning I believed in very strong, conceptual, well-made clothes that will last. Since I was a student I've been buying a lot of clothes. I work with clothes to buy clothes. Some pieces you can only wear for a couple of seasons but some you can wear for five, ten years. And they still look good and people still comment. I try to stick to my own concept of making well-made clothes with a strong identity so people will keep them for a long time.
ANH: What pieces do you still have from when you were studying?
KJ: If I tell you it might reveal my age! But I have first-collection Margiela and first-collection Jean Paul Gaultier. People still comment on these pieces. Well-made clothes are well-made clothes!
ANH: Which pieces are you glad you haven't kept?
KJ: I used to wear Claude Montana with the big 80s shoulders! I can't wear that anymore. And a lot of Yohji Yamamoto. At that time in New York, in the late 80s and early 90s, it was a big thing to be avant-garde. There was a lot of black, Margiela, and Comme des Garçons.
ANH: Especially if you were at Parsons.
KJ: Yes, everyone wore black! And I came from Texas. I arrived with a red check shirt and denim and I was quite shocked when I walked into Parsons for the first time