Fashion career profile
Lee Young-hee
Korean designer Lee Young-hee (1936–2018) helped bring contemporary hanbok into international fashion through a practice that treated traditional dress as a living design vocabulary rather than a fixed costume. She established Lee Young Hee Korean Apparel in 1976 and developed a distinctive approach to color, fabric and silhouette. Her 1993 Paris prêt-à-porter presentation, identified by Seoul’s official museum and government sources as the first participation of a Korean designer, introduced the Clothes of Wind, including skirt forms without the jeogori jacket, to new audiences. She later staged a fashion performance at Carnegie Hall in 2000 and took hanbok to institutions abroad, including a Smithsonian presentation in 2007. In 2010, the Seoul Museum of Living History records her as the first hanbok designer to show in Paris haute couture. The timeline distinguishes ready-to-wear, museum display and couture presentations as separate chapters. Her legacy lies in translation and renewal: making hanbok visible internationally while preserving its name and cultural context.
- Role
- Designer
- Nationality
- Korean
- Age at death
- 82
- Label founded: Lee Young Hee Korean Apparel, 1976KBS records the establishment of her Korean-apparel business. · KBS World
- International presentation: Paris prêt-à-porter, 1993Seoul’s museum identifies her as the first Korean designer to participate in the Paris ready-to-wear calendar. · Seoul Museum of Living History
- Design language: Clothes of WindThe 1993 presentation included hanbok-inspired dresses without the jeogori jacket. · Korea.net
- Presentation: Fashion performance at Carnegie Hall, 2000KBS records the New York performance as a major international presentation. · KBS World
- Museum presentation: Hanbok displayed at the Smithsonian, 2007The Korean government source records her designs at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. · KBS World
- Couture milestone: Paris haute couture presentation, 2010The Seoul museum describes this as the first Paris haute couture presentation by a hanbok designer. · Seoul Museum of Living History
- 1976 — Establishes Lee Young Hee Korean ApparelBegins her independent Korean-apparel business.
- 1993 — Presents hanbok in Paris prêt-à-porterIntroduces the Clothes of Wind and a contemporary hanbok vocabulary to Paris audiences.
- 2000 — Stages a fashion performance at Carnegie HallThe New York presentation combines clothing and performance.
- 2007 — Presents hanbok at the SmithsonianKBS records her contribution to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History display.
- 2010 — Brings hanbok to Paris haute coutureThe Seoul museum identifies this as the first couture presentation by a hanbok designer.