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Joobi brings handmade ready-to-wear to NYFW

By Kristopher Fraser

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Korean street style and fashion influence has become a major piece of the luxury and high-fashion pie. The latest Korean designer to make her stateside debut is Joobi Lee with her eponymous label Joobi.

For her New York Fashion Week debut, the designer actually found her inspiration from the slump she was in when she first moved to New York. "When I moved here from South Korea, I was very depressed at first," Lee said. "I used that as my inspiration for the collection, even showcasing recovery, because the colors for the collection go from dark to bright."

Black, blue and pink made up the color palette, with blue and pink as the options for bright colors because Lee says those are typically the colors she sees for anti-depressant and other mental health medication.

Her depression also inspired unique shapes that were free flowing and ephemeral. At first, they appeared to have that deconstructed look, but upon closer inspection it was meticulously crafted avant garde layering. Though some might find it unbelievable, the designer did her entire collection by hand by herself. It took her over five months to finish designing her collection.

She developed her skills and training at New York's FIT, and also developed her palette for American fashion.

"In Korea, I find everyone prefers to wear black and white," Lee said. "But I prefer color, and I'm a fan of couture, that's what inspired the unique draping. I love New York because there is so much more diversity in fashion."

Her next steps for her new business is to start working with factories to help develop her next collection. She's already built a small team of people who have helped her with her runway show, including her set designer who created a beautiful backdrop of all around white drapery to contrast with the variety of colors in the collection.

Joobi
New York Fashion Week
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