Jyu Ri Ri

JYURI LEE

Jyuri Lee was born as the first child among three of a Korean

conservative family. Her parents belong to the poor baby boomer

generation right after Korean Civil War. Her father, who was the

seventh son of an extremely poor family, put job security as the top

priority from a very early age. He worked for the government, and

told Jyuri to do the same. As an obedient and long-suffering first

child, she followed her father's advice to the letter, working for the

government. She majored in English education at Seoul National

University, and taught at a public middle school for years. One day,

she realized she had to break this chain of delayed dreams;

she was compelled to pursue her own passion. She resigned from

her secure post, and flew to New York in 2014, to pursue her

passion in Parsons School of Design: she was 31.

Despite above, she was always an aesthetically sensitive person.

Ever since she was a child, her parents took her abroad all over

Europe to travel to L’ouvre, the Palace of Versaille, Trevi Fountain,

Jungfrau, Tower Bridge, and many more. Also she had a chance to

travel national parks of the U.S. including Grand Canyon, Zion, and

Yellowstone. These early exposure to rich cultural and natural

assets of mankind shaped her keen aesthetics. She has always

loved different genres of arts. She enjoys literature, she was a

member of the choir in Seoul National University. She joined the

amateur play company while she was working as an English

teacher. She had subscribed to the leading art magazine for years

in Korea. She paid close attention to New York, London, Milan, Paris

fashion week each season. She admired not only the glitters of the

runway, but also the epic lives of passionate designers.

Jyuri Lee's 2018 Collection 'Not Your Doll-ter' deals with her

parents' obsessive, yet controlling love with her.

She wanted to translate her obsession: half a desire to create, half

a striving for freedom and the unknown, into materiality; into

tangible and expressive human architecture. It was to be a leap

from the past — she took her inspiration from her collection of

marionettes, photographs of equestrian events and racing tack and

explored the human interface with harnesses, halters — so much

power under control. The theme is a silhouette that is full of

potential, free, flowing, but held back. She says, "I used to feel I was

standing against the wind." To create this 'held-back' or 'standing

against the wind' motif, she chose fabrics with care: waxed cotton,

Schoeller tech fabric, Mikado silk and Silk Gazaar. These were

supported and enhanced via inner structures of wire and elastic

bands. The goal was to support the silhouette with a rigid structure

that still permitted fluidity, the goal was to create an unexpected,

yet reliable underpinning. Every silhouette must convey a story.