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.