Interview with JOOBI
JOOBI is a luxury womenswear brand created through experimentation. Utilizing distinct materials and unorthodox techniques, each collection contains a story, and JOOBI wants to talk to the world through clothes.
The latest collection, “The Progress of Recovery,” begins with the depression of a young artist. The designer works in the concrete jungle of the fashion district of New York City, where a lack of a social life and of light keeps her dark. Construction and other nuisances keep her awake in her small flat. By building and rebuilding, her first collection shows the progress of recovery from depression to happiness.
The Progress of Recovery
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Special thanks: MSA MODELS
Photographer: GO MINAMI
Interview with Joobi Lee
Q: Tell us a little bit about your background.
Originally, I am from South Korea. I was studying fashion and business in Korea and worked for creative fashion companies for several years before moving to New York. I decided to go back to school to study fashion design in the heart of New York, at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
The coexistence of different identities and so many cultures in New York — that is something you are not used to in Korea. There is something attractive about the mix of people from opposite ends of the earth. It’s the coexistence and individuality of this place that I was inspired by. That made me design.
The coexistence of different identities and so many cultures in New York
Q: How did you start your brand?
I had the desire to start my own brand for a while now. It was interesting to work at different companies while I was in FIT, but I really wanted to express my imagination through clothes. Creating my brand was a natural product of me living in a small room in the garment district, squeezed between the restless commercial cycle of Manhattan and the endlessly changing thoughts in my head as an artist. There was a period of depression and a lack of space for my thoughts. As I worked through this pain, I created my collection, my brand.
the brand was a natural product of me living in a small room in the garment district
Q: Tell us about your name?
My name is Joobi Lee. The brand name “JOOBI” is the same as my first name. Joobi symbolizes fulfillment, riches, and sympathies. It is also said that this name brings a wide range of capabilities, excellent skills and brilliant brains … My name Joobi contains a lot of values I look up to, and wish to bring to others.
My contains values I wish to bring to others
Q: What are your next three goals?
First, through this collection, I want to let the public know that there is JOOBI. I want the identity of this collection known. Secondly, I’d like to focus on the product for my clients, improving the quality and providing for my customer’s needs. But most importantly, I want to show that art and fashion coexist, and I hope that people take fashion more seriously.
Q: What are your long-term goals? What’s the dream?
The bigger world … to communicate with people all over the world through my clothes.
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With love,
FWO
