Hanbok designer honored posthumously

The late Lee Young-hee

The late Lee Young-hee gets order of cultural merit

By Kang Aa-young

The late hanbok designer Lee Young-hee was honored posthumously for her role in spreading Korean culture overseas through her work with traditional attire.

Lee, who died of complications from pneumonia on May 17 at 82, received the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit, the highest class of its kind in Korea.

The cultural order is awarded to those who have contributed to the cultivation of the nation's culture.

Unveiling its selection criteria, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on Monday that Lee won the highest honor because of her lifetime efforts to raise awareness of hanbok worldwide.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Lee Woo-sung is to present the medal on behalf of the government to the bereaved family at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Hanbok Cultural Week in the southwestern city of Jeonju. A runway show featuring Lee's hanbok will take place on the sidelines of the awards ceremony.

Lee was better known to the Korean public for her family ties with actress Jun Ji-hyun. The actress married Lee's grandson Choi Jun-Hyuk, who then worked with a foreign bank, in 2012.

Debuting as a designer in Korea at 40, Lee was a late bloomer.

Starting her career with her own shop in Seoul, she studied sketches at night and made hanbok during the day without any formal education.

Since having her first show in Seoul in 1980 and making an international debut at Paris Fashion Week in 1993, her empire style hanbok design, which revealed women's upper cleavage with graceful silhouettes, created a media buzz during her time.

Her tradition-breaking yet glamorous style of hanbok received the international spotlight. Following her successful international debut, Lee held a fashion show in New York's Carnegie Hall in 2000. In 2004, she opened the Lee Young Hee Museum of Korean Culture, in New York.

She then showcased her work at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington in 2007.

Due to her international fame, she earned recognition as South Korea's cultural ambassador.

In celebration of her four decades as a hanbok designer, she held a special exhibition in 2015.

For the country's leaders who visited Busan to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 2005, she designed a traditional durumagi (overcoat), with colors that represent Korea.

Her clients included many global celebrities as well as former first ladies.

Her hanbok was a must-have bridal item for upper-class Korean women.