Minju Kim (born ) is a South Korean
fashion designer known for her womenswear and use of bold prints. In 2020 she was named the winner of the first season of
Netflix's ''
Next In Fashion''.
Kim was born in
Gwangju
Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...
, South Korea and studied in
New Zealand as a teenager. She originally wanted to attend art school and become a cartoonist, but was encouraged by her parents to study fashion design in Seoul.
She studied fashion design at the Samsung Art & Design Institute, followed by a
master's degree at the
Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
Kim credits the influence of designers and RAFA instructors such as
Walter Van Beirendonck
Walter Van Beirendonck (born 4 February 1957 in Brecht, Belgium) is a Belgian fashion designer. He is the head of the Fashion Department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.
He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Arts Academy in Antwerp. ...
with sparking her love of fashion design.
Career
Kim launched her self-named, Seoul-based company MINJUKIM in 2015.
She is known for starting her fashion shows with a design featuring a core, self-designed print that appears throughout the rest of the collection.
Her 2018 Fall collection print was based on
Galaxy Express 999.
In addition to releasing collections each year, Kim has designed for
BTS and
Red Velvet.
She also teaches design classes at
Kookmin University.
In 2020 Kim was named the winner of Netflix's
reality show
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
and fashion design competition, ''
Next In Fashion'', edging out British designer Daniel Fletcher. She competed with Chinese designer
Angel Chen during the team-based portion of the competition and the pair dubbed themselves as 'Dragon Princess'.
As winner Kim received US$250,000 from
Net-a-Porter to launch a collection for sale on their site.
Kim was previously the winner of the 2013
H&M Design Award and was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers in 2014.
In 2021, Kim collaborated with the brand ''& Other Stories'', a brand which is under the ''H&M Group''. The launch of her collection, the ''Minjukim'' collection, quickly sold out and was largely successful. The limited collection was sold worldwide, and was sold out online within an hour on the Korean webstore.
The ''& Other Stories'' collab was inspired by Kim's Spring-Summer collection of 2016, which was her brand's second collection to debut.
The apparel consisted mostly of pastel colors and prints, accompanied by accessories such as sunglasses and hair clips which were also aligned with the spring theme.
In 2022, Kim launched a fall apparel line, where she shared her designs on her Instagram and official website. Several notable celebrities followed her on her social media account, like ''
Riverdale'' star
Lili Reinhart and more.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Minju
South Korean women fashion designers
1980s births
Living people