Suwha Hong – Fashion Designer
Suwha Hong was born in Korea and traveled back and forth to the United States as a child. Like most Asian women, Suwha chose the classic Asian career path. She pursued a career in Law, graduating Cornell Law School, eventually practicing Corporate Law in New York City.
Soon, her creative side got the best of her, causing Suwha to quit her job, travel, then settle in London to start a design career.
In London, Suwha studied fashion design and garment construction at London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design for one year. She also worked for London-based designer Avsh Alom Gur.
In 2007, Suwha successfully launched her own label, Suwha, desiring to create clothes that reflect her values, ideals and lifestyle. She creates for the woman who is and aspires to be adventurous, curious, thoughtful and stylish.
So far, Suwha’s classic style fashion line has been a success, which includes being picked up by Henri Bendel’s in London.
ASIANCE: Where would you say you mostly grew up as a child? I know you were moving around quite a bit.
Suwha: I grew up mostly in New York City – in Morningside Heights basically on the campus of Columbia University – my mother was a grad student there in the Anthropology dept..
ASIANCE: Can you give us a little bit more information on your background?
Suwha: I trained as a lawyer and practiced corporate litigation for 5 years in both New York and Boston – but I never really enjoyed it. I had always been interested in design and fashion so I quit after 5 years of practising, moved to London and started taking fashion design and garment construction courses at London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins. I also interned for a high end designer – Avsh Alom Gur in the gritty East End. I started my own label in the summer of 2007.
ASIANCE: Who would you love to dress?
Suwha: The answer to this question changes all the time – right at this moment Michelle Obama – I was v. inspired by the inauguration last week!
ASIANCE: Do you have a favorite piece of clothing to design?
Suwha: Jackets!
ASIANCE: If you weren’t designing, what would you be doing? Oh besides law
Suwha: I think I would be writing travel category_ides – I love travelling but couldn’t just travel without a purpose – so would probably have to write about it.
ASIANCE: Is there anything you would like to attain as a fashion designer that you haven’t done already?
Suwha: Oh, I feel like I am just getting started! There is so much I’d like to attain – hard to list – but mostly I’d like to achieve a wider distribution so I can see more people enjoying the garments we create.
ASIANCE: Which designers do you admire? And why?
Suwha: I admire my designer friends here in London like Avsh Alom Gur and Bora Aksu because they stay true to their visions and don’t compromise on fashion design as an art form.
For more information on Suwha Hong visit her site www.suwhahong.com