WOOYOUNGMI: The New South Korean Definition of Urban and Edgy Elegance…

My dear fashionistas, welcome to a new fashion story on the Mr.M blog. I hope you are well and ready for a new dose of fashion. We start today’s fashion adventure with new friends of the Mr.M blog, an unusual South Korean fashion brand that chose the heart of France in the city of light, fashion and love – Paris for its development in the world of fashion. This at first glance unusual fashion brand has found its way to true fashion lovers and due to its great success it is at the very top of the fashion scene – Wooyoungmi.

WOOYOUNGMI is a South Korean menswear brand launched in Paris by designer Youngmi Woo in 2002. The creative duo once stated that art and architecture are the main sources of inspiration for the brand. Since the brand’s inception, WOOYOUNGMI has cemented itself as a major global contender for designer menswear. Despite being Korean, they found that the French capital would better suit their aesthetic and growing ambitions. After 22 years of continuous success, Ms. Woo and her daughter and co-creative director of the brand, Katie Chung, are constantly striving to give new fashion definitions to the WOOYOUNGMI man and achieving a good fashion and life balance. Interestingly, WOOYOUNGMI is the first menswear brand in South Korea headed by women as creative directors.

Youngmi Woo was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1959. Her father was the head of an architectural firm, which allowed her to travel a lot, bringing home international magazines, which the young Youngmi studied, becoming curious about the world outside of Korea. Together with her mother, who taught both art and piano, they did their best to use what they had to provide a creative environment for their five children. She studied fashion at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. After graduating in 1983, she was chosen to represent Korea at the Japan International Fashion Contest in Osaka where she won.

Not long after, in 1988, Ms. Youngmi Woo launched the menswear brand Solid Homme, starting with a single store. Today, there are 21 stores opened in cooperation with the Hyundai Group, as well as others with Lotte, Shinsegae and Galleria. A few years later, in 1993, Ms. Woo and her young designer friends started “New Wave”, as a platform for young designers to showcase their work. This paved the way for today’s Seoul Fashion Week. Designer Youngmi Woo founded her eponymous brand WOOYOUNGMI in 2002 in Paris. She has always wanted to start a brand that allows her the freedom to design for her vision of her ideal man.

The WOOYOUNGMI brand has been showing at Paris Menswear Week since 2003. A few years later, in mid-2011, the WOOYOUNGMI brand became an official member of La Chambre Sindicale de la Mode Masculine. Also in the same year, the brand collaborated with London department store Selfridges on the “My Coat, My Gift” event, where five young London creatives were asked to redesign the best-selling coat no. 51. The resulting designs were exhibited in a special pop-up at Selfridges, with a percentage of the coat’s sales during the event being donated to charity.

The following year, in 2012, under the artistic direction of daughter Katie Chung, WOOYOUNGMI began collaborating with artists to create their advertising campaigns. Artists who participated in this project, to name a few, are sculptor Guerra de la Paz and Korean artist Osang Gwon with her unique blend of sculpture and photography, and painter Clemens Krauss. Not long after, in 2014, WOOYOUNGMI launched a special capsule collection with the online shopping platform Mr Porter. In September of the same year, Youngmi Woo was named one of the 500 people shaping the global fashion industry by Business of Fashion in its “BoF 500”. Katie Chung, her daughter, was named joint creative director in 2014 and presented her first collection in June 2014 as part of the Spring-Summer 2015 collection.

Since its launch, the brand has broken into the Western market with high-end retailers such as Selfridges in London and Bon Marche in Paris, WOOYOUNGMI has established itself as a leading Korean men’s brand in Europe.

In today’s fashion story, you have the opportunity to see two interesting fashion pieces from the WOOYOUNGMI SS24 collection. The short-sleeved shirt has a white base with blue stripes in light blue and blue shades. High-waist pants are a special piece that I had the opportunity to see this summer, I have not had the opportunity to try this model of pants with many striking pieces. Apart from the model, the material and the very texture of the material is special and I liked that the material is light and does not wrinkle.

If you want to stay updated and find out what new products WOOYOUNGMI has prepared for us in the new FW24/25 fashion season, follow this incredible fashion house on Facebook and Instagram.

Today’s fashion adventure continues with new friends of the Mr.M blog, a young and innovative exclusive Swiss watch brand that I’m sure you’ll love at first sight! In one of the previous stories, I wrote more details about this brand, and I advise you to spare a few minutes and read the story at the following LINK.

DONE is proof that all dreams can become reality, if you really believe in yourself and constantly work on yourself. I believe that there are a large number of watch lovers who realize and understand how difficult it really is to start your own watch brand and that it is every watchmaker’s dream to create their own watch brand one day. In the past, it was almost an impossible mission, but with the emergence of platforms where you can present your project and request financial assistance to achieve your business goals, anything is possible.

Crowdfunding platforms have taken on a very special importance during the last couple of years, especially in the watch industry. While in the past an extremely large amount of capital was required, today there is an almost endless community of watch enthusiasts from all over the world who could help you make your dreams come true. The best thing about it: if watch enthusiasts like your project, many of them are willing to financially support the project before the official start of production even begins.

That’s exactly what Mr. Thierry Clottu managed to do, when he completed an impressive Kickstarter campaign in July 2016. When he successfully raised the financial means for making watches, he set about creating his own watchmaking brand, which he had been dreaming about for years.

Mr. Clottu started making his dreams come true in 2015, when he made the first sketches for his new project. As an experienced microtechnology engineer and after more than 10 years of product development experience for many well-known luxury watch brands, he decided to finally commit to his own long-awaited dream of his own watch brand.

By the way, the name “DONE Watches” has a double meaning: on the one hand, it represents the founder’s personal challenge to create a successful watch brand himself, that is, to actually do it. On the other hand, the name alludes to the region of the brand’s birth, located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland – Done in Neuchâtel.

Mr. Clottu has already successfully established three watch collections, which are called Classic, Skeleton and Automatic. The story of this unusual Swiss brand DONE watches began in 2016, with the “MECHANICA ME1A” from the Classic series, a sporty-elegant everyday watch with a small second at 9 o’clock and a beautifully decorated hand-wound caliber.

Automatic three-handers, on the other hand, are significantly more timeless, with only a classic date window at 3 o’clock and available in 40mm (men’s) and 36mm (women’s) diameters. For those who prefer something a little more extravagant on their wrist, Clottu has developed the elegant Skeleton models, which boast an open caliber and DLC coating.

In today’s fashion story, I have the great honor and pleasure to present you the newest model of the DONE watch MECHANICA B03 in a special limited edition of 50 pieces. After the great sales success of the MECHANICA B01 and MECHANICA B02 models, the DONE brand is pleased to present the MECHANICA B03 model at this year’s Time to Watches.

The MECHANICA B03 model uses the same aesthetic codes as its predecessors, but in shades
clearer and more concrete. Its silver movement brings a beautiful depth to this watch which then fully reveals its movement in complete transparency. The B03 proudly displays its case diameter of 43.8 mm with an overall thickness of 10.9 mm. Because it is extremely thin and light, trust me I forgot I had this watch on my wrist.

When I discovered this convenience, I realized that the high quality of the execution of its components stands out, both in terms of the level of construction of the case, as well as in the “in-house” manual-wound caliber itself. The founder’s main motto when creating this new DONE model was: “True beauty comes from within!”. Therefore, the new MECHANICA B03 model has the famous basic movement ETA 6497-1 due to its reliability and precision, in this model processed in a skeletonized cut of bridges and a modern design. This watch is the result of dedicated work where we obtained exceptional design results in order to harmonize the whole for a clean and timeless result.

Technical Information:

Case Diameter: 43,8mm

Case Thickness: 10,9mm

Case Material: Grade 5 Titanium

Water Resistance: 10 ATM (100m)

Crystals: Saphire, anti reflective coating

Movement: Skeleton, ETA 6497-1, hand-winding, design done in house

Power reserve: 46

Strap material: Blue FKM rubber

Strap buckle: Titanium bi-blade folding clasp

Packaging: Leather travel case that accommodates up to 3 watches

Price: 3850 CHF (approx. 4000 Euros)

In the outstanding offer of the DONE brand, you can also find other models of watches for men and women. If you want to stay updated and find out what novelties the DONE watches brand has to offer us, follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

OUTFIT

Shirt: WOOYOUNGMI 

Watch: DONE

Trousers: WOOYOUNGMI

Loafers: Fratelli Rossetti

Today’s fashion adventure ends with old well-known friends of Mr.M blog – Fratelli Rossetti. This Italian footwear brand that I’m sure everyone recognizes for their comfortable shoes that are made from the highest quality materials Fratelli Rossetti footwear is fantastic for the reason that this brand makes classic shoes that are elegant and simply unbeatable, shoes for all time! You had the chance to see their most famous model, the Brera, in my Jordan fashion stories.

What is the story of this brand? In the middle of the 20th century, more precisely in 1945, Mr. Renzo Rossetti started his story from scratch, where he worked alone to cut leather for several types of sports shoes. His shoes were sold at the famous Brigatti store in Milan, one of the few remaining stores of its kind in the city. After a few years, Fratelli Rossetti saw success, but, wanting to develop further, they transferred the brands and equipment for this special production to Atala Sport in Padua.

Fratelli Rossetti has a long tradition of “big little innovations”. In this company, tradition and quality have always gone hand in hand with insatiable curiosity and commitment to innovation. From the introduction of tassels and the invention of shoes designed to be worn without socks, to stylistic innovations and the launch of the “masculine” style, to the application of colors in unique chromatic shades. It was Renzo Rossetti who emphasized the importance of embracing new materials, styles and shapes: as early as the 60s, he was already experimenting with different color combinations on leather. Today, the company continues its research and development activities thanks to the knowledge of its craftsmen and the creative spirit of the styling department.

Fratelli Rossetti in its collections for men has timeless classic lines that you can find all year in their offer, some of the models are: Brera, Brera Sport, Hobo Sport, Yacht, La Giusta. 

In today’s post, I present one of the iconic Brera models. Brera is the bohemian quarter of Milan where, in the sixties of the last century, sculptors, painters and writers struggled to leave their mark with a new language and new forms. The liberal and cosmopolitan spirit was the source of inspiration for “Brera”, a moccasin with tassels, a style revolution in a country that is just rediscovering its joy of life. Brera combines different materials and colors as a true work of art. The special composition of materials and shapes makes moccasins a successful chapter in the history of Fratelli Rossetti.

Today you have the opportunity to see a special summer version of the famous Brera loafers in shades of blue, made of soft closed-weave material. Special high-quality processing and production. These moccasins have a hand-dyed leather sole. The shoes are handmade in Italy, like all other Fratelli Rossetti shoes.

If you want to stay freshly updated and find out which models of shoes and leather goods the Fratelli Rossetti brand has in its offer, visit their official online store and follow them on the social networks Facebook and Instagram.

My dear fashionistas, we have come to the end of another summer fashion story, where together we discovered the beauty and brilliance of sporty urban elegance with the luxurious South Korean fashion house WOOYOUNGMI, the beauty of the new revolutionary and special Swiss watch brand DONE, as well as the unique quality of Italian craftsmanship with iconic by the Fratelli Rossetti brand of footwear and leather goods, partners with whom fashion stories are a real adventure. I sincerely hope you got some inspiration for your ideal summer outfit!

See you soon and continue our fashion adventures on the Mr.M blog! How did you like my outfit today? I really tried my best to prepare today’s post with lots of love and I hope you like it!

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or any message for me, you can write me below in the comments. Of course, as always, you can contact me via email or social media channels, which you can find on the CONTACT page. I’ll see you soon!

With Love,
Mr.M

This post is sponsored by WOOYOUNGMI, DONE and Fratelli Rossetti brands. This post is my personal and honest review of their products.