Meeting inspirational CEOs is one of the most exciting
aspects of my work as a brand-watcher.
One of the most inspiring leaders I’ve ever met is Korean-born
Sung-Joo Kim, who, among many other things, owns the MCM fashion brand and
holds the wonderful title of Chief Visionary Officer at the German luxury house.
A committed philanthropist, Mrs Kim has the most amazing background. Disinherited by her
strict Korean parents (her billionaire father founded the Daesung Group
conglomerate) who wanted her to marry and have a family, Mrs Kim decided to
forge her own independent path in business. First, she spent some time learning
the fashion retail trade under the legendary Marvin Traub of Bloomingdale’s in
New York. Then she returned to Korea to found her own retail firm Sungjoo
Group, which held the Korean franchise for such luxury brands as Gucci and Yves
Saint Laurent. After the Asian financial crisis (yes, there was one in 1997),
Mrs Kim acquired fashion brand MCM, which, as its franchisee, she had grown
into a powerful luxury accessories brand in Korea.
Today, MCM has stores in the major fashion capitals and is
wholesaled in luxury stores worldwide such as Harrods and Bloomingdale’s.
By the way, the
MCM blog is
one of the best I’ve seen and is well worth checking out.
As a thank-you for some work I did for the brand, Mrs Kim
gifted me an electric blue MCM Stark backpack. I used to dream about decorating
my dressing room with Hello Kitty items (I love the Japanese
kawaii culture) but now I only hanker for a room full of MCM
backpacks. One in every colour, every size... but that’s another blog.
