Korean fashion entrepreneur in Hong Kong Nikki Lee, of TAV, on her goal of designing timeless yet trendy clothes
- Nikki Lee was one of the first in South Korea to jump into e-commerce, in 2007. She’s brought that entrepreneurial spirit to her Hong Kong brand TAV
- ‘I am always aware of the trendiest styles Korean women are going for,’ says the designer, who says her goal is to make timeless clothes
“I absolutely hate lagging behind any kind of trend,” says Nikki Lee Hyuna, the creative director and designer behind Hong Kong fashion brand TAV. At the same time, she hopes her designs will be timeless.
TAV, which stands for “The Absolute Value”, is not only the brainchild of the 36-year-old South Korean native – it’s the culmination of her 15 years of fashion industry experience, too.
“I half-jokingly tell my close friends and family that there probably isn’t anyone in my generation who has touched, felt and tried on as many clothes as I have,” Lee says.
“When I moved to Seoul for university from my hometown, Wonju, a medium-sized city in Korea’s [Gangwon] province, I started an online fashion shopping website, D&shop, to pay for my tuition. I was part of South Korea’s first generation of online fashion retail operators,” Lee says.
That bold move was prescient – by 2021, South Korean consumers were spending some US$2.2 billion a month on fashion-related items online.
