It was in 1979 when womenswear designer Gee Chun-hee opened her first Miss Gee Collection in Myeong-dong, a thriving shopping district in northern Seoul frequented by trendsetters back in the day. The 70-year-old designer has since become a Korean icon. Her storied legacy is a testament to a brand that has survived with a dedicated following -- clients whose affection for Miss Gee Collection runs in the family from mothers to their daughters.
That tradition now faces an existential crisis: a local fashion industry forced to deal with an ever-shrinking pool of talent tasked with “stitching and sewing,” according to Gee. “The saddest part of it all is we no longer have people with a certain skill set. Garment making has long been outsourced overseas, to China and Vietnam,” Gee said in an interview with The Korea Herald last week at her main showroom in Cheongdam-dong.
“Pick any factory here. All the workers are between 60 and 70, and that’s the scariest part,” she said, adding that their retirement will be another blow to an industry already scrambling to fill the labor shortage as younger people shun what they see as a less rewarding, blue-collar job. Contingency plans have to be underway now, Gee noted.
The designer said the government should draft a blueprint to attract women who have seen their careers take a back seat over child care and schooling. According to a March poll by the lobby group Federation of Korean Industries, 1.3 million women -- aged between .
