HTSI Menswear
Cult Shop: the Seoul tailor reviving Korean suitmaking
Atelier Lerici is restoring craft traditions to the international stage
Christian Davies. Photography by Taemin Ha OCTOBER 27 2022
When you go to see Kim Dae-chul about a suit, you don’t tell him what you want. He tells you what you need.
At Atelier Lerici, the tailoring house he founded in 2005 and now runs from a secluded villa on the side of Seoul’s Namsan Mountain, Kim fits his clients out in handmade suits that he hopes will redefine the waning tradition of Korean bespoke tailoring. Rather than adopting a British or Italian taste, Kim’s tailoring practice has his own style, and focuses on achieving “perfect harmony between the suit and the human body”. Inspired by the gentle lines of Korean ceramics, he wants each of Lerici’s suits – created for both men and women – to be subtly unique “like a line drawn without a ruler”
Christian Davies
Photography by Taemin Ha
