Courtesy of SONGZIO
Courtesy of SONGZIO
Courtesy of SONGZIO
Between Seoul and Paris, between discipline and instinct, fashion becomes a language that does not translate—it connects. In the hands of Jay Songzio, Creative Director of Songzio, this connection takes shape as avant-garde elegance: a quiet force where East and West are not opposed, but carefully woven into one continuous narrative. Here, clothing becomes more than form—it becomes a selection of stories we choose to carry forward.
Founded in 1993 in Seoul, Songzio quickly established itself as one of the early voices of Korean fashion entering the global conversation. Today, under Jay Songzio’s direction, the house moves fluidly between Paris and Seoul—balancing artistic freedom with constant reinvention, and creating garments where tradition meets experimentation.
Over time, Songzio has expanded internationally, presenting at Paris Fashion Week and evolving through a series of cross-disciplinary collaborations. Among them are projects with The Walt Disney Company, drawing on the cinematic worlds of Tim Burton and The Simpsons—further blurring the boundaries between fashion, film, and visual storytelling. Alongside these, the brand continues to develop its own spaces, from Galerie Noir in Seoul to its Paris flagships, reinforcing its dialogue between cultures.
This vision finds a powerful expression in the recent Songzio x BTS collaboration. Created for the group’s comeback performance, Lyrical Armor reimagines Korean history through a contemporary lens—merging hanbok and Joseon-era armor into sculptural, avant-garde silhouettes. The garments move like living forms, carrying traces of the past while projecting a new kind of heroism for a global generation.
Sasha Kovaleva, our editor-in-chief, sat down with Jay Songzio to discuss fashion as an interdisciplinary art form, the tension between order and disorder, and the evolving identity of Korean fashion on the global stage.
Sasha Kovaleva: Songzio has grown into one of South Korea’s most influential fashion brands under your leadership. Looking back, was there a defining moment or spark that pushed you to pursue this path? Do you see yourself more as an entrepreneur, an artist, or a blend of both?
Jay Songzio: Fashion is such an interdisciplinary art. From architecture, spatial design, photography, videography, letters, to the collection itself, there are countless aspects one can study and create. Whether it is as an artist or an entrepreneur, this dynamic, ever-evolving, and endless process of creation is what continuously drives me.
SK: Having grown up in Paris and launched your brand in South Korea, you inhabit two rich cultural worlds. How do these influences collide and harmonize in your work—both in design and in how you lead the brand?
JS: Paris and Seoul are quite the polar opposites but inspiring in their own ways. Each city greatly influences my state of mind. In Paris, I feel freer and this sense of freedom allows me to wander around, imagining things with a rather lighthearted spirit. Paris often gives me my own time and opens up my mind while also allowing me to be very introspective.
Seoul is all about change. This almost obsessive desire of Koreans to constantly evolve, innovate and to find something new drives me very hard to not only dig deeper into our own identity but how to always reinvent ourselves. Seoul’s dynamism is certainly a driving force.
