GOOMHEO's Twisted Silhouettes

For a student from Jinju who hadn't studied fashion, what first drew his attention to London's fashion scene was, surprisingly, a fashion documentary. Goom Heo, who went to the US as an exchange student dreaming of becoming an interpreter, later enrolled at Central Saint Martins (CSM) and made a name for himself by winning L'Oréal Professionnel awards twice with his graduate collections.

Having won the L'Oréal Young Talent Award with his BA graduate collection in 2017 and the L'Oréal Professionnel Creative Award with his MA graduate collection in 2019, he became the first student in CSM's history to win L'Oréal awards twice. He then launched the brand in February 2020, presenting GOOMHEO's first collection through Fashion East.

But defining GOOMHEO simply as "a London brand" misses one important pillar. GOOMHEO has grown on a London base, but it actively uses Korea's materials and production infrastructure, building the brand in a way that connects Seoul and London. At its first pop-up in Japan in 2026, GOOMHEO was also introduced as "the brand of a Korean designer based in London and Seoul."

A Brand That Began at CSM

What's interesting about Goom Heo's starting point is that it differs somewhat from the typical path of a designer with a traditional fashion education.

He made a name for himself by winning L'Oréal Professionnel awards twice with his CSM graduate collections in 2017 and 2019, and in his 2019 MA collection in particular, he presented strongly shaped designs using bodysuits and silk chiffon.

He then presented GOOMHEO's first collection through Fashion East in 2020, beginning to develop the design language he had built in his graduate collections into a brand.

The Internet Responded Before the Fashion Industry

An interesting point in how GOOMHEO became known is that its graduate collections weren't consumed through the fashion industry's traditional evaluation alone.

As the unusual silhouettes and images of his graduate collections spread quickly online, he earned the label "the Korean designer who became a meme," and later joined Fashion East, London's incubator program for emerging designers. In February 2020, he presented his first collection at London Fashion Week, and went on to present four collections through Fashion East.

This process can be seen as GOOMHEO connecting the buzz from its graduate collections to real brand activity, rather than simply consuming it.

A Design Language That Reinvents How Clothes Are Worn

The first thing that catches the eye in GOOMHEO's designs is silhouettes that twist conventional ways of wearing clothes.

Shaping forms by draping directly on the designer's own body, he uses asymmetric structures and exaggerated volume. Signature examples include structures with multiple sleeves attached, body-conscious silhouettes that cling to the body, and twisted tops and dresses.

Adding square-toe boots, geometric patterns, knitwear, and more, he brings together sensual silhouettes and humorous elements. Though the brand started from menswear, rather than strictly dividing garment shapes by gender, it focuses on the relationship between body and clothing itself.

The LVMH Prize also describes GOOMHEO as a brand presenting gender-fluid menswear collections. In the end, at GOOMHEO, clothing is less an object that simply covers the body and more a medium designed to include how it's worn and moved in.

Clothes Made in London, a Foundation Gained in Seoul

This is why there's no need to view London and Seoul separately when understanding GOOMHEO.

The designer has developed his designs in London while also using Korea's materials and manufacturing base. In a 2022 LVMH Prize interview, he explained that when traveling back and forth to Korea, he uses local resources and techniques and brings them to London. His denim production in Korea during COVID-19 also illustrates this structure.

In other words, GOOMHEO's identity is hard to simplify as either "a Korean brand made in London" or "a London brand produced in Korea." It's closer to a structure in which London shapes the brand's direction through the fashion scene and designer network, while Seoul provides materials and production infrastructure.

This dual base continues in the brand's current expansion as well. Its first pop-up in Japan in 2026 was held at Shibuya PARCO, presenting the Spring/Summer 2026 collection alongside signature denim, limited items, and archive pieces.

From an Emerging London Brand to Global Retail

One of the catalysts that widened GOOMHEO's recognition was its selection as a 2022 LVMH Prize semifinalist. Included among the semifinalists chosen from about 1,900 applicants at the time, it began to draw attention as an international fashion brand beyond an emerging London designer.

The brand was then distributed through retailers such as Machine-A in London and H.Lorenzo in the US. In 2026, it held its first pop-up at Shibuya PARCO in Japan, creating a touchpoint for meeting a new market directly.

In particular, its approach of combining the latest collection, signature denim, limited products, and archive pieces can be seen as part of GOOMHEO's process of connecting the buzz that began with its graduate collections to a real product experience.

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What makes GOOMHEO interesting is less its splashy London debut itself and more the fact that it connects the strengths of two different cities within a single brand.

Born in Korea, the designer built his design language in London, and then completes his products using Seoul's materials and production base. He then takes the results to overseas markets such as Japan.

The globalization of a fashion brand doesn't necessarily have to mean moving its home base to a single city. GOOMHEO can be seen as a case of connecting London's design environment with Seoul's manufacturing infrastructure, turning a Korean designer's identity into the structure of the brand rather than confining it to a specific place.