Join the Soohyang gang: the cult Korean fragrance comes to London
Join the Soohyang gang: the cult Korean fragrance comes to London

Soohyang: The Cult Korean Fragrance House Comes To London

11 Oct 2017 | Updated on: 27 Sep 2022 | By Luxury London

Soohyang Kim’s parents perhaps had a premonition when choosing her name, a moniker that translates from Korean to ‘excellent fragrance’.

Soohyang launched her in eponymous perfume brand in 2013 as a pocket-sized boutique on an Itaewon alley in Seoul, selling soy candles and fragrances. Word quickly spread about the aromatic parlour and she began drawing crowds for her beguiling floral scents, housed in pretty pink boxes.

“After university, I worked for an indie record agency, just because I liked the music. The company was small and I ended up working across all parts of the business, including production, management, music promotion, PR and art direction,” explains Soohyang. “I worked there for eight years and learned a lot about the industry. By then, niche perfume had grabbed my attention and I realised that scent and music have a lot of things in common. The way they convert music into so many different forms, like performance and advertising, and I thought it would be interesting to apply the same method to fragrance.”

The cult Korean fragrance house is recognisable by its millennial pink packaging, bold typography and sweetly titled fragrances.

Soohyang upsized to a renovated house in Sinsa-dong, renamed Villa Soohyang, and now boasts eight outlets across Japan and China. The cult Korean fragrance house is recognisable by its millennial pink packaging, bold, black typography and sweetly titled fragrances. Favourites include “Every day is like Sunday”, “Girls’ Neck” and bestseller “Itaewon 565”, so-called after the original boutique address. Candles remain 100% soy, meaning they are smoke-free, while all fragrance oil is phthalate-free.

Soohyang’s offering now also includes diffusers, matches, aprons and magnets, all of which are available to buy at Fenwick of Bond Street.

Candles are priced at £36; matches and accessories from £7. Fenwick of Bond Street, 63 New Bond St, London W1S 1RQ.

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