Andre Kim, Korea’s top fashion designer, dies at 75

With top model Naomi Campbell in a fashion show in Seoul in 2003. (Yonhap)

Andre Kim smiles during an interview with Yonhap News in 2005. (Yonhap)

Andre Kim, a top South Korean designer well-known for his glamorous wedding gowns and dresses, died Thursday after being treated for colorectal cancer and pneumonia. He was 75.

The designer, whose real name is Kim Bong-nam, has been fighting cancer for several months and was hospitalized at an intensive care unit last month due to deteriorating health conditions, his close associates said.
Seoul National University Hospital pronounced Kim dead at around 7:25 p.m.

Born in 1935, Kim was one of the first male fashion designers in Korea.

In his autobiography “My Fantasy,” published in 2002, Kim said fashion designer Givenchy’s clothes worn by Audrey Hepburn in film “Funny Face” inspired him to become a designer himself.

Making his debut in 1962, Kim opened “Salon Andre” in central Seoul and became the first local designer to hold a fashion show in Paris in 1966.

Noted for their splendor and the mix of eastern and western auras, Kim’s clothes have been worn by top stars in and out of the country including Korean Wave queen Choi Ji-woo, the late King of Pop Michael Jackson and actress Brooke Shields.

Kim was presented with Korea’s Presidential Culture and Art Medal in 1977 for the contribution he made to the local fashion industry. He was the first to receive the medal as a fashion designer. He was also awarded cultural medals from foreign countries including France and Italy.

Kim, who was unmarried, is survived by a son he adopted in 1982.

By Shin Hae-in (hayney@heraldm.com)