Bold Moves Academy with Haeni Kim, Founder, Kitri

Welcome to the The Bold Moves Academy podcast brought to you by TheIndustry.fashion in partnership with Klarna for Business. Here we speak to some of fashion’s disrupters about the bold moves they’ve made to drive the future of the fashion industry and inspire you to do the same.Haeni Kim was an early adopter of the Bold Move. At the age of just 12 years old she upped sticks from her home in South Korea to come to London to train to be a ballet dancer. When she came to the reluctant conclusion that that dream was not to be, she set her sights on fashion. Reasoning that Paris was the epicentre of the industry, she decided to study French and upon graduation gained as much experience as she could working at fashion houses, in everything from marketing to finance and production.Starting her own fashion brand was always in the back of her mind and she subsequently moved to Hong Kong to learn all she could about sourcing and production. She also had a “side hustle” business in e-commerce, selling antiques.All of this vast experience and drive came together in 2017 when she decided to establish her own label Kitri, offering affordable, sustainable, contemporary womenswear. Haeni, and her friends who encouraged her in her venture, noticed a gap in the market for well-made garments and an accessible price point that were not seen on everyone.Haeni talks to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in chief of the TheIndustry.fashion about her career journey, what drives her, what the young brand went through during the pandemic and what her ambitions are for the future.Visit the Bold Moves Academy to hear more podcasts from fashion brand founders here.