There are times in one’s life when you realize you’re in the presence of greatness. Through a Zoom interview, we were face-to-face with just this.
Jung Lee is a tastemaker, one of the diamonds of society that keep culture vital by introducing the public to new ideas, while many times, elevating existing ones. They’re also the ones who set the industry standards. Lee’s experiential design is a science that encompasses various methodologies, whether it’s a corporate event that needs to be memorable, a wedding that is talked about for a lifetime, a New York City boutique that serves those with taste no matter their bank account, or her recent partnership with Gurney’s Montauk to design its bungalows. There is a zen to Lee who commingled her immigrant fearlessness with her natural high-end aesthetic to create her own methodology. It’s hard to explain.
So we asked.
You started out working at your family’s Korean store in New York City, then became a Real Estate Developer. Wow. How did you then make the jump to event design?
I love having nothing but a blank slate and creating something. I was spec building in Purchase and in Westchester. I would get land and I would imagine how a family would use it. So just as how I can imagine how a wedding would unfold, with spec building I’m banking that someone is going to enjoy my vision for them. I love that process. I didn’t have any formal training. I think if I had another life I would love to be an architect. I taught myself how to read plumbing and electrical plans. My immigrant background — that made me very gritty in the sense that it’s made me believe that anything and everything is possible if you really want it. We’re not trying to get to the moon — most of it is common sense. I always loved learning and I always loved beautiful things.
For weddings, I see every event as very cinematic like when the guests first enter — who’s greeting them, what’s the music, what’s the energy, what’s the lighting, are there little surprises — all of those pieces. I love producing those little surprises. Back to my own childhood, I didn’t have such a childhood and as an adult I want to play and have all these joyful little surprises.
Your spec homes must have been so detailed with your personal high-end aesthetic.
They weren’t typical contractor homes. I really cared about every nuance and detail. When I see a wall plate that is not straight, it makes me bonkers. I’m open minded if it’s just beautiful. If it’s really beautiful I’ll just stop and admire.
It’s the creative mindset that is also practical where on the creative side we really want to create something that’s really unique and interesting and special and different and the practical business side is asking how do we get that? — Jung Lee
Can you explain the flow of your career?
Before everything started, it was a very Korean/New York family affair where we had a love for flowers — before grocery stores had flowers, because we’re talking about the early ’80s. It was my mother who actually liked flowers so that’s how she started selling them in her shop. Now it’s the thing but back then it was very novel to have flowers in a Korean shop. I lived on 90th and 2nd Avenue, and that’s where they had their first store. I remember Burger King having their first fixins’ bar and that’s how my mother started the first salad bar. She’s not trained but she would just do these things and I grew up watching her. There I was putting together these little parsley bouquets. That’s how we started out as a family and where I learned so much.
Then in the ’90s when all the banks went belly-up, and all these large commercial spaces were available in New York City — we would take over the leases and gut them out. We created cooking kitchens and had to install ventilation and so much more. As immigrants, they tend to get taken advantage, so we would be like ‘we’re not going to pay this outrageous amount of money,’ and instead say ‘I think we can figure this out ourselves’ — it’s an obligation!
That’s the grit!
Understanding the luxury market and being scrappy about it.
I was building food markets essentially, and then I wanted another project. Because I grew up in the city and I always dreamt of having a suburban house, I bought some land and I built those spec homes. Simultaneously I was at a point when friends were getting married.
With the spending of so much money, a lot of time and energy — I felt like it was wasteful and I hate waste. I was always thinking as this is all being spent, are they getting the money back in terms of value and worth? Is the ROI there, almost. I felt like so many people were going on this conveyor belt.
I consider myself a business person first and foremost. – Jung Lee
How do you approach weddings?
I took weddings and stripped it down, deconstructed it, built it back up with what I consider soul. It has to have meaning. They were all the same. They were all cookie cutter. That’s why I started looking into this as a business. For me it’s maybe not the greatest day in your life, but it should certainly be among them. What I love about my company is that we’re very thoughtful, it’s never a one-size fits all. Obviously you need certain things, it’s got to have a way we’re honoring the couple and their vision.
Let’s talk about your beautiful bungalows at Gurney’s! How did that project happen?
They reached out to us and I’m already a big fan of Gurney’s, particular that location. I think the bungalows could be year-round and I wanted it to be simple but still intimate and organic. Like the bamboos were meant to feel like the long path you might see at the beaches, the way they move and sway. It’s so intimate and you’re with your significant other or a small group of your five best friends or whatever, it’s these shared moments that I just think makes life so much better. When you’re in a beautiful space, it inspires you.
I didn’t have such a childhood and as an adult I want to play and have all these joyful little surprises. – Jung Lee
You’ve really mastered experiential design. Conducting a simple search on you one is bombarded by your entrepreneurial spirit. You’ve got FÊTE NY, your wedding registry with SlowDance, you have Jung Lee NY, a physical store with an additional ecommerce solution, you’re designing corporate events — how do you do accomplish all that week after week?
It’s the same mindset. It’s the creative mindset that is also practical where on the creative side we really want to create something that’s really unique and interesting and special and different and the practical business side is asking how do we get that? Sometimes creatives are just dreamers and they don’t ever become tangible. For me, because of my business discipline first, what we conjure up we have to make a reality. It’s that combination that exhilarates me. It’s a puzzle. The creative has this big lofty thing, there’s a budget reality with all of these other parameters, you know, and how do they merge.
You’re such a formulator maestro and practical at the same time. As someone so involved in the production of many businesses and projects, the pandemic and lockdown must have really given you pause. Were you panicked, or were you inclined to shift and pivot immediately?
You know, I’m not a panicky person like when the sh*t hits the fan I actually find a lot of calm in it. That’s when I get really quiet and I can kind of figure it out. I’m not someone who panics. I’m someone who gets angry and other emotions and I can be really tough. When this happened, we had a huge 300 person event where everybody was flying into Miami and in 24 hours we changed everything from what we were doing to an open-air event because there were so many New Yorkers coming in who did not want to be confined inside. We had to find a new venue, redo the floor-plan. It’s not just me individually, I have a team.
All of this can be taught, but common sense and dedication cannot. I have a core team and with my clients we just figured it out. I’m such a believer that if there’s a will there is a way. We’re in America, and this is still the greatest country on Earth, and as an immigrant, I really believe that. Together we’re committed. It was spectacular. It really was.
It must have been so scary for the client when this was happening!
The world was closing in on this couple, and I was like, “No. No! We’re going to get it together. We’re going to figure this out. We’re going to get it so everyone is going to feel comfortable and safe. We partner with really good partners and vendors. It was a lot of administration work, reworking contracts.
You must have an incredible team. I think about all the businesses that are now gone because of the pandemic.
It just breaks my heart. Some of the restaurants, especially the event industry. Fortunately we’ve been in the industry for eighteen years, so we’ve been around for a while. Some of the newer companies found it really difficult to sustain themselves.
Can you explain all the different teams under the Jung Lee umbrella?
Basically it’s FÊTE which plans and designs everything and we execute it — we don’t outsource anything. One side are the planners and the other side are the designers and producers. Secondly, we have a physical store in the NoMad area which has the best home store zen. We have the best $10 hand blown glasses next to all the Baccarat and Hermés because that’s how we shop! We go to Zara and we also go to Balenciaga. I want it to be like how I live and most people that I know live. So I want it to be a representation of that.
The third piece is the wedding registry business called SlowDance. Those are our three entities. I work with all the company team leaders within that. Of course there’s a lot of crossover between them. Every piece of design and job that is produced, I feel like they’re my little kids.
What do you do to relax? Do you relax?
I have to say that I really love what I do. The problem I have is that it takes a lot of my time. I’m a mom of two kids and being with them is so, so important. There are times that it’s harder for me. It’s a lot of traveling. I was just in Santa Fe, we’re doing a big wedding there. Another project in Mexico. Even in the pandemic, life still goes on. People are still getting engaged, people are still getting married!
Jung Lee is holding floral arrangement classes at Gurney’s this month. Learn more here.
