Korean-style velvet made with perseverance, conquering the world stage
Ryu Byung-seon, president of Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association, North Gyeongsang Province
Leading ‘Youngdo Velvet’ with her husband, the late Chairman Lee Won-hwa, to produce the highest quality velvet
Only 14 patents that have been devoted to material development… The success of localization also led to a gold medal in exports.
Taking the lead in practicing love for neighbors, from donating scholarships to helping single mothers and unmarried mothers
▲ Ryu Byung-seon, president of the Gyeongbuk Branch of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association, said that it would be good to use the COVID-19 incident as an opportunity to realize the importance of family.
Upon entering the Velvet Gallery ‘Youngdo Daum’, the red curtains and green wallpaper caught my eye. The upholstery is all made of velvet. The lining of the chair, as well as the handbags and passport cases on display, and other home furnishing accessories were all made of velvet. The most eye-catching among them was the green wallpaper. Like the soft lining of the chair, the wallpaper was also velvet. The green color reminded me of Scarlett OHara. Scarlett OHara, who played the role of Vivien Leigh in the immortal classic Gone with the Wind based on the Civil War, is a person who greatly contributed to making the movie a masterpiece. Scarlett, whose life is on the verge of war, goes to see Rhett Butler, a wealthy man. In a desperate situation to borrow her money, but she never wanted to look shabby, she removed the green curtains covering the windows of her mansion. The material of the green curtains that became Scarletts dress was velvet.
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Crisis is everywhere. COVID-19 situation
I think it would be nice to use it as an opportunity to realize the importance of family.
We must learn to love and forgive one another.
Look at yourself first before blaming others...
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“You seem to have a special love for Velvet. When and how did you connect?”
“Before her marriage, her husband supplied fur for winter boots at the International Rubber Factory. The fiber studded with hair was the beginning of velvet. It was when Berod came in for smuggling.”
One day, the founder, the late Chairman Lee Won-hwa, started looking for the organization of Velvet, saying, “Do foreigners have two heads? There is no reason we can’t make what they made.” It was a process to realize the dream of material development for velvet. I went to all the scientific research institutes in Korea with a piece of German velvet, but I couldnt find the organization. However, he could not give up, so Chairman Lee started to create the Velvet organization himself. After repeated transformations into a 1:1 organization and a 2:2 organization if the length of 1 meter of our machine is one, and after numerous failures, we finally found a suitable organization. After the tissue was woven, it had to be dyed. It was time to dye the cauldron on fire, but there was no place to properly dye a piece of velvet that was woven with difficulty. At a time when there was no money even in the bank, Chairman Lee mobilized his in-laws and eight cousins to raise money, saying that he needed to build a processing plant. When I actually dyed it, each pot had a different color. It takes three hemps and seven inches to make one set of clothes, and one set of clothes didnt come out, and there were side effects that the water drained and the hair lay down when standing up from a sitting position.
“What is the reason for the development without importing the material?”
“Importing makes things easier, but we don’t have ours.”
Chairman Lees earnest desire to have our own since we cannot depend on imports forever has enabled us to accomplish the feat of sending Velvet to the world market today. Just like having ours, it is only possible when someone devotes their whole life to it, and it is also something that cannot be achieved without painstaking efforts. It is believed that Youngdo-like today exists because of the tireless efforts of the founder who devoted himself to material development and repeated research.
Youngdo Daums daum is interesting. It stands out for its creativity by using the word ‘daum’ derived from self, beauty, and human qualities as the name of the brand. Whether it is a person or an object, it has sincerity only when it shines with its originality. This represents the passion of Youngdo-likeness toward the worlds first class and adds to its value. In addition, the brand name “Three Eagles” was obtained with the three eagle patterns engraved on the fabric by Chairman Lee Won-hwa. The idea of symbolizing the first syllable Y of Yeongdo by engraving the image of an eagle with its wings spread on jacquard is not only unique, but also enhances the brands pride.
In 1980, Lee Won-hwa, chairman of the company, put his efforts into developing a new product that uses Korean polyester yarn instead of Japanese acetate yarn against Japan, which is keeping Youngdo Velvet in check. As a result, Youngdo Velvet developed domestic velvet in 1996. There is no end to the legend of Yeongdo-likeness achieved in Korea, especially in Daegu, a branch city. It compensates for the weakness of hair lying down when standing up after sitting down, and makes it easy to access velvet by enabling water washing, raising the quality of the product to the highest level and making our velvet proudly stand on the world stage.
Recalling the time when he had to reduce his size in the face of the IMF financial crisis, Chairman Ryu Byung-seon briefly fell into remorse. He had to reduce the staff, and it was time to put all his energy into escaping the workout by working overtime until late at night. Chairman Ryu wanted to show that there was nothing he could not do with Velvet. Whenever he faced a difficult task, he asked himself, ‘Have you tried it?’ This was what Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Joo-young said in the past. It was not Chairman Ryus way of sitting down saying that he couldnt do the work beforehand without even trying it. She remembered very well that she was empty-handed when she first started working. She was from scratch, so she didnt start working. Even if she lost everything, if she thought it was worth it, she would have nothing to fear.
She said, “They do a lot of good things, like scholarships.”
“I spend money, but I don’t spend without knowing the direction.”
A proposal was made to help a divorced woman at the Federation of Entrepreneurs, but Chairman Ryu cut it off saying that he could not help her. As she became a woman and could not take responsibility for the child she gave birth to, she raged about what she would do in this society. She rather said that she helps single fathers and single mothers. She says she has a pretty heart that doesnt abandon her child and takes responsibility. There may be individual circumstances, but they say that a divorced woman who has not been able to manage her own family does not need help, and that this society is incomparably cruel to a man, his child, or several family members. Through a divorced woman and an unmarried mother, Chairman Ryu told a bigger story with a small metaphor.
“Which country is the origin of velvet?”
author ; Poet Sohn Gyeong-chans Daegu and Gyeongbuk People
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