Jeong Li Designs for Office Drones With Wanderlust
There’s no shame in discovering a young designer from a collaborative sneaker. For Seoul-based designer Jeong Li, his big break came from Salomon, with whom he created a pair of retooled trail shoes equally textured and techy. Pared back to the essentials but sturdy enough for whatever the world throws at it, Jeong Li’s Salomon XA PRO 3D shoe encapsulates the appeal of the designer’s own technical clothing.
Li’s garments are inspired by historic workwear, borrowing the generous shapes of fisherman sweaters, motorcycle jackets, and painter trousers. From far away, some of Li’s clothes could even pass as their forebearers. All is revealed up close, however. Li's anatomical seams encircle the body, with integrated pockets lying flat against darts and pin tucks.
Li’s garments are an exquisite assemblage of panels that overlap, underlie, and integrate. And despite their technical make, they’re often cut from organic fibers such as cotton twill and wool gabardine, which were once cutting-edge innovations in their own right. They form the foundation of a do-anything wardrobe for anyone in the city, the outdoors, and anywhere in between.
Li met Highsnobiety at his studio in Seoul to talk about his brand’s past, present, and future, including plans to split the line in two like the divergent seams that run across his quietly cool clothes.
How did you get into fashion design?
When I was young, I watched the documentary Dior and I, and it changed everything. That movie sparked something in me — it gave me the dream of wanting to work in the fashion industry. And Raf Simons became a huge inspiration for me. I didn’t major in fashion design or garment technology. I was completely self-taught, figuring things out on my own.
How would you say your design language has changed since the brand started in 2022?
Every season, I evolve. My inspirations are rooted in nature, technology, and organic materials. Over time, my brand has become simpler, more wearable, and more thoughtful. The work I do now is almost the complete opposite of where I started, but the journey has always felt honest.
The brand exists in the space between citywear and technical function, with a quiet sensibility — sunlight, elemental details, that kind of thing. From the beginning, I envisioned designing for people who work in big cities, places like Seoul or Tokyo, who also want to escape into nature after work. I wanted to create clothing that could take you from the office straight to a hike. A “new uniform” for people living in the city or anywhere else. That’s how I’d sum it up.
Let’s talk about the Salomon collaboration. It’s your first sneaker collab, right?
Yes. We worked on a version of the XA Pro 3D, a really classic silhouette from Salomon’s archive. I wanted to retain the original lines of the shoe while adding a spotlight to details that often go unnoticed. When I visited Australia, I was inspired by the cliffs’ layers of clay in different textures and colors. That natural layering became the design cue. We used embossed elements to recreate the feel of those landscapes on the shoe’s upper.
What’s your vision for the future of your brand?
I want to build something long-lasting, not trendy or seasonal. A brand that holds its own over time: quiet, consistent, and considered. I’m thinking more about the future now than ever before. And, also, we’re preparing to launch a second brand.
A new brand?
Yes. It’ll have a wider target audience. While Jeong Li is more niche and conceptual, this new brand will focus more on sportswear. It will be simpler and easier to wear: less design-heavy, more about comfort and technical function.
Why did you decide to separate the two lines?
I’ve always loved technical wear, but it started to feel unbalanced within the existing brand. Combining high-tech pieces with more refined ready-to-wear made it difficult to speak clearly to one customer. It made sense to split the collections as each brand can now grow with its own identity.
What excites you most about technical wear right now?
Honestly, I’m not trying to follow trends or make something that just looks futuristic. I want my pieces to feel organic and integrated into people’s lives. I care more about the relationship between the garment and the wearer than chasing hype.
So, it’s fair to say that you're more focused on authenticity and slow growth?
Exactly.
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit the HS Style Guide for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.
