Our creative director Peter Ash Lee had the honor of lecturing at the Moonji Cultural Institute Saii in Seoul last week, as part of their summer series on fashion magazines. The class is taught by renowned Korean fashion journalist Hong Suk Woo, better known as the man behind street-style blog yourboyhood.com, and we were invited by Woo to talk about the joys (and challenges) of starting up an independent publication. It was interesting to hear the students’ feedback about Corduroy, and also interesting to find out where many of them buy their magazines from (it’s not the major bookstores). We also learned a lot about the distinct locality of Korean magazines, in comparison to magazines from abroad, and even though many of the larger publications produce Korean editions of their content, it was encouraging to hear that many in the audience would still pick up Corduroy, even if it wasn’t in their native tongue.

We had a great time meeting the students, as well as a number of local editors and industry reps in attendance. Previous lectures had focused on everything from Olivier Zahm’s Purple, to Tyler Brûlé’s Monocle, so we were thrilled to even have Corduroy included on that list, let alone be asked to speak. Thanks to Hong Suk and the university for letting us be a part of this experience. We hope to be back soon!