design:retail - September/October 2019 - 43

EESUN KIM
was born a creative spirit. Raised
in an artistic
environment-her
father a wood
sculptor and her
mother a Korean traditional floral artist-her soul has
been nurtured by art and creativity her entire life.
From the beginning, she was driven by a hunger for
creative expression.
Surrounded by flowers and art, she grew up expressing her visions through drawings and objects,
a student of fine art. While it offered an outlet for
self-expression, Kim found designing for an enduser more meaningful. She pursued a furniture
design degree at Hongik University in Seoul, South
Korea, but her time spent working with Poongjin
Interior Design confirmed a path in architecture
and interior design was the right creative outlet. To
deepen her knowledge, further her career and provide clarity to her creative vision, she moved to San
Francisco. After receiving her Master of Fine Arts
in Architecture and Interior Design from the Academy of Art University, she headed to New York to
join Walker Group CNI, where she was exposed to
international projects and highly conceptual work.
As FRCH NELSON started to expand its business
with international retailers, Kim was the perfect
addition to the team. Her global market experiences have included starting Lotte and Hyundai
in Korea; expanding to Mexico through Liverpool;
working in Saudi Arabia with Avanti; in Canada
through Hudson's Bay Co.; as well as work in Central America and China. Kim also helped secure
domestic clients, such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Calvin
Klein and Macy's.
"Working at FRCH NELSON and designing retail
were the only two things I hadn't really planned
in my career," Kim says. "It was a surprise in my
life, and truly a blessing. I immediately fell in
love with retail, my clients and my peers. My life
at FRCH NELSON has been a fast and thrilling
experience. And finally, I no longer feel a hunger for
creative expression."
Her hunger is satisfied because she believes retail environments promote an endless conversation
between spaces and users. Kim also believes the
industry encourages an inclusive culture and celebrates innovation. "I think being a retail designer

requires a certain restlessness," Kim says. "My role
is about pushing boundaries as a creative and being
a cultural leader."
"Heesun always looks for what's next, as she
possesses a true world view of design, art and
creativity, and she is never shy about pushing her
point of view," says Paul Lechleiter, chief creative
officer of FRCH NELSON. "[She] has a level of global
experience and success in the retail design industry
like few others. Her work is inspiring to all who experience it and her influence on her team, our firm
and the industry continues to be a source of energy
and innovation."
Kim credits her parents as inspirational mentors. Due to their artistic influence, she sees herself
as a sculptor in her own right. "Just as my father
sculpted material, I am shaping space and the environment," she explains. "While I learned about
form, texture, materiality and how to dream from
my father, my mother taught me about how humans translate nature into an art form by adopting
all five senses. That is why my design process still
starts from emotion."

The Creative Spirit
In addition to her parents, Kim is thankful to an
industry full of mentors, both clients and peers.
She is grateful to her husband, Young Park, vice
president of FRCH NELSON, for giving her endless
support as a life partner while also helping her to
push her creative boundaries. And she feels blessed
every day to work with Lechleiter and all of her
FRCH NELSON peers. "They truly inspire me every
day and surprise me at every corner." Kim says.
She also appreciates the opportunities afforded to her by long-term clients. "They guided me
through their brand vision and believed in me.
They created so many opportunities for me to
express my vision for their stores and brands,"
Kim adds.
As Kim delves into the visionary design process,
she gains inspiration from the world around her. It
can sometimes come by surprise, but it often comes
through memories, feelings and senses. She likes to
use these memories to fill spaces with stories.

"As soon as I receive a creative opportunity, I start
to dream about possibilities and create stories. It is
the process of giving meaning to my designs," Kim
describes. "I push to have a meaning and a reason
behind every idea, and to create a story I can share
with the user-a story that connects them with
the space."
While she knows design based on data and
strategy can result in consumer transactions, she
believes in deeper emotional connections. "My
passion is to create an environment where the customer can feel the space, not just see it," Kim says.
This passion has resulted in success for numerous brands and retailers, and Kim has earned
recognition for her project work with lists of
awards and feature articles. The award-winning
Saks Fifth Avenue Toronto clearly represents
the poeticism of her work. As the introduction of Saks into the Canadian market, it was
important for the store to develop a local connection. By taking a gallery-like approach to
the environment, artistic settings were created
on each floor. The team tapped into a pool of local collaborators and drew inspiration from
Toronto's natural and artistic local heritage.
"We developed three nature-inspired design
stories to create a poetic rhythm between floors,"
Kim describes. "The artistic setting provides an
elegant backdrop for the luxury merchandise and
the visual transparency achieved subtly guides, or
rather entices, shoppers from space to space." This
is just one example of her sculptor roots, how Kim
continuously carves a space until it is perfectly
expressed for the customer.
Kim is proud to have retail design as her form
of artistic expression and sees retail experiences
as a social platform for the brand, customer and
culture. "I believe that a physical store has a powerful ability to move, control and influence cultures,
customers' minds and their emotions, just like an
artist," Kim says.
As for the future of retail, Kim is very excited
about the ongoing cultural trend of blurring the
lines between different environments. "I am ready
for the challenge of mixing various businesses,"
she says. "We can be curators, not just designers,
who can fulfill social expectations and cultural
needs. My consistent mission will be figuring out
how to express visions through brick and mortar,
so retail can be a cultural center."

design:retail - September/October 2019

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