GREATEST: Wook Kim

K-pop is not only a musical genre, but a visual one too. Behind each K-pop idol’s carefully curated image is a team of dozens of producers, trainers, choreographers and visual directors who masterfully orchestrate the looks and sound of the genre’s ever-growing machine. Key among them is the stylist, whose job is not only to secure and coordinate the best looks for their clients, but also to produce custom pieces for them and their dancers to wear onstage. K-pop styling is a whole other art form on its own, as Wook Kim, one of South Korea’s busiest stylists in entertainment, knows well.

Kim’s eight-year career kicked off when he began styling for boy band EXO, whose blending of both old-school and futuristic elements from the high and low ends of fashion helped propel them to mega-stardom. Kim, whose own aesthetic could be characterized as an amalgamation of punk and street influences, also works closely with Just Music, one of Korea’s most prominent hip-hop labels. 

It was Kim and his wife, fellow stylist Minhye Choi, who dressed the members of Blackpink in the Lara Croft-inspired ensembles for their “Kill This Love” music video. Kim also brought X-EXO—EXO’s sexy alter egos—to life in the video for their 2019 track, “Obsession.”

Kim and Choi invited GREATEST to their home as the couple and collaborators talked creativity and process.