Founders Sunu & Danny photographed in their shop CALE by Emma Lewis

The story behind the label began with a little girl growing up in Korea.

When Sunu was a young girl her mother and father (Eomma & Appa) had a business selling traditional Korean fabric for use in costume making. The distinctive silhouette of the outfits and bright colours of the fabrics made a lasting impression on her. Clothing swirled in Sunu’s imagination at this early stage and it was enough to sustain her interest through school and on to University in Korea. Some years later Sunu decided to embark on an MA at the London College of Fashion. This move to the UK provided a completely different cultural landscape to Korea and a fresh source of inspiration that would shape her future designs.

In 2008 Sunu Lee founded EAST BY EAST WEST with the name echoing her experience of Korea and England. In the early days of the label Sunu worked on everything herself, making toiles, patterns and samples before stitching the final garments and hand delivering to her clients. As the label grew Sunu began to source fabrics from further afield and to work with small-scale producers.

The company is now based in Somerset U.K. and continues to work as it has always done, with a love of natural materials, timeless design and quality. Manufacturing takes place with ethical companies in the U.K, India and South Korea.