▲ Chairwoman Ryu Byung-sun

Velvet is a fabric used widely for clothes, sofas, carpets and curtains. It is thermal, insulating, absorptive and abrasion durable. It was one of the materials of the costumes worn by royal families in the 14th century Europe and the bourgeoisie in the dawn of the capitalism as well as the normal people after the 19th century. But that does not mean it is worn daily by people today since it has luxurious impressions. 

Youngdo Velvet is the leader of the Korean velvet manufacturers. The history of the company goes as far back as the history of the Korean velvet industry and the chairwoman Ryu Byung-sun has led the business under her principles ‘sincerity’ and ‘value management’.

Lee Won-hwa (deceased) founded Youngdo Fabrics 59 years ago and achieved a USD$10M Export Tower in 1988 and built the world’s largest velvet factory in the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation Gumi in 1995. 

“Velvet was worn by the rich and it was difficult to care. It was our intention to break this prejudice and we have grown much today through our new level of velvet productions” says Ryu Byung-sun, the chairwoman of Youngdo Velvet. 

In 2012, Youngdo Velvet opened ‘Youngdo Dawum’ in Samdeog-dong, Jung District, Daegu City. It is a 3 story 1 basement building sized 4,297 square meter in total. Deagu Seomun Market has been one of the three markets since the Jonseon Kingdom and the city has been the center of the fabric and fashion industries. The word ‘dawum’ is a suffix in Korean used such as ‘ly’ as in ‘beautifully’ in English. 

Youngdo Dawum displays various product lines from beddings to clothes and bags and it also has training halls and gallery. People home and abroad pay a visit every moth and look around the shop and the café. Visitors are encouraged to try velvet clothes or traditional Korean costume or read historical information about velvet. 

“Youngdo Dawum is designed to symbolize ‘eagle’, a brand of Youngdo Velvet, meaning that the company flies high like an eagle to the whole world. Youngdo Dawum will play a role to draw tourists and to spread excellence of Korean fabrics to the world” says Ryu.Velvet must be dry-cleaned. Due to the fact that it is heavy and thick, velvet clothes are usually made for autumn and winter. What makes Youngdo Velvet stands out is that the company broke these drawbacks. For example, the company applied micro polyester to velvet that has unique flexibility and repellency. Thanks to this, it has no pressure or wrinkles and can also be washed with water. In other words, the material can be used for jeans, skirts and blouse. 

Currently, the company’s micro velvet is being exported to 40 countries in the world where the company’s 98% of the sales is generated from. Youngdo Velvet’s micro velvet is better called as ‘Three Eagles Velvet’ overseas by big brands like Giorgio Armani, Channel, Christian Dior, Burberry, Anne Klein and Ralph Lauren. Youngdo Velvet listed its name in the World Class Product of Korea in 2006 and achieved USD$30M Export Tower in 2010. 

However, the company is not only famous for velvet but also for ‘rubbing cloth’ used for TFT-LCD processing that needs to make TV and cell phones. Youngdo Velvet succeeded mass production of rubbing cloth in 2003 which normally was dominated by Japan and is supplying the goods to Apple, Sharp and some of the largest display manufacturers in China and Taiwan. 

Youngdo Velvet expanded its business scope by establishing ‘Youngdo Cosmetics’ in 2015 and launched a brand ‘Yeonvia’ meaning ‘fly high to clean nature’. It is made of healthy ingredients and offered at good price in technical cooperation with Cosmax, the largest cosmetic OEM in Korea. Some of the core lines of Yeonvia are Vita-C12 Serum, Soft Milky Essence Sun and Double Power Black Mask. 

On 9 November, 2018, the company hosted the 2018 Youngdo Velvet Fashion & Beauty Contest. Since its introduction in 2012, the event has been held with different themes every year such as velvet Korean costume, men’s wear and men’s velvet. The company also awarded scholarship alongside the Korean Society of Fashion Design through the 7th Fashion Contest in 2017.

The 60 finalists went through the 6 month training at Youngdo Dawum and were appointed as Youngdo Velvet honorary ambassadors who would spread excellence of the Korea fabric industry to the world. 

Meanwhile, Ryu is serving as the first president of the Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association Gyeongbuk and is exerting to promote economic activities of women. “The Korean economic environment is still harsh for women and many of them seem to be unfairly treated. So I feel, as a woman, it is my job to improve the situation.” It is also noteworthy that Ryu founded the Bogwangmyeong Scholarship to help students in need. “I want to grow the company that will last over 200 years and make continuous contribution to advancement of the Korean velvet industry” adds Ryu. 

追求不断创新的世界第一著名丝绒品牌“Youngdo丝绒”
综合性文化空间“Youngdo展馆”——韩国首家世界最大的丝绒专业展览馆

引领韩国丝绒产业发展的名品牌“Youngdo 丝绒”
这里有一家积累韩国独创性丝绒制造技术，深受国内外一流品牌欢迎的企业。话题的主人公就是今年迎接成立59周年的Youngdo丝绒。现在运营Youngdo丝绒的柳秉善会长是一位为了更加广泛宣传生产出世界顶级丝绒的Youngdo丝绒之名声，坚守在精道经营和价值经营第一线的经营人。她强调道：“过去人们普遍认为丝绒只是有钱人才能穿的服装，保管和管理不容易。我们Youngdo丝绒自成立初期开始为了打破人们对丝绒的传统观念而努力，通过公司专业人员们共同努力，生产出崭新的丝绒产品，实现了与世界的沟通。”

综合文化空间“Youngdo展馆”——韩国首家世界最大的丝绒专业展览馆
柳秉善会长于2012年在大邱市中区三德洞地下1层和地上3层，成立了总面积达1300平方米的丝绒专业展览馆“Youngdo展馆”。从朝鲜时期三大市场之一的大邱西门市场开始，大邱一直是纤维和时装产业的中心。在选址方面柳会长并非将Youngdo展馆建立在经济和文化中心首尔，而是成立在纤维和时装产业的中心大邱。从这里也能看出柳会长比外形更加注重内在的价值观。 
 Youngdo展馆展出丝绒材料的床具类和服装、箱包等Youngdo丝绒生产的多种产品，还拥有举办研讨会的会议室等体验场和教育空间，日趋成为走出地区和韩国走向世界的综合文化空间。每年都有韩国和来自中国等世界各国的外国人到这里。从地下1层的举办各种研讨会和活动的空间开始，到1楼的丝绒艺术店和咖啡以及在2楼展出各种时装饰品、服装、灯光、壁纸等用丝绒制作的不同主题的产品。3层画廊是综合文化空间，用作游客们体验丝绒和韩服的场所。柳会长不仅通过Youngdo展馆提供有关丝绒历史的资料和信息，还为众多艺人提供赞助，举办展览会，备受瞩目。柳秉善会长强调道：“Youngdo展馆作为地区纤维和时装产业的旅游景点，在招揽游客和向世界宣传韩国纤维优秀性方面将起到重要的作用。”

经过多年研究成功推出不起皱可水洗的微丝绒
丝绒是一款高档面料，所以在使用方面有很多需要特别注意的地方。面料容易起皱，洗涤只能用干洗。而且，由于纤维毛植入细致的织物特点，面料重量较重也很厚，以丝绒为材料的大部分服装都是秋装或冬装。但是Youngdo丝绒生产的丝绒产品是一款克服这种缺点的创新性产品，其实力已得到广泛认可。
Youngdo丝绒嫁接MICRO PET制作的微丝绒由于其特有的柔韧性和反弹性，不会被压或起皱，还可以水洗。借助于这种特点，除了较高档的服装以外，还可用于牛仔裤或短裙、长裙等便装，日益受到广大客户的欢迎。通过这种研究成果，Youngdo丝绒已向包括迪拜等中东地区在内的世界40多个国家出口自己的产品，销售总额的98%来自出口。公司的名称在国外也以画有三只鹰的“Three Eagles Velvet”而著名。尤其是，乔治阿玛尼、香奈儿、克里斯汀迪奥、巴宝莉、安妮克莱因、卡文克莱、拉夫劳伦等著名设计公司为了推出使用丝绒的产品，都在首选Youngdo丝绒，可猜出世界丝绒市场对这家公司产品的信任。

连续举办8年的时装秀，隆重举办2018年“Youngdo丝绒时装选美大赛” 
要建设成走向200年的丝绒专业企业
11月9日，柳会长还在HOTEL SUSUNG会展中心举办过“2018Youngdo丝绒时装选美大赛”。 Youngdo丝绒于2012年举办过的第1届活动是丝绒韩服时装秀，第2届为男士西装，第3届是为了男士的丝绒时装秀等，每届都选择不同的主题，展现出丝绒异彩纷呈的魅力，之前举办的2017年第7届活动中与韩国时装设计学会(KSFD:The Korean Society of Fashion Design)共同举办全国时装公开征集展，给时装设计界的后起之秀们授予奖学金，通过这种有意义的活动支援他们能够设计出更具创新性服装。 
尤其是去年举办的时装选美大赛，举办成40~60岁年龄段的家庭主妇等普通女性参与的选美大赛，最终被选拔的60名选手在正赛中推出了华丽的舞台。这是一次不是强调外在的美，而是以与优雅的丝绒相搭配的温暖的母亲形象为宗旨举办的非常有意义的活动。进入正赛的选手们在Youngdo展馆接受6个月的进修，Youngdo展馆为每位参赛选手单独设计了参赛服装，为她们的美丽增添了光彩。打入正赛的60名选手将被任命为Youngdo丝绒形象大使，为了向全世界宣传韩国纤维产业的优秀性作出贡献。
最后，柳秉善会长谈到自己的抱负，称：今后要为实现“Youngdo”品牌的世界化，构建“Youngdo就是丝绒”的企业形象而努力，向世界宣传过了200年也能健在的Youngdo的名声。