NEW YORK CITY —The harder a place is to find, the more exclusive and hip it must be. Doori Chung’s clothing boutique, DOO.RI, falls under this category. Passing by the narrow, white brick storefront in SoHo without taking notice is easy to do, especially with the tempting aromas from the famous Sullivan Street Bakery next-door distracting even the most serious fashionista. But Chung’s sophisticated clothing provides enough eye-candy to satisfy and trump any desire for baked goods.

Self-described as an “introvert” and “tom-boy,” Chung allows her feminine and sexy designs to do all the talking. Time Out New York describes her style as “the old yes-but-no message that drives the boys crazy.” To this, Chung simply answers, “It’s just the way I design.”

She began to create her own clothes during her teenage years in Ramsey, New Jersey. “I was the art jock,” Chung recalls. Her first fashion endeavor took place at a NYC street market where she sold T-shirt dresses made from old, used Lycra T-shirts.

“They looked all mish-mosh. I think I sold one … and I think it was an exchange with someone else from the fair,” Chung remembers. “It was very awkward for most people. When they saw it, they were just like, ‘What is it?!’”

Doori Chung’s boutique in SoHo, named DOO.RI, showcases her latest creations. (Photos courtesy of Doori Chung)

Chung didn’t let that one flop stop her from pursuing her dreams. She took classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology while still in high school, then after graduation enrolled at Parsons School of Design. 

While at Parsons, she worked one-on-one with designers such as Stanley Herman and Donna Karan, who mentored her on her final spring and fall collections, respectively. But it was her sophomore year studying abroad in Paris that helped shape her design philosophy. “Paris is more creative. New York is more corporate-based. It gave me a strong sense of how I wanted to design, and corporate design is not how I want to go,” says Chung.

In 1995, Chung finished Parsons with top honors, winning the coveted Designer of the Year Award, and soon Chung was being recruited by many of the Seventh Avenue fashion houses. But she had other plans.

“I think I was so tired and so exhausted after school that I just did not want to be creative,” Chung says. “And you hear horror stories; I think I was really intimidated. People who worked at Donna Karan were like, ‘I haven’t slept in like four days!’ I didn’t want to do that anymore. I wanted a job where I would come home at like 5 o’clock.” She eventually took a job at Banana Republic Men’s Wear, but her stay was short-term. 

At the first ever Paper Magazine Fashion Mobile, Chung’s design — a gray cashmere dress (reminiscent of the Claire McCardell diaper dress) — was selected, leading to a write-up by New York Times style critic Amy Spindler. The article caught the attention of American couturier Geoffrey Beene, who recruited Chung immediately. During her six years at the couture house, Chung was promoted from assistant to lead designer, working alongside Beene as his creative director. The experience proved to be invaluable for Chung, who learned the craft of cutting and draping under the wing of a well-respected American designer.