Haenuli

Haenuli
Founded	2006 (approx)
Dissolved	2019 (partial)
Country	South Korea
Webshop	webshop
Twitter	haenuli
Blog	blog
Instagram	haenulishop
Lolibrary Link

Haenuli is a Korean indie lolita brand known for their original print main pieces.

Concept

Taking inspiration from fairy tales and fine art, Haenuli produces original prints that span a variety of themes and substyles.

"Using my name for the brand, I love to create lovely and elegant high fashion for women based on the Lolita fashion aesthetic mixed with a variety of unique concepts. All dresses and fabric prints are designed by me and carefully sewn and constructed by a team of professional seamstresses. "^[1]

History

Haenuli was launched in 2006 and continued until 2019 when the designer announced she would be stepping back from fashion designing to focus on other aspects of her life and pursue other artistic endeavors. Her shop remains open and sells goods featuring her artwork such as pins, prints and recently a novelty tarot deck.

"I am facing a new and important milestone in my life; marriage. [...] As this will be a significant change for me, I want to use this as a turning point to wrap up my lolita fashion business and concentrate on my new life. The dresses I have designed up to this point I think of as “Haenuli's Lolita Fashion Season 1” and I am afraid that chapter will come to an end this fall at the Germany-based Träumerei event this coming June. The wedding will change a lot of things for me and I wish to concentrate on it and step back from designing for the time being. I am an artist to my core and so I will be seeking new avenues to be creative, a Season 2, if you will. What that means, it’s hard to say as I’m unsure at this point. Making lolita fashion dresses has been my passion for 12 years and has given me so much joy and satisfaction."^[2]

Notable Figures

Haenuli's owner and designer, Shin Haenuli (often referred to as Nunu) is a visual artist well-known for her death inspired art pieces. Her artbook, Their Story: The Story You Don't Know was published in 2016^[3]. She grew up in California and was a big fan of Mana and Malice Mizer as a teenager, but cites fairy tales and musicals as some of her biggest design inspirations. Prior to launching her fashion brand, she spent several years working as an elementary school teacher.^[4]

The brand has collaborated with several other indie designers including Faco Dream, Marchen die Prinzessin, Mossbadger, Puvithel and I Do Declare.^[5]