Kang Seung-Hyun South Korean Actress From Seoul

Early life

Kang Seung-hyun was born on 22 September 1987 in Seoul, South Korea. She is also known professionally as Hyoni Kang. She studied at Dongduk Women's University before her modelling career took off.

Career

Kang's career in fashion began on the runway. In February 2008 she opened the autumn show of the designer 3.1 Phillip Lim in New York City, which marked her formal debut as a model. Later that year she opened the spring show for Trovata and closed the spring show for Nanette Lepore, and she also walked for DKNY, Halston and Michael Kors. In February 2009 her schedule included Badgley Mischka, Tory Burch, Roksanda Ilincic and House of Holland in New York and London. In February 2010 she opened the autumn shows for Maria Cornejo and Osman Yousefzada, and closed for Karen Walker and Amanda Wakeley.

Magazine work followed the runway shows. In April 2008 she was on the cover of the South Korean edition of Vogue, her first major cover. In July of that year she was photographed for an editorial in V magazine, styled in Gucci, and in August she appeared in Teen Vogue. She was in a Marie Claire editorial in July 2010 and in Vogue China in March, September and October 2011. In September 2014 she signed a contract with the agency YG KPLUS.

Kang also moved into business and design. In December 2009 she launched a vintage fashion label, Reborn Process, together with the stylist Yoon Ae-ri, whom she met at a modelling competition, and the photographer and film-maker Lee Jun-yeop. The brand opened its shop before preparing a first collection, then redesigned and remade pieces sourced mainly from thrift stores in Los Angeles, San Diego and New York. Her boutique is located in SoHo, New York.

As a designer she worked with the South Korean brand Love Cat on a handbag line under the name Hyoni-line, with a limited-edition bag released in September 2011. In April 2013 it was announced that she would produce another handbag line with the brand Lapalette, scheduled for release in June of that year and sold through the company's website.

Her work in media includes a fashion film series, Hyoni TV, which she wrote, directed, produced and hosted from May 2012. It was filmed in New York and covered the city's street style and styling advice, and featured guests from the fashion world such as the Teen Vogue editor Eva Chen and the model Shu Pei Qin. In February 2013 she became the main host of the South Korean fashion programme Get It Style. Planned for four episodes, it was extended by six more because of its popularity. She also hosted the sixth season of Trend Report Feel from New York and made guest appearances on Infinite Challenge in December 2009 and on Running Man in July 2014.

Recognition

In 2008, at the age of nineteen, Kang won the Ford Models Model of the World competition, becoming the first Asian model to take the title. The same year she made her runway debut in New York, which brought her early international exposure.

Public roles

Kang has worked as an entrepreneur and as a television host in addition to modelling. She is described in her profile as the co-founder of Reborn Process, a designer for Love Cat and Lapalette, and the host of Get It Style and Hyoni TV.