Global Brand, Local Production
AGO
0.1mm to AGO means the effort towards perfection
The CEO of AGO, Woobok Lee, expressed the relentless process to find the right partners who will realize the original design by the international group of design without compromise. AGO is a lighting brand born in Euljiro that means ‘old friend’ in Korean. As seen from their name, AGO sets out to create lighting with a unique design collaborating with internationally active designers as well as the craftsmen who are hidden in Euljiro. On November 11, the two directors of AGO, Woobok Lee and Mars Hwasung Yoo sat together with professor Jie-Eun Hwang and professor Hyungmin Pai at the AGO Lobby to share the journey up until the launch of the lighting brand AGO.
The scene of the talkWoobok Lee is a well known name in the lighting industry in Euljiro. With 30 years of experience in the lighting business, he always had the desire to create an original line of lighting furniture that he can distribute with his network and tacit knowledge of the korean lighting market. The experiences to collaborate with Mars Hwasung Yoo on developing a new lighting product, hosted by the municipality of Jung-gu and the Seoul Design Foundation, turned this desire into a realization that he had found what he has to do. Rather than enforcing his own perspective on the projects, Lee assumed the role of the mediator who provides the playground for the designers and engineers to work freely. For independent designers like Mars Hwasung Yoo, this collaboration created a unique opportunity in which the designers could fully maintain their identity and collaborate with a brand with the capacity to facilitate the manufacturing and distribution of the product.
CIRKUS original design by BYMARS (image: AGO website https://agolighting.com)Looking back on the development of 8 collections in 2 years' time, Mars Hwasung Yoo recalls that it was an “insane schedule”. In the process of going back and forth between the local manufacturers and the designers to realize the ideas and also develop the technical aspects of the lighting pieces, the input of the technical advisor Noh Heunggun has been invaluable. Mediating the prototyping process through Noh’s lifetime of manufacturing experiences in Euljiro, inspired the brand in the way in which they envision collaboration and craftsmanship. The process itself became the identity of the brand.
The gap that AGO aims to fill in the Korean lighting market is the absence of a design brand with original design that is reasonably priced. Born in the midst of the competitive lighting distribution market in Euljiro which suffers the stigma for unoriginal products, the brand aims to provide an alternative model for the lighting industry. While large brands own the manufacturing facility, AGO made the decision to maintain a distributed production system by partnering with a network of local manufacturers to ensure the freedom of designers.
With the launched products, AGO presented the products to the global market first, starting with the Maison & Objet Paris in September 2019, the Stockholm Furniture Fair in January 2020 and was getting ready to showcase the products domestically in Korea in the Spring of 2020. AGO has entered the market in the spotlight from the major market and press. In 10 years' time from now, AGO is hoping to become a representative lighting brand.
Poster of the upcoming talk (image credit: Sewoon Global Forum 2020)The Friedrich Naumann Foundation co-hosted with the Beta City Center of the University of Seoul the ‘Smart Rookies of Neo Manufacturing’ talk show series as part of the Sewoon Global Forum 2020. The talk with Ago is followed by the next talk scheduled on December 22nd at 4pm, featuring Enlighten, a company that is creating a system for electronic product repair under the mission to create a circular economy. The talk was streamed live on Youtube and can be found on the Sewoon Global Forum 2020 website: https://forum.betacity.center.
