ATEEZ’s Hongjoong on First Fashion Show Petit Coussin and His Style

For K-pop star Hongjoong, it all comes back to self-expression.

The 27-year-old rapper and producer is the leader, or captain as they call it in the group, of the chart-topping boy group ATEEZ. For the last seven years, he’s been at the forefront of shaping the group in their journey from the underdog group from a small company to global stars, topping charts around the world — including the Billboard 200, twice — and becoming the first K-pop boy group to perform at Coachella.

In between trips to Paris Fashion Week and world tours with the eight-member group, Hongjoong has come up with a project that adds another title next to his name: designer. Timed to his 27th birthday, on Nov. 7, the performer released his first fashion collection, Petit Coussin, or little pillow in French, through a filmed fashion show on the group’s YouTube Channel. The show — inspired by memories of childhood and broken up into four parts, labeled by the time of day — featured 24 looks designed by Hongjoong and modeled by an array of young models.

“I just wanted to bring my child side to [the present],” Hongjoong tells The Hollywood Reporter on a Zoom from his label KQ Entertainment’s headquarters in Seoul. The rapper, dressed casually for the conversation, is outfitted in a jacket he previously designed for himself.

Below, Hongjoong takes THR through the process of designing his own line, how his mother inspired the name and the collection and why he’s always working on new projects.

What inspired you to do this project? Can you tell me where this came from?

I’ve been to many fashion shows over the last two or three years. Whenever I went, I always visited the designer’s office or the designer’s workroom. During that time, I thought, someday I want to try to make my own fashion show too. When I saw their studio or workroom, I felt something deep. It gave me a different emotion than when I make music or when I’m on the stage. I just thought, I want to make my own clothes, and I want to make my fashion show too. I thought this was the perfect timing to do this project, so I began this year.

Hearing you talk about timing, I am really curious. It doesn’t seem like you and ATEEZ have a ton of free time. How did you find time to do this on top of everything else?

ATEEZ’s schedule is always full, but I have my free midnight time … Actually, everyone thinks we’re so busy, but I think I have enough time for myself. I don’t want to waste my time just lying in my bed. That’s why I [like to] try something and create [music] every time [I have free time]. This time, I just changed that to designing clothes. The [amount of] time is enough, I think.

How long did you work on it?

Almost six months. When I make music or other things, I start with a very small idea. I just make my, I love to make my dream bigger and bigger. I was on an airplane and I thought, oh, it’s a little bit late and there’s nothing fun in my life. Six months ago, [life] was just a little ordinary, so I wanted to do something very crazy. I thought this was the time to make my fashion show.

What did you do next?

Between the end of last year and the start of this year, I started going around to Dongdaemun (a well-known market in Korea for clothes, fabric and materials). I walked around and took pictures of a lot of things. There were a lot of fun and interesting materials that I saw there during my strolls in the area. I’d be on the plane, going through my phone, and then I’d choose a material that I thought was fun. I’d start from there. Since I was on a plane, I didn’t have a sketchbook or anything to work on, but I would take my phone and write notes on what I imagined it to be.

What about the sketches for the pieces?

At first, since I don’t know how to draw, I would draw something very approximate. Then I would be writing [on the sketch], this is the right, this is the left, this is where the bottom would go. When I was doing this, I felt the same excitement I felt the first time I started working on music. I couldn’t wait for the plane to land, so I could go straight away to start making them as real clothes.

Then, from the places I saw during my visits to Dongdaemun, there was a small shop with a very old grandpa that I called. I told him, I want to make this. I will send you a better sketch. That’s how it started, how the first outfit came out to be.

You’ve clearly spent so much time on this. What made you decide to go with children’s clothing for the collection and show? It was very cute.

Actually, that story, about the first item, I just told was about other clothes. I wanted to wear my clothes first. After I made a few pieces of clothing [for myself], I thought about making something [for others]. I wanted to go by step. When I make music, I start with making a beat. I usually make very minimal sounds to make it maximal. I just [keep adding] something [and] something [to the beat]. With design, it’s the same. I wanted to make small clothes first. The small ones need more details. I think that’s cute and interesting; the clothes are smaller but there’s more details. I visited Jacquemus’ fashion show in June, and the fashion show’s whole story was about Jacquemus’ nostalgia for the countryside he grew up in. While watching the show, the idea came to me. I remembered the shop where my mother used to sell children’s clothes.

How did you get the name Petit Coussin?

The name of my mother’s shop was Petit Cochon, but it was pronounced very Korean. I didn’t know what it meant, so I called my mom and asked. My mom said she just heard that it’s French, and it means small pig. I thought small pig was interesting, but I thought pig was not that good [of a name to use for making] clothes. I looked for a similar pronunciation, and then I found coussin (French for cushion), so that’s why Petit Coussin is the title.

It all seems a bit like fate. Do you think your mother running a store when you were young made you interested in clothes? Were you around them often as a child? How did you become interested in clothes and style?

Funny story, I never thought about it before. I never thought about the relationship between that. But when my mom started showing my pictures and bringing some of the outfits that were still left from that time, that’s when I realized. I was like, oh, maybe that’s how everything started.

Your style onstage is obviously more of a character you’re putting on, but you have your own unique style offstage. Can you tell me more about the differences between your style onstage and your personal style?

I think that’s the point. When I’m both onstage and offstage, I think that’s all me. ATEEZ has many conceptual stages, and when I’m onstage, I just try to show my captain image. ATEEZ has a very raw and rough image too. But also, at the same time, I just want to put my own character into it too. I talk a lot with my stylist about that. Offstage, I can express my own style, not any character. I don’t need to express that point too. When I go somewhere and am wearing my own clothes, I don’t have any plan for tomorrow or the next day. In the morning, [I think to myself], today, I want to wear this or I want to wear that. I think that’s my own character, my own thing. I don’t have many plans to wear my own clothes [onstage], but if fans [see what I’m wearing and] think, oh, that’s a little cute or that’s cool. I’ll remember for myself that if I wear that kind of clothes, I look cute. Or I look cool. Next time I want to be a little cuter, I just wear those clothes again (Laughs). So, I don’t [go into picking my clothes] with any plan — I like to express how I’m feeling that day.

What does self-care look like for you amidst busy schedules?

These days I’m more of a runner. I go out for a run and spend some time with myself outside. That’s not something I used to do, but it’s something that I picked up recently. I’m doing it quite routinely. But for the longest time, my form of self-care has been sitting by myself and making things, working on things and thinking about what I can do next. I always have so many plans. Sometimes I think too much, so I have to make something because when I’m making it, that thinking goes away. I’m always making something. If I don’t want to show it to our fans or audience, I just hide it. Then if it’s a good result, I’ll show it.

I can relate. What do you hope comes from this line and this fashion show? What do you want to do next?

I don’t know how many people know about it, but I did so many projects myself after I debuted. It could be my solo project, or it could be our group project. I did many things, but all of it was about expressing myself. This project was the same too. I just want to express my own sense of fashion and my birthday is so soon. I just want to share my story through my fashion or style and my own clothes. I think I want to do more projects about fashion because during this project, I was so happy with everything. It was so fun. I was so happy preparing this show, so I want to do more projects with my design side too. I think [my next project] can also be something else where I can express myself, like I always do. Preparing for this project, there were some difficulties and some challenges I had to face. Those challenges are something I learned from. I’ll also take [what I learned] to express myself onstage. That’s what I challenge myself again and again with different things.