An interview with Park Jun-beom (Julian Park), CEO of Montsenu,
the First Prize Winner of Environmental Social Enterprise Start-Up Ideas Contest held by SK Innovation in 2019
Montsenu’s homepage: https://montsenu.com/

Q1. ‘Montsenu’ sounds like a French brand, what does it mean? We’re curious about how “Montsenu’ was founded.

‘Montsenu’ may sound like a French word, but no, we are a Korean brand and the name is also a combination of two Korean words: “dream” (몽/mong), and “new” (세누/senu). This reflects our dream of creating a new world where we can protect the global environment and enable sustainable creation through our technologies and design.

When I was a student at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, I attended a course called Environment Design, where I was shocked after learning how serious the plastic waste problem had become, especially the waste from clothing. That made me wonder how I could contribute to the creation of a sustainable clothing industry to protect the environment while still providing consumers with good designs. I started taking much interest in the plastic waste recycling business, and then after participating in multiple start-up ideas contests, I was able to create Montsenu in 2017.

Q2. Please briefly introduce the other members of Montsenu? How did you gather to build and grow Montsenu?

I, Shim Woohyun – our Creative Director, and Park Junseok – the Visual Director, all have great interest in art, architecture, contemporary culture, and social impact. Other members of Montsenu include fashion designers with abundant experience in Seoul Fashion Week, people who worked at the Korea Apparel Testing and Research Institute, and diligent fashion MDs. There are also experts with more than 20 years of experience in fabrics and materials, who are working part-time and sharing close partnerships with us.

Q3. What a great team. So how are Montsenu products made? What made them sustainable?

In case of materials made from plastic wastes, the process begins with waste collection. Directly collected plastic waste will be cleansed, and then finely shredded by the plastic grinders at our partners’ facility. The small pieces will be melted and compressed into plastic pellets, which are utilized as ingredients in a variety of plastic goods. After being shredded and melted again, they are spun into polyester threads.

▲ Montsenu produces polyester fabrics using ‘pellets’, the primary material for a wide range of plastic items.

Montsenu T-shirts and hoodies are made of PET bottles and cotton threads in a 6:4 ratio. Simply put, a single T-shirt reuses approximately twenty 500ml PET bottles. To make garments such as coats, we use factory textile inventory as well as natural materials such as cellulose, a plant-based polymer fabric.

Q4. Recently, the number of fashion brands that launch environmentally friendly products has been increasing in Europe and North America. As a Korean brand, how do you see the domestic market? What do people think of recycled/upcycled fashion brand like Montsenu?

In terms of market expansion and industry influence, I believe that having more upcycling clothing brands is a good sign. Aside from traditional brands, personally, I particularly admire and respect Patagonia’s ethos and philosophy.

In Korea, consumer awareness of eco-friendly products has increased, but there are still some misconceptions that clothes created from recycled materials are inferior in terms of design and quality to traditional ones. While many people have asked me why Montsenu products are not inexpensive as they though, I believe it is critical for consumers to focus on the quality of clothing rather than the price. The value of clothes that may be worn repeatedly for many years outweighs the worth of “fast fashion” products that are purchased for a low price and then discarded quickly.

About 65% of Montsenu’s fabrics are made from recycled plastic wastes, which necessitate waste collection and refinement processes, thereby our basic materials are more expensive than conventional polyester. Montsenu has our own competitive edge, which lies in eco-friendly textiles, excellent quality and appealing designs made by experienced Korean dressmakers’ craftsmanship. With such products, we would like to grow in both the domestic and international markets at the same time.

▲ Montsenu pop-up store opened in Gangnam’s Shinsegae Department Store on World Environment Day, June 5, 2020.

Q5. How is the business going? What are your plans and goals for this year?

Last year, as our brand grew in popularity among customers, we saw an increase in sales. Furthermore, through other events such as Korean President Moon Jae-in wearing Montsenu necktie at the 2021 Leaders’ Summit on Climate, and the fashion show that we participated at 2021 P4G Seoul Summit brought us unexpectedly big promotional effects. Such events has helped Montsenu garner multiple corporate clients.

In 2021, I also spent a lot of time considering where I wanted to take our company and what would drive its growth. I’m on the way of searching for the answers, and I think I’m almost there.

▲ (Left) Montsenu’s products were introduced at 2021 P4G Seoul Summit / (Right) The Montsenu neck-tie worn by South Korean President Moon Jae-in in 2021

2022 is a very important year for our company. Because this is when many thoughts and preparations for new growth and expansion are put into practice.

We will launch another sustainable fashion brand with a different target group, and a B2B division will be established to provide solutions to corporate customers who need sustainable products. In addition, we are currently promoting the brand incubation business of a leading domestic textile materials company in Korea.

It is also the year of promoting joint projects based on our B2C experience, excellent fashion products, and brand development capabilities. We are also preparing to attract investment for this purpose.

To sum up, 2022 is going to be a busy year for us to quickly seize the domestic market in B2C, while laying the foundation for overseas markets, and starting to stabilize the B2B business unit.

Thank you for sharing with us. We hope to hear more good news from Montsenu soon.