Show notes
Delia was thrilled to sit down with the famous manicurist Jin Soon Choi and hear all about her journey. She takes us through her illustrious career from the early days cycling from appointment to appointment where she was named Bicycle Jin up to present day where she collaborates with top designers to create the looks for runway shows. She has worked with the top models, designers and celebrities, such as Karlie Kloss, Marc Jacobs, Phillip Lim, Tibi and more. As Bobbi Brown said herself, Jin Soon is a big deal! Jin Soon's hand and foot nail salons are our go-to spot for manicures and pedicures. Delia first met Jin four years ago when she was working on the Cosmetics buying team at Barneys New York. Delia got to go backstage with Jin during fashion week to the Tibi show where Bobbi Brown was doing the makeup. Bobbi leaned over and said, "Jin you're such a big deal" and Jin leaned over and said, "Bobbi, so are you!!" Jin Soon Choi is Korean and moved to Manhattan in 1991. She only knew one person from Korea and they turned out to be her roommate. Jin didn't speak English when she first arrived, so she had no choice but to work in either a grocery or a nail salon. Korea was similar to NYC in that she could freely walk the streets, there are four seasons and lots of Korean people & Korean food. She decided to stop working at salons and start doing home-service. Jin started working with a PR agency which helped her to get editorial work and start doing fashion shows. Her eponymous nail polish was founded in 2012. There are 4 nail salons in New York City in Tribeca, Lower East Side, Upper East Side and West Village. The first salon opened in 1999. Her husband is an architect and he designed the salons. She discusses how she got into the fashion industry, how she learned to start and grow a business & the process of designing a nail collection. When creating a collection, she starts with a theme so there is a story included in the collection. She does a lot of research surrounding this theme. Her products are eco-friendly, safe & healthy nail polish AND long-lasting. Since she has salons, she can ask her customers what they are looking for. Their products started with 5-free, now they are 10-free. Once the media comes out with an ingredient that is harmful, they reformulate and remove that ingredient. The shape of the bottle was influenced by her husband who is an architect. She loves the sleek, simple, modern and elegant design. She found the bottles in Italy. They custom made the cap as the same shape as the bottle. It has both an outer and inner cap. For her first collection, she named the products after classic novels. Jin works with select designers each season to do the nails for the runway. New York Fashion Week - have to go to tests before the shows. At the test, the designer has chosen the colors for the collection. The hair, makeup and nail teams meet with the stylist who is running the show. They narrow down to the theme of the collection and go from there. The test is 1-2 weeks before the show. Choosing the shape and color of the nails is all about collaboration. Jin's schedule during NYFW depends on the show. If there is a 10am show, she has to get up at 6am. Her days could end around 8pm at night. She brings 4-5 technicians for about 20 models, but shows with 50 models would need 10-12 people. Fashion week isn't easy, it is hard, but kind of like a big party with friends you've known for a long time. She has worked on shows for Michael Kors, Prabal Gurung, Tibi, Marc Jacobs and Phillip Lim. She has thoroughly enjoyed working with editors from Vogue Magazine - Phyllis Posnick & Tonne Goodman. Jin even got to work with Irving Penn before he died, with The Metropolitan Museum of Art recently had an exhibit on. Phyllis says Jin is the best manicurist (which is true)! Whoever has a basic skill, the older generation appreciates.