Supplier To The Stars

For decades Kenny Park has quietly made the pricey handbags that famous labels sell around the world. Today he’s a billionaire.

- Grace Chung

After toiling for a month in a hot and crowded Seoul factory, it seemed like a slam dunk. But Kenny Park was crushed as his pitch to two fashion executives was going nowhere. He had just started a company to make handbags and had flown to New York for the meeting. “They wouldn’t look me in the eye,” he says. “They said, ‘Kenny, I’m sorry, but we spoke with sales and marketing. Their opinion is that customers who buy Donna Karan aren’t interested in 30% off—if it’s made in Korea.’ ”

The executives had been intrigued by the idea of producing Donna Karan handbags at a much lower cost. “They were so impressed” by his samples, says Park. But it was 1988, luxury handbags were produced mostly in Europe, and for many consumers, the Made in Korea label meant lower quality. Undeterred, he called back two days later. “I told them I don’t have an M.B.A. I don’t have any expertise in business, but I know the three essences of merchandising: well-designed, well-made, well-priced. It doesn’t have to be me, but you need to prepare. You need a base in Asia.”

He proposed a deal. “A couple hundred pieces, just a test. If it doesn’t work you’re not going to be burned and my company won’t go bankrupt. Fortunately it worked … it really worked.” The first order for 240 Donna Karan handbags sold out. A second order of 600 sold out; 3,000 bags, gone. Within nine months Donna Karan had deployed a designer to Seoul to help create a new handbag for Park to make. In its first full year, his contract manufacturer, Simone Accessory, reaped $4 million in revenue and was already in the black, thanks also to another American customer, Esprit, which had signed on a few months earlier.