BAZAAR Spotlight: Meet Lee Sung Kyung, The It Model From South Korea

Everything you need to know about Korea's rising fashion star and her best style moments

By Annabelle Fernandez - published 19 Apr 2017

In the first installment of our spotlight series on the movers and shakers of Asia, we introduce L ee Sung-Kyung. This 26-year-old South Korean actress and model has gained great success from both her acting and modelling career. Known for her gorgeous, round hazel eyes and porcelain skin, Lee Sung-Kyung has graced the covers of leading fashion magazines such as W, Vogue Girl, Grazia and of course, prolific Korean fashion magazine, CéCi. W magazine has gone so far as to call her Korea's answer to Gigi Hadid with a cool following of 5.8 million on Instagram (@heybiblee) — no big deal for this Seoulite.

IMDB-profiling aside, here are 5 things you need to know about this South Korean supermodel:

1. Lee Sung-Kyung is one of the first model-actress to be signed under YG Entertainment, one of the largest entertainment company in Korea.

While YG Entertainment is known for churning out k-pop idols that reach international fame (eg. Big Bang, 2NE1, Psy and more), Lee Sung-Kyung was one of the first model additions to the YG family. Granted YG also has a host of internationally renowned Korean actors & actresses under them. Upon signing with the media giant, Sung-Kyung has started starring in more drama roles such as "Cheese In The Trap" and "Queen's Flower".

2. Her first leading role was in the popular drama titled "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo" gained her international Hallyu status.

In the drama, Sung-Kyung plays a female Olympic weightlifting champion. She gained weight specifically for the role, in order to portray a more realistic physique of a weightlifter, which was very Christian Bale of her indeed and showcases her dedication to the role.

3. Besides her modelesque physique, she started gaining popularity long before thanks to her unique hazel eyes.

Even before the start of her modeling career, Sung-Kyung was what Koreans call an "Ulzzang", which literally translates to "best face" but is local lingo for good-looking people who are famous simply for their good looks. This is a common thing in Korea which has the highest amount of active social media users in the world. One of the (many) reasons is her mesmerizing eyes which later became what she was most known for.

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4. Despite the tomboyish characters she plays, her off-duty style is actually very feminine and clean-cut.

Sung-kyung seems to be a fan of berets and floral prints. Her style is consists of a mix between innocent and sexy. For instance, pairing a floral print dress with thigh high boots, an effortless red lip and tousled hair. She also plays with the balance of tom boy and girly by wearing sporty tees with dainty heels. Thus, she never goes full-on tomboy or sexy siren, but instead always balances those types of outfits with more feminine pieces. Looks like Sung-kyung is a girly girl after all!

5. Sung-kyung's signature makeup look is all about the eyes and lips.

The model/actress can always be seen rocking not a stitch of makeup on most days. When she does decide to put on makeup, she usually places emphasis her strongest features - her eyes and lips. Sung-kyung, like most Koreans, love lip tints, particularly matte ones in shades of coral and red. Her everyday makeup consists of a youthful ombre lip and blush. On special occasions, Sung-kyung will often sport a bold lip, usually a red and a smokey eye as well. Just like her off-duty style, she switches from innocent to vampy vixen from time to time.

By Hanan Haddad