Korean top designer Andre Kim dies at 74

He had been rumored to be suffering from serious diseases but few expected that he would bid farewell to his numerous fans this early.

Kim was admitted to Seoul National University Hospital late last month and died at around 7:30 p.m.

Kim was born in 1935, the son of a poor farmer, and made history as a self-made fashion designer ? he held his first show in 1962 in Seoul and became a fashion icon in Asia’s fourth largest-economy.

He gained prominence as the first male producer of haute couture and the first Korean to hold a fashion show in Paris in 1966 when the country was still under the rule of military dictator Park Chung-hee.

Kim cemented his position as a public figure thanks to his major contributions to Asia’s fashion industry.

Thanks to his outstanding work in the industry, Kim was given the nation’s Presidential Culture and Art Medal in 1977, the first ever for a designer. In 2000, he was given a cultural award from France.