Korean sisters Jackie (left) and Lloyd Choi

"The British media tend to focus on the fact that we are sisters from Asia, but our design is a lot more fun," said the Choi sisters in an interview at the Design Museum London last week. Their design skills are well recognized in the design industry in the U.K. Guests on talk show "The Bigger Picture" on the BBC last year sat in a chair designed by the sisters with a back that looks like an eye, called, natch, the "Eye." They are sold at Harrods.

"So," a sleek turning clothes rack, was named Best Design at the 2006 Milan Furniture Fair, and it is priced at 3,500 pounds, a cool W 7.5 million (US$1=W1,224).

It has been 10 years since the sisters came to the U.K. Jackie (36), who majored in English literature at university in Korea, came to London to learn English in 1996, and soon found herself studying furniture design. The next year, Lloyd (30) also went to London to study fashion at Jackie's recommendation. Lloyd switched to industrial design three years ago.

Their hometown is Geumsan, South Chungcheong Province, known for producing high-quality ginseng. "We didn't dare tell our parents that we were studying design. We couldn't possibly say that as the second and third daughters of parents running a small shop in the countryside." But 10 years after they started out, the Choi sisters are now well established designers. "If you really like it, then do design," their father told them recently.

The Choi sisters are now working on a new chair slated to be featured in the Milan Furniture Fair next year, using LG Hi-Macs, an artificial marble made by LG Chem. "We would like to work with leading Korean companies. We would like to enhance the status of Korean designers by using Korean technology and our design," they said.

(englishnews@chosun.com )