Hi, my name is Lena Kim and I am the designer and maker of everything niceLena. I grew up in South Korea and most of my childhood was spent outside, surrounded by nature. Thankfully, my memories are filled with mountain climbing, rummaging through garbage, picking wild edible plants, building fires, roasting fish, and playing in make-shift forts. This need for imaginative play is the driving force behind my design process and I I build on those ideas with bold colors and patterns.

niceLena was born in 2003, in a boutique/gallery space called Monkey Business in Chicago that I ran with a partner. I had primarily been into painting and fine art up until that point and dabbling in craft projects for fun. It was during this time that we welcomed our first daughter into the world and like a cliche, everything changed. Parenthood forced me to adjust to life in new ways and how I looked at the creative process. These new changes helped me to harness my fun, short attention span brain, and childish personality in everything I design and construct. I believe in making art out of nothing and everything, so the possibilities are endless.