Established in 1962, South Korea’s ILKW, with its incandescent-bulb-manufacturing facility in the city of Daegu, is a brand that walks the line between the efficiency of LED lighting and the beauty of incandescent light. This balancing act began in 1998, when second-generation owner Kim Hong-do inherited the family company and embarked on a singular mission to establish ILKW as a globally competitive brand, dedicated exclusively to this light source. However, the ascendant tide of LED technology and the imperative of global sustainability demanded a strategic re-evaluation, sending him on a quest to redefine the company’s heritage.

“I took a transformative journey, traversing the vibrant creative milieu of New York and the artistic lineage of Aix-en-Provence, yielding pivotal insights,” says Kim, when Monocle meets him at the brand’s Hoehyeon-dong showroom in Seoul. “I resolved to reposition ILKW as a purveyor of ‘artistic design’.”

The owner’s ambition was to evolve slowly. Initially, it resulted in a collaboration with South Korean designer Kwon Sun-man, who came on board as creative director of ILKW in 2014 and redesigned packaging for the firm, outlining the benefits of the glow of an incandescent light source compared to the LED lighting available at the time (which was particularly harsh and still in a relative infancy). Momentum shifted again in 2021 when Kim’s son, Si-yeon, joined the enterprise, ushering in a new epoch of marketing and operational vision. 

Under his watch, the brand launched its Snowman series, which delivers exquisitely refined LED light. Additionally, ILKW’s decade-long annual presence at Seoul Living Design Fair has cemented its growth from a light-bulb manufacturer into a comprehensive lighting brand. The Snowman series will be on show at Euroluce in Milan this year. But Kim is keen to stress that the priority is still making beautiful light, whether incandescent or LED sourced. “We’re committed to integrating aesthetic excellence into both our manufacturing processes and product design.”