[MyDaily = Reporter Lee Ji-hye] Home has become a place to rest and recharge. From the moment you open your eyes in the morning until you fall asleep, everything you touch and see helps shape your day. A towel in your favorite color or a sheet of textured bedding can provide quiet, unintentional comfort.
One entrepreneur built a lifestyle brand around that small, reliable pleasure. The startup HIENO is led by CEO Lee Hyun-ho, who was born in 1992.
HIENO means “stylish” and “comfortable” in Finnish.
Lee said he wanted a name that captured Nordic sensibilities without revealing its country of origin at a glance. “Many customers ask if it’s Japanese when they first hear the name,” he said.
That ambiguity is deliberate. The brand seeks a name that can work globally without national labels, while the initial H gives it a polished sound. HIENO aims to fit in naturally anywhere without being tied to a specific culture.
Lee credits his mother with sparking his interest in lifestyle goods. She enjoyed making, buying and comparing everyday items, and that habit rubbed off on him. Trying things firsthand, judging quality and searching for better options became part of his life.
He has actively explored the lifestyle market, even rushing to the annual spring Living Design Fair each year. When he traveled to Japan, hunting for household items was both a theme and a pleasure. That curiosity made him aware of gaps in the domestic market.
HIENO focuses on items you use every day. Their first product was towels—things you touch repeatedly—and they make bedding, the items your body leans on each night. Rather than goods for special occasions, HIENO aims at objects that make ordinary days a bit better.
The brand’s color language grows directly from that philosophy. Reflecting Lee’s love of nature, the palette draws from the greens of coniferous forests and the muted tones of snow-covered European woods. The colors—Forest (green), Wood (brown), Leaf (magenta) and Sand (beige), blended with white—evoke the natural order where trunks, sand and foliage meet.
He chose the quiet beauty of winter as a starting point for that reason. Lee says he won’t chase mass tastes or pivot hastily based on others’ reactions. He refuses to follow fleeting trends.
HIENO is consolidating its current product line while preparing to expand into new categories.
Lee said he hopes to use this launch as a springboard to roll out new products quickly. “Making everyday spaces a little better—that’s the direction HIENO is taking, one step at a time,” he said.
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