LACHICA's Shimizu Reveals She Started Her Shoe Brand with Just 300,000 Won on 'Point of Omniscient Interfere'

LACHICA’s Shimizu went from packing orders in a cockroach-infested room to running a hit shoe brand — all on 300,000 won.

The dancer and choreographer opened up about her unlikely side hustle on the October 10 episode of MBC’s ‘Point of Omniscient Interfere’ (전지적 참견 시점), according to a report by TV리포트. Cameras followed her as she juggled choreography work with CEO duties at her shoe brand, checking business messages first thing in the morning even while eating breakfast.

Shimizu revealed she launched the brand before graduating from university. “The startup capital was 300,000 won. I tried to avoid losses as much as possible. I had no money, so I packed the products myself at home. I lived with cockroaches,” she said. A colleague described her as the brand’s CEO who is deeply involved in design and marketing, and the brand’s annual sales were reported at 600 million won as of 2022.

Her designs have some serious star power behind them. aespa, IU, and BLACKPINK were named as artists who have worn her shoes, and her products are regularly used on idol concert stages. Lisa reportedly wore Shimizu’s platform knee-high boots at the World Cup opening ceremony performance at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in June.

Shimizu has also served as IVE’s performance director for three years. Junior dancers described her as a workaholic who sends and answers work messages around the clock. On how she works with dancers, she said: “I think raising the quality of the stage comes from the performers. They need to have a long career, so character matters too. I want to pay them fairly so there’s no hard feelings.”

These days, she is living the CEO life — her apartment overlooks the Han River, and her workroom walls are lined with photos of her LACHICA members.