A native Brazilian of Korean heritage, Jussara Lee moved to New York City in 1987 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Upon graduation, she launched her namesake label, landing at Bergdorf Goodman and other prominent retail stores worldwide. Overwhelmed by the environmental plunder of clothes production, she started to downsize her business in the early 2000s, shifting from wholesale to bespoke. Presently, she defers to “Hand Me Up”, a design collective that employs artisanal approaches and zero-waste techniques, to fulfill her clients’ wardrobe needs and give existing clothes a new life. She has recently teamed up with designers Huma Zille and Pouleena Kumar to launch Couture Trash, a collection made of plastic discards that challenges conventional ideas of luxury and prioritizes the natural world.