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A design-oriented BG turned PE🍑CHES Universe from a South Korean car styling collective to a redefiner of young garage culture worldwide.

Learn how South Korean Peaches founder Ryo ignited young car culture

From insane visual references to turning car styling into a real lifestyle.

We went deep with the South Korean collective founder Ryo to find how leather design can drive car culture to more meaningful and contemporary places.

"Leather interiors are something that you see while driving the car, and it's the space where you belong to. They have a very huge potential for customizations or showing off your own identity."

They lead the expansion of the custom high-end appeal to those who once wouldn't feel embraced by the scene.

That way, PEACHES Universe shows how to go beyond simple machines to influence how we dress, what we buy, and even what we watch – after all, in cinema, they’ve even become characters on their own.

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METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - a blue car designed by Peaches with a leather-centered interior

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METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - a blue car designed by Peaches with a leather-centered interior

PEACHES, as a collective of artists, rising designers, and music video directors, wanna make it clear how they're gonna take the whole world through car styling, all based on their creatives' own visual references and upbringing.

"In PEACHES, it's all about the memories, it's all about that nostalgia that I used to play with when younger — that's why we work with a lot of references."

METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - a pink car designed by Peaches with a leather-centered interior

Having collaborated with anyone less than Peggy Gou, they manifest their passion into an established yet plural concept, taking reinterpretation as a motto for innovation.

“I didn’t want to appeal to the car guys or the car lovers, enthusiasts. I wanted to bring the car culture to non-car enthusiasts who were into music or fashion.”

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METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - a black and red car designed by Peaches with a leather-centered interior

It wasn't only Gou's McLaren Seoul that's been meticulously redesigned to enhance prime interiors and had features added to turn the wheels into a canvas for self-expression.

Takes such as Coke and Gran Turismo 7, one of PlayStation's flagship, have also been reinterpreted by PEACHES' insanely upfront taste.

Take a ride with Ryo toward @PEACHESONEUNIVERSE.

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METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - different cars designed by Peaches with a leather-centered interior

What was the spark that led you to create the brand?

When I got back to Korea, all I saw was the boring white, gray, silver cars on the road. We didn't really have the car culture at all. Koreans tend to look at cars just as transportation, not as a canvas to express their own uniqueness.

"We can actually pretty much kind of show to the new audiences that we're not into the car, but they can start thinking about how cars can be very cool to express ourselves — that's how I started Peaches.”

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METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - a car designed by Peaches with leather interior running in a tunnel

You've been bringing a huge amount of visual references and pop culture into the car culture. Can you share more of PEACHES' creative process?

We have about five to six visual directors who are into very different things. All the references are the mood that we are into. It's kind of a nostalgia thing for our youth.

When I was young, I played with a mini car from a company called Tamiya. It's a Japanese toy car company. So, I used to play with it, and then all the cars I'm buying now actually came from Japanese animations like Dragon Ball, or those kinds of things.

"I don't know why, but all the culture that I really loved growing up became references to me after I was in my twenties, after I had the ability to buy a car."

And one of the cars that I own actually is a Murciélago from Lamborghini, which is my favorite now. I used to have those posters on my wall when I was eight or nine. I couldn't afford it. My father couldn't afford it. But now I can afford it, thanks to PEACHES. So, that's become a huge inspiration for me, by looking at my old times, when I was young.

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METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - cars designed by Peaches with a leather interior

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METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - cars designed by Peaches with a leather interior

How do you see the expansion of the custom car community when it comes to high-end cars? How do you see these two things together?

In Korea, a lot of younger guys started buying cars. It's a social phenomenon. They are looking at Porsche, Lamborghini, or even more exquisite cars like a classic BMW or E30s — all in different colors. I see a lot of potential in this.

"I also see that a lot of the guys are going for customs now rather than just putting on new wheels or something."

METCHA - Peaches - South Korea - a woman in front of a pink car designed by Peaches with a leather-centered interior

If you think about it, the interior is something that you see way more than the exterior. So, basically, the exterior is for the other guys, on the outside of the car, by looking at the car.

In Korea, or even globally, I think people are getting more into leather customizations with buying MCM, Louis Vuitton leather, or Goyard leather and stuff.