Born to Standout

Born to Standout (stylized BORNTOSTANDOUT) was founded in Seoul in 2022 by Jun Lim, a former investment banker who had specialized in South Korea's cosmetics and retail sectors before leaving finance to build a fragrance brand. Lim traces his interest in perfume to buying a bottle of Versace Blue Jeans at a discount shop while at high school in Toronto; the habit grew into a personal collection reported at more than 2,000 bottles by the time he founded the brand. Since launching, the label has scaled quickly: reported revenue grew from roughly €200,000 in 2022 to more than €20 million in 2024, with about 95 percent of sales coming from outside South Korea. The brand has placed product in Harrods in London, Printemps in Paris and Dover Street Market's Ginza location, positioning itself among a small group of Asian fragrance houses with that kind of Western retail footprint. Lim has described his aim in interviews as building the most unconventional fragrance house carried by Sephora, rather than a conventional niche-perfumery label.