Balenciaga is using the story of Jina, its Visual Merchandising Manager in Korea, to illustrate how mobility, mentorship, and cross functional development can shape a long term career inside the Paris based house. Shared via the brand’s corporate channels as part of a “Focused on Career and Leadership” spotlight, the story highlights Balenciaga’s stated commitment to helping employees “reach their full potential, challenge boundaries, and grow together”.
From Sales Associate to Store Leader
Jina joined Balenciaga in 2018 as a Sales Associate at the Avenue Montaigne boutique in Paris, one of the brand’s most emblematic locations and a key touchpoint for international clients. In that role, she built a foundation in clienteling, product expertise, and the house’s creative codes, gaining daily exposure to high expectation clients and the fast pace of a flagship store. After three years in France, she returned to Korea and was promoted to Associate Store Manager, expanding her remit from one to one selling to team leadership, sales performance, and retail operations in a very different market context. The move reflects the kind of internal mobility Balenciaga is increasingly leaning on in Asia, where it continues to expand its retail footprint and leadership bench.
Moving to Headquarters and Shaping the Store Experience
In 2023, Jina transitioned from the store network to Balenciaga’s headquarters team in Korea, taking on the role of Visual Merchandising Manager. Today, she is responsible for helping to shape global visual guidelines and adapting them to the realities of local markets, partnering with store teams to ensure that windows, product adjacencies, and in store storytelling are aligned with the brand’s evolving creative direction. Visual merchandising has become a critical lever for Balenciaga as it enters a new chapter under Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli, whose vision foregrounds intimacy, emotion, and the relationship between body and garment. By placing someone with frontline retail experience in a regional VM leadership role, the brand is effectively closing the loop between corporate intent and what clients actually experience on the sales floor.
What Her Journey Says About the Culture
Reflecting on her path, Jina said, “I learned to trust the process, to rely on the people I work with, and to know that the company will support my ambitions and offer opportunities to grow across roles and regions.”
Her story is positioned as a model for how careers at Balenciaga can evolve horizontally as much as vertically, with cross border moves and cross functional shifts seen as assets rather than detours. For a house currently reframing its creative and cultural identity, investing in internal talent narratives like Jina’s serves a dual purpose: it helps attract candidates who are motivated by long term growth, and it signals to existing teams that the path from sales floor to strategy table is real, not theoretical.
