Lotte Holdings Appoints Lee Dontae as Head of Design Strategy Center

Design Management Center → Design Strategy Center
Establishing Group Design Direction and Strategy

Lotte Corporation announced on the 28th that it has appointed President Lee Don-tae, former head of the Samsung Design Education Institute, as the new head of the Design Strategy Center.

Lee Dontae, Head of Lotte Design Strategy Center [Photo by Lotte Holdings].

Born in 1968, President Lee Don-tae joined the British design firm Tangerine in 1998 and worked there for 16 years, eventually serving as co-CEO. Tangerine is a world-renowned design consulting firm founded in 1989 by Jonathan Ive, the chief designer of Apple's iPhone, and has collaborated with global companies such as Samsung Electronics, Toyota, Nikon, and British Airways.

After joining Samsung Electronics in 2015, he held positions such as head of the Global Design Team at the Design Management Center and head of the Design Management Center, successfully leading various projects.

Center Director Lee Don-tae is recognized as an expert with comprehensive theoretical and practical experience in design management, having worked at Hongik University, Tangerine, and Samsung Electronics. Based on his experience executing design projects in diverse fields such as mobility, space, and products, he possesses the capability to lead design innovation at Lotte, which has various consumer touchpoints.

Lotte expects Director Lee to serve as the group’s design control tower by reorganizing the role of the Design Strategy Center, establishing Lotte’s unique design philosophy, and enhancing the group’s design capabilities.

Along with recruiting President Lee Don-tae, Lotte Corporation changed the name of the existing Design Management Center to the Design Strategy Center. The Design Strategy Center will be responsible for establishing Lotte Group’s design direction and strategy and providing design consulting for key projects going forward.