North Korean defector and fashion designer shares escapee stories through her colourful creations
Lifestyle / Fashion & Beauty
By Park Han-sol
For North Korean-born Kang Ji-hyun, her chance sighting of a foreign tourist at Paektu Mountain at the age of 15 changed her life.
What started out as a routine family trip to the mountain was the first time she saw an actual foreigner in the flesh. What caught her eyes wasn't his height or his unkempt beard – but his ripped jeans.
He must be a beggar, she immediately thought to herself, asking her father why in the world a homeless person would be walking around Paektu. Her father, after some thought, told her that the tourist's clothing must be a sign not of his status but rather his choice of style.
Kang Ji-hyun fled North Korea in 2009 and ended up in South Korea, where she studied clothing and textiles
- She co-founded social impact fashion brand ISTORY to share other defectors’ tales through decorative elbow patches
The fact that the ripped outfit, an immediate indication of homelessness in her country, could be a fashion item was a revelation for Kang.
But in North Korea, social and academic barriers as well as strong opposition from her parents prevented her from studying and charting a path towards fashion design. As her passion continued to grow, her eyes eventually turned to the outside world.
기사 더보기
North Korean defector and fashion designer shares escapee stories through her colourful creations
By Park Han-sol
For North Korean-born Kang Ji-hyun, her chance sighting of a foreign tourist at Paektu Mountain at the age of 15 changed her life.
What started out as a routine family trip to the mountain was the first time she saw an actual foreigner in the flesh. What caught her eyes wasn't his height or his unkempt beard – but his ripped jeans.
He must be a beggar, she immediately thought to herself, asking her father why in the world a homeless person would be walking around Paektu. Her father, after some thought, told her that the tourist's clothing must be a sign not of his status but rather his choice of style.
Kang Ji-hyun fled North Korea in 2009 and ended up in South Korea, where she studied clothing and textiles
The fact that the ripped outfit, an immediate indication of homelessness in her country, could be a fashion item was a revelation for Kang.
But in North Korea, social and academic barriers as well as strong opposition from her parents prevented her from studying and charting a path towards fashion design. As her passion continued to grow, her eyes eventually turned to the outside world.
기사 더보기