Hi my inspiration came from the people live in 고시원 (Go Si Won), which is very small type of studio in South Korea. That type of studio doesn’t require any deposit. And it’s only $150 usd per a month. 고시원(Go Si Won) is normally built around certain area. That area is known as less developed part in the city. 

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One day I was looking at the art website and found out the photographer, 심규동 (Kyudong Sim). He is from country side and moved to Seoul. When he arrived at the Seoul, he had hard time to find a place to stay due to the expensive rent. Thus he had to force himself to live in 고시원(Go Si Won). When he first moved there, he was afraid to take out the camera since he was not sure how the residents would feel about him taking photos with his fancy DSLR camera. However when he got closer to the neighbors they asked him to take pictures of themselves. So the photographer started to take and got inspired by their positive energies and vibes. The photographer mentioned that people in 고시원(Go Si Won) have dream and live like anyone else in the world. 

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When I first read the article I was surprised that the 고시원(Go Si Won) residents have very positive and strong spirit. I thought they would be dark or even depressed. But I was totally wrong. 

 

After reading the article, it gave me some connection between his work and movie "Parasite".

It includes not only the contrast between the wealthy and the poor but also the common things as a human. The message was pretty clear, we all dream, eat, sleep and etc. No matter how rich or poor we are. Through out the project, I learned that I had stereotype on social classes, but at the same time other people have it on me. The thing is, we don’t wanna be judged in wrong way, but actually we predict others in distorted ways. 

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In design wise I wanted to include the contrast in my collection. As a result, the fabrics and materials represent the wealthy and the poor. Cashmere and wool fabric are for the wealthy class. Ripstop and cotton represents the less wealthy people. Also, the blue colors represents the blue collar jobs. On the other hand, white or off white colors are for the white collar jobs. 

 

The gold color block shows the strange, unexpected and unreasonable frame or prejudice that we put on other people or we got by others.

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When I was working on my senior collection, the Covid-19 occurred and my school was closed for everyone. I was living in a 250 sq/ft studio in downtown San Francisco. I felt strong connection to the Go Si Won residents since I suddenly had limited space to work on my garments. At first, I was disappointed and desperate because I put lots of effort, time and money on it. However, as I reminded this collection, my feeling had changed completely. No matter where I am, I can do anything. Nothing can stop me from doing what I love and dream. Even though, it was hard to communicate and get critiques from my professors via Zoom every week with limited facilities at home, it was memorable and more unforgettable experience in my life.