As one of the pioneers of lifestyle hanbok, designer Hwang Leesle <황이슬> is constantly thinking of ways to re-innovate hanbok to suit the daily lives of contemporary Koreans. Her brand LEESLE features trendy yet comfortable hanbok designs, and is based in Jeonju, a city famous for maintaining rich traditional Korean culture. LEESLE has become not just the go-to-brand for Koreans to find casual clothing that embodies their cultural roots, but has also gained an international following of fans and customers from all across the world.
When did you first become interested in hanbok?
When I was young my mother was a seamstress and she would make hanbok for me to wear during special occasions. Every single holiday up until I was in high school, I wore hanbok that my mother made me. Other than those two times a year [Korean New Year – 설날, and Chuseok – 추석] we didn’t wear hanbok. But whenever I did wear hanbok, I felt really special and pretty- like a princess. It was from then that I developed my love for hanbok.
What inspired you to become a hanbok designer?
Initially I had never thought of being a hanbok designer or making hanbok. I wasn’t even interested in having a job in the fashion industry! Back then, my dream was to become a teacher. However, when I was a university student, we had a festival event and I decided to wear hanbok. Typically, I didn’t wear hanbok, but this was a special event so, you know, I decided to dress up. That day, all the people around me and my close friends kept showering me with compliments. “You look so pretty!” “How did you think of wearing hanbok?” I hadn’t received so many praises before, so I became really happy and from that moment onwards hanbok became a passionate hobby of mine. I began designing and sewing my own hanbok and uploading pictures online.
Five years later, I began wondering why people didn’t wear hanbok more often during our ordinary lives? It seemed like Koreans only wore hanbok during the holidays, but I thought “Why can’t we wear hanbok on just a normal day?” So I launched a campaign where I wore hanbok every single day. One time, I passed a young boy who pointed at me and asked his mother: “Mom, why is that woman wearing hanbok when it isn’t holiday season?”. I was so shocked and disappointed by his response, that I decided to alter my hanbok designs to be more suitable to our everyday lifestyles.
How did you learn to make hanbok?
Growing up, my parents owned a soft home goods store, making and selling things such as curtains, blankets and pillow covers. So before I even knew how to sew hanbok skirts <치마:chima>, I could sew curtains! I’d say since the age of 5 I had strong machine skills and enjoyed sewing. However, hanbok isn’t easy to make, and to be honest the first hanbok I tried making was absolutely awful! The sewing was crooked, and the overall appearance was a bit off. Despite that, I was satisfied with my efforts.
What was the process like for starting your own brand, LEESLE?
While I was making hanbok and uploading photos online, I kept getting comments from people wanting to buy my pieces. So, I applied for a business license and started selling my designs online. Sales were quite successful, but people kept calling and asking me how to find my shop and if they could come visit in person. I asked my parents if I could have a small corner of their store, just enough to set up a mannequin, and they agreed. Later we expanded into our current Jeonju flagship store, but even then, people kept asking if we had a location in Seoul. Rent and operation costs are a lot more expensive in Seoul compared to Jeonju, so at first we just set up a pop-up store, but customers came so frequently that it has now become a permanent branch!
What is the design process like for making lifestyle hanbok?
When I first thought of altering traditional hanbok into lifestyle hanbok, there were multiple factors I identified as being inconvenient or uncomfortable about traditional hanbok. First off, the material of traditional hanbok is usually silk, which is hard to move around in and maintain. So I decided to apply materials used on every-day clothes, such as cotton, polyester, and lace. These materials can be thrown in the washing machine and are convenient and comfortable to wear. Next, I wanted to alter certain design elements to make them more practical. Traditional hanbok skirts are so long and voluminous, that I’ve had experiences tripping over the skirt! I try to think: “What if hanbok were simpler so that people could wear it not only on holidays? What if hanbok was something we could wear while riding the subway or taking the bus?”
Some traditional hanbok masters think critically of lifestyle hanbok, saying that it deviates too far from the original spirit of hanbok. What are your thoughts?
To be honest, I don’t think too much about these criticisms. In fact, I do look at traditional hanbok patterns and have studied traditional methods of making hanbok. But I believe we need to make hanbok more accessible so that more people will wear and appreciate it. For example, traditional hanbok doesn’t have pockets, but does that mean that we shouldn’t apply pockets to hanbok? People have to carry around handphones these days, so I added pockets to our lifestyle hanbok skirts. Traditional hanbok also has complicated ties that you have to knot in a certain sequence, but foreigners might not know how, so I applied zippers to our lifestyle hanbok. In the past hanbok was also designed with specific jeogori and skirt combinations, but I design all the pieces separately so that they can be mixed and matched as the customer pleases. Clothing has to suit the contemporary times. From the Joseon Dynasty until now, many things have changed, so hanbok should be allowed to change too.
You mentioned that you have foreign customers as well. Where are they usually from?
We do get quite a few customers from other countries, especially in recent years. From the United States, are most common orders are from California, New York, and Texas. I guess there are a lot of Korean Americans who live in those places who are interested in wearing lifestyle hanbok. We also get non-Korean customers from countries in Europe. Most of our international customers order online, but I’ve had a couple from Poland who came all the way here to Jeonju to visit the store in-person!
What is your future dream for Leesle Hanbok?
Right now since our main store is in Jeonju, it’s difficult for customers in Seoul or who live in other countries to come visit. I hope that there can be Leesle stores everywhere. I’ve had customers tell me “Oh, it would be so nice if you had a store in New York City, if you had a store in France.” I hope that Leelse can become a global fashion brand.
These days if you look on the streets, you don’t really see people wearing hanbok, right? It would be nice if, one day, there were more people who wore hanbok just out on the streets. It would be nice if every person owned at least one hanbok, like one joegori and one chima. If hanbok were a basic, a must-have item. I hope that eventually, people won’t think of hanbok as being uncomfortable or inconvenient. My dream is that one day, both Koreans and people abroad all can enjoy wearing hanbok.
Research compiled from 2019-2020 Fulbright Fellowship by Ying Bonny Cai
Questions or comments can be directed to yingbonnycai@gmail.com
hanbok heroes 