By Honorary Reporter Minnath Azeez from Sri Lanka
Photos = Yang Cheon-sik

Born in Korea, Hanbok designer Yang Cheon-sik was adopted by an American family and renamed Jeffrey Van Damme, he was raised in a predominantly white area as an adoptee.

His designs are mainly inspired by the Joseon Dynasty and use Western fabric and trimming. Based in New York, he is also well known for wearing traditional Hanbok as everyday wear, including all nine layers of a traditional outfit along with the gat (traditional hat). This was the unique characteristic of this designer.

In a Zoom interview on March 20, he said that unlike the modern Hanbok often seen in Korea, his designs are a direct result of his experience as an adoptee seeking to regain the culture of his birth, find his biological parents and learn Hangeul.
 

"Wearing a Hanbok ticks off a lot of boxes for me in creativity, satisfaction with embracing my cultural heritage and avoidance of fast fashion," he said. "I also sort of inadvertently gained traction on social media and blossomed to what I'm very grateful for today in inspiring other Korean adoptees to embrace their heritage."

This Hanbok design was inspired by 'Sherlock Holmes' the novel.

Yang said he started to wear Hanbok daily after discovering a historical attire community on YouTube. Finding people who wore medieval European fashion had him thinking of the same period in Korea and the outfits worn at the time, he added, and this inspired him to learn more about the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). 

The designer not only dresses in traditional Hanbok but has also fully embraced the traditional Korean lifestyle, transforming his modern apartment into what resembles a traditional Korean household.

Yang Cheon-sik poses in an outfit at his apartment in New York.

Wearing a traditional Hanbok daily on the streets of New York is a challenge for Yang amid lingering anti-Asian sentiment; he is called racial slurs or people take his picture without his consent. Yet he said he remains unperturbed about wearing Hanbok.

On his experience as an adoptee, Yang said he feels fortunate to have had a loving family but that as an adoptee, he feels it difficult to ignore the obvious differences and his undiscovered Korean ancestry and that he wants to discover both.

During the pandemic, the designer has worked on his creations and built a significant social media following on Instagram. He has also connected with other Korean adoptees in the U.S. and engaged in a search for his birth parents.

On the prospect of opening his own fashion brand, he said, "I've made pieces for my adoptee friends for their birthdays, but I'm very (wary about) turning what is so personal for me into a financial business," adding, "I get a lot of requests but sadly have to turn them down because I'm not equipped at the moment. However, there is an interest and so I'd love to design for people proud to represent Korean culture and heritage.”

enny0611@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.