A floral quilted vest lengthy seen as an retro “grandma-style” merchandise in Korea — generally nicknamed the “kimjang vest” as a result of older ladies usually wore it whereas making kimchi for winter — is having fun with a stunning revival amongst younger shoppers as a classy winter trend piece.
In line with Naver Information Lab search developments on Nov. 18, searches for these quilted vests and associated key phrases akin to “floral vest” amongst customers aged 19 to 34 hit an all-time excessive of 100 the day prior to this. Naver assigns the height search quantity a price out of 100 to indicate relative change. After reaching 96 in December 2024 and dropping to zero, curiosity started surging once more in mid-October.
Search evaluation platform BlackKiwi additionally reported that searches for the vest this month elevated almost sevenfold — 699.85 p.c — from the earlier month. Customers of their 20s and 30s accounted for almost half of all searches, at 13.2 p.c and 36 p.c respectively, whereas ladies made up an amazing 84.3 p.c.
Analysts say the resurgence is linked to the rising reputation of “choncance,” a pattern the place younger folks search out rural-themed leisure, and “halmaenial,” a trend aesthetic that embraces grandma-style nostalgia. As extra folks undertake these retro influences, the quilted floral vest — as soon as related to older rural homemakers getting ready kimchi for winter storage — has reemerged as a trendy, ironic assertion piece. Rural tourism has additionally grown: In line with the Rural Improvement Administration’s Oct. 29 report, 43.8 p.c of Koreans mentioned they skilled rural journey, up from 35.2 p.c in 2022.
The pattern gained additional momentum after world Okay-pop stars akin to BLACKPINK’s Jennie and aespa’s Karina shared images of themselves sporting the vest on social media, sparking curiosity amongst youthful followers.
With the rising buzz, associated objects have climbed to top-selling positions throughout main on-line buying platforms. On apps standard with ladies of their 20s, together with Zigzag and Ably, the floral quilted vest constantly ranks as a bestseller. Costs vary from 5,000 received ($3.85) to 40,000 received.
The pattern has even expanded into pet trend. On Oct. 22, Korean underwear model BYC collaborated with pet clothes label Gaeryas to launch a dog-sized model of the quilted vest, which drew vital consideration at a Coex popup occasion in southern Seoul.
This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Occasions, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Occasions.
