EST

2012

PHILOSOPHY

The direct translation of the word "bansuk" is ROCK from the Korean language. We wish to be the rock and foundation of fashion designers, both established and new. It is our moral duty as the next generation in the New York Garment District to keep work local and sustainable. 

INTRODUCTION FROM THE OWNER:

Hello, my name is Ji Ae Tina Kim. Just to tell a little background story of how I came to be here, I am a second generation immigrant from South Korea. At the age of three, I found myself in a new surrounding with new people who spoke a different language. I have memories of being taught how to survive in this new land by my father at an early age. He put a pen in my hand even before I knew the ABC’s and had me write out checks at the age of four! In retrospect, this pressure to live a well life in America has molded me to become the being that I am now.

In 2005, I was accepted into Parsons and graduated with a BFA in fashion design in 2009. All throughout my life, I’ve seen my hard working parents run multiple production factories in the New York Garment district. With employees of over 100 and spaces larger than a school gym, I can’t say I wasn’t influenced in my future career goals as a fashion designer by my parents. In the late 90’s-early 2000’s, there was a great shift in demand of garment production being outsourced overseas. Going from producing 10,000 units of jackets for large design houses like Ralph Lauren, my parents struggled to keep their business afloat when their units dropped to almost none. Many mass production houses closed during this time. I think subconsciously, this was when I made it my mission to keep the Garment District alive and work available locally. It hurt to see so many struggle for survival.

Upon graduation, I worked in a sample room as a development coordinator and this is where I learned patternmaking. For three and a half years, I found myself engulfed in garment construction, fitting the perfect garment, and managing client’s collections for their runway shows. It was a great time to explore growth as an individual. Soon after, I was fortunate enough to be in the likings of one of my clients, Suno, and started my next job.  I was sent to Kenya to one of Suno’s production factories and here I met Ruth (now my partner in our CBO-Community Based Organization) During my time at Suno, I was head of technical design, managed development and oversaw quality for production. Within a few months of working full time at Suno, I found it difficult to find good local quality for sample development. It was then, that I had decided to open up a Suno sample and production facility. This is how my first business came to breath. Originally, my facility was started off just for Suno but I found that many people were searching for good quality garments produced in New York. It was my mission to strive for perfected, high end garments.

Bansuk Studios became my life. The first two years upon first opening (2012) the facility, I found myself living in it. I was very blessed with amazing clients with similar business mottos of keeping work local and sustainable.