GA-MLE BAE

About

To Those Who Have Forgotten How to Loosen up

His collection critically reflects on his experience as a workaholic and serves as a message of consolation to those who have lost their sense of relaxation.

His journey began with confronting his inner anxiety, driven by relentless concerns about the future and a compulsion for external validation. This obsession with success led to chronic overwork and the loss of the ability to relax. To reclaim a sense of leisure, he created a collection inspired by the traditional Korean garment, Hanbok and its adjustable and ample fit.

The collection symbolises the transition from relaxation to self-imposed constraints through five progressive stages of garment constriction. It starts with the loosest state, symbolising freedom, and moves to the most constrictive. These stages illustrate the gradual erosion of life’s leisure as one increasingly constrains oneself. The most open structure draws inspiration from the Korean idiom “taking a breather,” representing an open, ventilated form that allows free circulation without compression. Historically, people would tighten hanbok ties while working and loosen them when resting, allowing for relaxation. In contemporary society, however, the competitive pursuit of success has led individuals to tighten their bodies evermore, forgetting how to loosen them.

The collection also critiques societal pressures. Five masks, each representing a different societal pressure—fear, honour, power, wealth, and appearance—highlight the forces that perpetuate self-oppression. By integrating Hanbok’s adjustable design into modern Western clothing, he aims to convey the aesthetics of tranquillity and self-contentment, advocating for a balance between motivation and the ability to rest.

• Email: garmlegarmle@gmail.com
• Instagram: @ga_mle