[Power K-Women] CEO Kim Danha "Going into debt for overseas fashion shows turned into an opportunity"

Kim Danha, CEO and Hanbok Designer Danha
Blackpink Wears Danha Hanbok in Music Video
Financial Struggles in 3rd Year of Startup, Turnaround Through Fashion Week
Worked as Casino Dealer, Started Hanbok Rental Business with Own Designs
Registered Patents for Over 30 Patterns Using Traditional Motifs
Expanding Beyond 'Blackpink Hanbok' to Everyday Fashion Brand

"I took out a loan to go to Vancouver Fashion Week. I didn’t know if it would fail, but I went for it. After they saw the Fashion Week video, BLACKPINK contacted me."

For Danha Kim, CEO of Danha, 2020 was like a drama. Financial difficulties brought a crisis. The skies were closed due to COVID-19, and deals with overseas buyers were sluggish. In June of that year, after BLACKPINK wore Danha’s hanbok in the 'How You Like That' music video, 2020 became a crucial turning point.

CEO Danha Kim. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

The first quarter of that year was the toughest time for CEO Kim. He said, "There was only 200,000 won left in the bank account, and I worried about how I would pay the employees’ salaries." As a desperate measure, he launched a new product called 'Gungbo Chima' through crowdfunding and raised 45 million won. Having started Danha in August 2018 and entering its third year, it was the period when many startups go through the 'death valley' in their third year. He recalled, "I sighed with relief thinking that I wouldn’t have to worry about paying employees for 3 to 4 months, but if things didn’t improve after a year, I was thinking of going back to my previous job."

Miracles are not given for free. The seeds CEO Kim diligently planted became opportunities and sprouted. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, in October 2019, he took out a 100 million won loan to participate in Vancouver Fashion Week. It was the first chance to showcase Danha’s hanbok on an overseas stage. Having invested ambitiously, he expected great results, but five months later, COVID-19 broke out, and it seemed everything would fall apart. That was until he received a call from BLACKPINK’s stylist. He brought all the hanboks he had shown at Fashion Week to the music video set. CEO Kim said, "I thought viral marketing could happen anytime, anywhere, so pushing forward became an opportunity."

"After BLACKPINK wore Danha’s hanbok, the status of hanbok changed. It was a turning point that shifted the paradigm. What happens next is up to me. I want to dress more global stars in Danha’s clothes."

Before founding the company, CEO Kim worked as a casino dealer. Working nearly four years in a casino with strict hierarchy and requiring skills from numbers to service sense, he developed a kind of resilience. Casino dealers work in three shifts but can have side jobs, so CEO Kim ran an online hanbok rental shop in his spare time. As orders increased, so did his income. He didn’t rent out ready-made hanbok but rented hanbok he personally designed. He said, "I used to design by downloading jeogori images from Google and specifying fabrics, but after entering graduate school, I seriously studied hanbok. People around me discouraged me, saying who would wear hanbok if I designed it. When I first said I was starting a business, many thought it was just a way to earn pocket money."

Danha is not just a hanbok company. It creates various clothing and accessories using traditional patterns and materials. The traditional patterns applied to Danha’s hanbok and accessories are familiar yet new. They are patterns seen in royal wrapping cloths or royal wallpaper but slightly different. He explained, "Royal relic patterns have no copyright, so we newly designed and differentiated them and registered design patents." Danha has created a total of 30 patterns. The most popular among them is the 'Phoenix Pattern Ipmunbo.'

Jennie of BLACKPINK (left) wearing a pink phoenix-patterned durumagi and Ros? wearing a phoenix-patterned crop top and black cheollik. Photo by Danha homepage

CEO Kim, who enjoys visiting museums and exhibitions, often finds his eyes drawn to beautiful tiles or mosaics even when traveling abroad. The idea of turning patterns into fabric expanded into an intellectual property (IP) business. CEO Kim said, "Just as celebrities earn appearance fees, now patterns are earning money." Danha’s patterns cross multiple brands, including cosmetics, bags, character costumes, shoes, tableware, and alcoholic beverages. He said, "We collaborate with seemingly unrelated brands. All collaborations so far have been proposals we received."

CEO Kim is preparing for a new challenge. He has set a goal to expand the business beyond the label 'BLACKPINK Hanbok' into a fashion brand. Until now, the focus was on hanbok, but from next year, he plans to mainly introduce everyday wear using hanbok patterns. This is called 'Danha Season 2.' To revamp the brand on a large scale, he is converting to a corporation and preparing to attract investment. CEO Kim said, "Targeting domestic consumers limited growth, and in Korea, the image of a hanbok brand was strong, so it felt confining. Overseas buyers often recognized the vibrant patterns first, but from now on, we want to focus on fashion items that look Korean to foreigners but can be worn generally. I want to broaden Danha’s recognition."

"The space for hanbok professionals is too narrow. It’s hard to survive as a hanbok professional or as a fashion professional, so I had to choose a place with great potential. For hanbok to play a role as a part of fashion, it must achieve results in fashion. I want to create a brand that can be easily found overseas."

▶ CEO Danha Kim was born in 1990, graduated from Busan Gaya High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in Northeast Asian Cultural Industry Studies from Kwangwoon University, and completed master’s and doctoral courses in Costume Studies at Sungkyunkwan University. After working in a casino, he utilized his experience running a side business hanbok rental shop to found Danha in August 2018 and also serves as Danha’s hanbok designer. In 2021, he received the 'Hanbok Person of the Year' award from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He has participated in Vancouver Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, and Thai Silk Fashion Week. He is scheduled to participate in Milan Fashion Week next February.