The garment is made from a religious textbook, scripted in Hanja, a Korean writing system consisting mainly of traditional Chinese characters. Acquired in an antique bookshop in Seoul it presents a text by Mengzi a teacher of Confucianism and produced around 130 years ago.
The design is inspired by a traditional Korean overcoat, the Durumagi which means “closed all around”. It indicates a tribute to the female chores and the women who at the time led a secluded life in their dedicated quarter of the traditional house. Slowly at the turn of the century women appeared for the first time as subjects of social development, although they did not challenge the pre-modern ruling regime. Before in Confucian teachings, women were portrayed as the “defective” or “shadow side” of men.