Class Is Now in Session for Sundae School
On the heels of the release of the “Resilience” Fall/Winter 2024 collection, Dae Lim and Audrey Bark teach us how to take a break.
Sundae School is a set-your-own curriculum institution. At Dae Lim’s streetwear seminary, smoking is permitted, rules are meant to be broken and there are no Sunday scaries.
“We want everyone to just take a break,” Lim explains of the brand’s mission statement, noting the glorification of hustle culture that’s often present in modern-day society. “We want to give everyone the warm hug they deserve and remind them that they deserve to relax.”
From garments to gummies, Sundae School does just that, driving its message home via a careful interplay of Korean and NYC culture. Seven years into its existence, the brand’s mission has been perfected and packed into a high-quality salad of what Lim calls “tradition and rebellion,” one that aims to shatter Korean cultural stigmas surrounding certain forms of “recreation” while still honoring the heritage of its founder’s ancestors.
“We’re breaking some of the rules that our ancestors set up for us, but that’s part of the process. You have to break in order to rebuild,” says Lim.
This sentiment particularly informs the label’s latest offering, the Fall/Winter 2024 “Resilience” collection. With the assistance of first-generation Korean-American creative director Audrey Bark, Lim has leveraged his experiences to inform another striking delivery, complete with the revival of the label’s “smokewear” garments – referred to as “the uniform for recreation” – led by a reworking of the Korean hanbok, a traditional piece of clothing whose earliest visual depictions date back to the beginning of the Three Kingdoms of Korea period in 57 BC.
“The hanbok has to be layered a certain way, the draping has to be very particular and it doesn’t have any pockets. Girl, it’s 2024. We need pockets,” laughs Lim, electing to cover the piece in pocketing and add adjustable brimming. Similarly, Sundae School’s hero piece, the Dancheong Fleece, draws from ancient temple murals and has remained a consistent best-seller since 2017, landing itself a reimagined iteration in the Resilience release.
“When we started out, a lot of people didn’t understand what we were doing; a group of Asian-Americans creating smokewear garments was a silly concept. We just went for it and said ‘F*ck it. We’re doing it and we’re doing it our way.’”
Sundae School
Sundae School
Sundae School
Sundae School
How are you feeling post-London pop-up – your first pop-up outside of the U.S. and Korea?
Dae Lim: It’s so rewarding. I started this brand in Korea almost seven years ago and it’s all coming full circle – like, Audrey was our first intern in 2019 and she’s now creative-directing our campaigns. To see the evolution of our community internally, externally and internationally is special too. As you said, we’ve only done pop-ups in Korea and the U.S. until now, but outside of those two “Motherlands,” we actually have the most customers in London.
Why do you think you’ve had that global reach?
DL: I think there are two key factors. Above all, we refuse to tell narratives that are inauthentic to us. All the stories we choose to tell are based on our experiences – whether it’s as Koreans, Asian-Americans or stoners. But, more importantly, it’s the members of our community, regardless of whether they’re Koreans, Asian-Americans, or stoners, who have really trusted us and subscribed to our mission.
What is Sundae School’s mission?
DL: To just take a break.
“All the stories we choose to tell are based on our experiences – whether it’s as Koreans, Asian-Americans or stoners. But, more importantly, it’s the members of our community, regardless of whether they’re Koreans, Asian-Americans, or stoners, who have really trusted us and subscribed to our mission.”
Why is that mission so important to you?
DL: Nowadays – especially in New York City and Korea – hustle culture is so glorified. We want to give everyone that warm hug they deserve through all of our products, clothing or not, and remind them that they deserve to relax.
The name of the Fall/Winter 2024 collection is “Resilience.” How did you arrive at that title, and what does it mean to you??
DL: When we were growing up as Asian-American children, we often felt alone or silent. However, once we discovered our communities – be it other Asian-Americans or creatives – we realized we could be resilient.
Audrey Bark: That sentiment led to the one sentence that remains at the core of the collection: “Alone we are silent, but together we are resilient.”
DL: We’ve survived a lot from a business perspective. But, more importantly, the theme of cultural resilience is key to us. We survived the doubters and the people who didn’t take us seriously. When we started out, a lot of people didn’t understand what we were doing; a group of Asian-Americans creating smokewear garments was a silly concept. We just went for it and said “F*ck it. We’re doing it and we’re doing it our way.”
AB: I specifically wanted to re-create my experience as a first-generation Asian-American in the campaign video. When I was attending high school and college in New York City, I never felt comfortable expressing who I was until I found a group of other immigrants and creatives. We want everyone to know that Sundae School is a safe community where they can freely express themselves.
Could you expand upon Sundae School’s juxtaposition of Korean “tradition” with Korean “rebellion?”
DL: We want to honor our heritage while moving it forward. We’re breaking some of the rules that our ancestors set up for us, but that’s part of the process. You have to break in order to rebuild.
How do you implement this interplay in the Fall/Winter collection?
DL: In this collection, we revived our “smokewear:” garments we refer to as “a uniform for your recreation,” smoking or not. One of the key pieces in that line is the hanbok, a traditional Korean garment. The hanbok has a very aerodynamic silhouette, but it also has very strict rules regarding its structure; it has to be layered a certain way, the draping has to be very particular and it doesn’t have any pockets. Girl, it’s 2024. We need pockets. So we updated it, gave it a bunch of pockets and added adjustable brimming so you can control the shape.
Sundae School
Where did you draw inspiration from for the Duvet Puffer?
DL: There’s a phrase in Korean that translates to “Outside of your comforter, it’s scary.” Our designer Liz has these pleated bedsheets that heavily inspired the design. I wanted one thing for the puffer, and that was for it to “feel like home.” All I want to do is sit the f*ck down at home and chill. Stay the f*ck home. You deserve it. Life is hard.
The Dancheong Fleece, which draws design inspiration from the traditional Korean temple murals, continues to be a top-selling item – why do you think the Dancheong Fleece has been so successful?
AB: The Dancheong fleece has been our bestseller since the beginning, so we reworked it for this season. Dancheong refers to the murals in Korean temples; people typically associate the Dancheong murals with RGB colors, but there is actually another Dancheong style from a different timeframe that’s more toned down, and that’s what inspired the more muted Lotus Dancheong Fleece in this collection.
Sundae School
Individualism and community are two key pillars of Sundae School. How do the two connect?
DL: The sense of community in Korea is pretty homogenous. There’s a right way to do things. “Demure” was always a thing there. What we’ve learned in America is that community can represent so many things. Community helps foster that individualism and it’s through your individualism – your flavor, personal taste, stories and emotions – that you positively contribute to your community.
If I was a student in a Sundae School classroom, what would be the curriculum?
DL: The beauty is, at Sundae School, you can really set your own curriculum. Some things you’d definitely learn: how to grind, the art of munchies and maybe some K-Pop dances.
