HB20: Post Archive Faction, Where the Impossible Becomes Possible
In celebration of their limited edition apparel collaboration with Hypebeast for our 20th anniversary, Dongjoon Lim of Post Archive Faction (PAF) reflects on sticking to your guns.
The HB20 capsule is officially live — visit the landing page to see the individual shirts in detail, as well as purchase your own while supplies last.
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For our 20th anniversary, we’re honoring this legacy with a special curated exhibition. We’ve created a limited series of collaborative tees with longtime friends, creative partners, and some of streetwear’s most influential designers and leaders. Together, we want to reignite the energy of iconic graphics, logos, and messages from the past two decades — reimagined for today, and for what comes next.
In the following, we not only preview artwork from the upcoming anniversary exhibition, but also highlight the diverse perspectives of our collaborators whose insights help reveal the power of the T-shirt and give a glimpse into the past, present, and future of streetwear and creativity.
Post Archive Faction (PAF), founded in Seoul in 2018 by Dongjoon Lim, is a design collective that reimagines clothing through the lens of architecture, technology, and futurism. The brand is structured around “chapters” and numbered collections, like 3.0 or 4.0, that emphasize iterative design rather than seasonal trends.
PAF’s aesthetic is defined by experimental silhouettes, modular constructions, and a utilitarian-meets-sci-fi sensibility, often exploring asymmetry, layering, and technical fabrics. This approach situates the label at the crossroads of conceptual art and functional design, pushing the boundaries of how clothing can be structured, worn, and experienced. International recognition has followed, with features in fashion weeks and collaborations with brands like Nike that amplify its vision on a global stage.
How long have you been designing, and how long have you been running your brand?
Dongjoon Lim: 10-plus years of designing, 7 years of running the brand.
Our first post on PAF was in August 2018, featuring the “FW 2018 Collection.” What’s your first memory of Hypebeast? What were your initial thoughts?
Definitely the coolest fashion platform, around 2010 was my first memory of Hypebeast. Clean and well curated. I was so happy when I saw the first article.
PAF has been a mainstay on our platform over the years and remains popular with our audience. How have you managed to stay consistent and relevant?
I just truly want to be better and create greater designs.
How do you see your work — and your brand — still evolving in the years to come?
Yes, I still think that designing collections is not easy. It’s never going to be easy, and I love that part of the game.
We’re releasing 20 T-shirt collaborations to celebrate 20 years of Hypebeast. Graphic tees have long been the backbone of streetwear — what do you think gives them that cultural significance? How has their role in fashion and style changed over time?
I think it is a fundamental medium to deliver messages and express someone’s attitude.
“You will eventually see that the things once said to be ‘impossible’ turn ‘possible.’”
What advice would you give to emerging brands hoping to make a similar impact?
Don’t listen to other people’s advice.
What’s the number one lesson you’ve learned from running a brand for this long?
You will eventually see that the things once said to be “impossible” turn “possible.”
Looking back over the years, is there a particular product, collection or moment that meant the most to you?
On x Post Archive Faction (PAF), our first shoe collaboration. It opened so many possibilities for the brand.
Streetwear has evolved dramatically over the past two decades, where do you see it heading next?
Back to basics.
Can you describe the design you created for this collaboration? What inspired it?
It’s a tree made up of many “20”-shaped cells — a big tree called Hypebeast in this fashion ecosystem.
