OUR STORY
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Born in Australia to Korean parents and raised in the Netherlands, Ivory Coast, France, Chile, Venezuela and Korea, CEO and Founder of NABI SEOUL®*, Namju Cho remembers her mother always dressed her and her three sisters in traditional Korean hanbok (traditional Korean dress) on New Year’s Day and on milestone birthdays as is tradition in Korea. Year after year, no matter where in the world they were living in, there would be a picture of the four girls and the entire family of six sporting colorful hanboks as they celebrated the New Year.
Korean babies celebrating their first birthdays also wear hanbok and Namju (on her first birthday, left) was no exception. Although she was living in the Hague, Netherlands at the time, her mother went to great lengths to keep the tradition alive - complete with several kinds of fruits and a massive cake to substitute the more traditional rice cakes that weren't yet available locally at the time.
Namju has always loved the vibrant colors and beautiful prints and embroidery of the hanbok. She was inspired to start NABI SEOUL as an homage to the sheer beauty of hanbok and her mother (wearing hanbok in Chile circa 1982, right) who wore them so proudly and gracefully as a wife of a diplomat representing the country. She also lamented that most hanboks were left unworn and piling dust in people’s closets in modern day Korea. Koreans often got a new hanbok tailor-made when someone in the family got married and wore it exactly once.
She wanted to find a way to reuse these beautiful fabrics in silk and linen with gorgeous hand-embroidery and prints. Namju (in present day, last photo on lower right) founded NABI SEOUL out a desire to upcycle these precious hanboks and transform them into modern and chic handbags that every woman would want to carry. A NABI bag not only represents a piece of Korean history and culture but also a piece of a family’s heirlooms carried on for generations.
Based on our value of sustainability, we encourage anyone who has precious hanbok that they or their loved ones no longer wear to donate them. Please note they must be in good condition and reasonably clean. We will inspect them and determine whether they are usable. If we use them for our products, we will provide a discount toward one bag to the donor. Please let us know if you would like to make a donation of hanbok fabric via the form on Contact page.
*NABI SEOUL® is a registered trademark of Namju Cho in South Korea, the US and other countries.
OUR VALUES
Quality: We strive to deliver quality products using vintage fabric from traditional Korean clothing.
Sustainability: We were founded on the belief that reusing fabric for another use could reduce waste and help build a more sustainable world.
Diversity: We seek to build bridges between cultures by introducing Korean culture and tradition to customers worldwide.
Global citizenship: We build community among like- minded people who care about giving back and making a positive difference in the world.
Passion: We are motivated by a passion to make a positive difference by helping to bridge cultures, promote sustainability and give back.
OUR BRAND
Based in Seoul, South Korea, NABI SEOUL® creates vibrant, modern bags using vintage Korean fabric from traditional clothing called hanbok. NABI reuses these fabrics that would otherwise go to waste. It is preserving and celebrating cherished heirlooms for current and future generations to keep. NABI also works to introduce and promote Korean culture and tradition through its products.
NABI is a triple bottom line social enterprise that prioritizes People, Planet and Profits and donates a portion of its revenue to charitable causes. All bags are lovingly handmade in Korea by artisans who have been working with traditional hanbok fabric for decades. Every bag is unique and a limited edition because NABI works with existing material that have a limited supply. This means the designs will constantly evolve and some sold out bags cannot be replicated. There may be some imperfections because our bags are handmade by individuals and not made in a factory in a cookie-cutter way.
One of our core values is sustainability and we strive to minimize waste. This includes minimizing our packaging that includes a dust bag made from upcycled or recyclable materials and avoiding plastic packaging for shipping.
The NABI mark signifies multiple elements of the brand:
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Butterfly: an abstract expression of NABI's namesake, butterfly, representing transformation, rebirth and renewal.
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The initial “N” for NABI: the letter N represents the name NABI
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Sustainability: the symmetrical symbol of the N shape and butterfly-like mark represent reuse and recycling, the infinity symbol
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