A hungry fox was chasing a rabbit. No matter how hard the fox tried, he couldn’t catch the rabbit. Even though the fox was fast enough, why couldn't he catch the rabbit? It’s because their eagerness was different. The fox ran just to stave off hunger, but the rabbit ran to live. The same is true of the situation of college students today. Some are constantly fighting with themselves to achieve their own dreams, but other people are leading an indolent life, thinking only that it will work out somehow. The latter isn’t eager to do something. But there is a man who designs himself with eagerness about clothes. This man is Lee, Hyun-Chan, a graduate of the Department of Fashion Design, Kyungwon University. He did all those chores at the fashion academy in the daytime and sold the clothes in Dongdaemun at night. After all, he was on a roll as a fashion designer. From now on, let’s go crazy about just one thing with eagerness through his life story. 1. Let me know about the work you’re doing now.

  I am now in the position of design general manager at the golf wear brand called ‘Arnold Palmer’. Simply put, this job handles everything that has to do with design. I am planning on color and design, and the overall configuration of each season from spring to winter. I originally ran an editing shop because I insisted on my own personal brand, but now I have changed for financial reasons. It is a sort of compromise with reality. I am still going on my way. That is, I place emphasis in the terms of my contract that the company does not get involved in my design process.

  2. I was very impressed with your different stage management such as ‘The Trucker’ and chef concept in the last Fashion Week. Where do you get the inspiration for your concepts of Fashion Week?

  I usually have a philosophy that ‘Clothes are eventually worn by people’. So I always start from a person in determining concepts and I plan designs on the basis of their job. When I was young, I was attracted to the grandeur of trailer trucks and truckers in magazines and movies. So 'The Trucker' was based on an imaginary scene of truckers getting out of grand trucks. And I added to the strength of the stage by using a real truck for expressing its job effectively. The chef concept was inspired by conversations with a chef while eating delicious food at a restaurant. I learned why the chef was wearing a scarf. A scarf around his neck shows, “if you do not like the food I made, strangle me’. I put a lot of work into scarves when I design the costumes for a show. In addition, I decide on concepts while recalling ordinary people who give me a good impression in daily life, such as climbers, anglers and so on. And I compose the overall flow focusing on color and accessories which can represent them properly.

  3. Is there a way to practice community service through the fashion industry?

  Of course. I have donated children's clothes which were made in class to an orphanage when I was a college student. And I was also aired on a MBC program called, ‘Let's praise’ as a good service practices. After that, I donated the pieces of fabric or fashion magazines to schools. When I was running a personal brand, I also sent clothes to an orphanage at the end of the year. Thus, service can be as much as you want as a kind of talent donation. 4. I have heard that even if a designers’ brand has an active market, you only earn enough money to prepare for a season and the profits are used to prepare for the next season due to the narrow domestic market. That’s why many of your juniors choose to work rather than to be a designer. I wonder if you would like to give some advice.

  That is true. However, this is due to differences in perspective looking at reality. Whether you launch your brand or even take a job, you are still a designer. It is not bad to join the company that recognizes the talent you have. The important thing is to make a clear decision about what you want. I think you should have a definite goal in order to succeed in any field as lots of talented people gather. When I was in college, I wrote my goal of becoming a designer in all my books and notebooks. And I vowed every day to reach my goal and encouraged myself while looking at it. I think the most pathetic person is he or she who just thinks of running an Internet shopping mall when he or she fails in just one thing. This is just escapism. You should do your best to be a 'designer' while having a clear sense of purpose.

  5. Many classmates do not know how to wear clothes well. Please share your tips for college student styles.

  The best way is to play a lot. When you spend a lot of time outside, you will realize what a bad dresser you are. The best dressers are people who wear according to a specific time and situation. Wearing formal clothes for an important place, and putting on sexy clothes for a club is the most appropriate fashion. It is necessary to understand the situation and its proper dress code. Clothes are a strategy as well.

  6. Please give us college students a piece of advice as a senior.

  I think that qualifications or educational background are not important for getting a job any more. No famous person around me graduated from a fashion design department at a prominent university. The most important keyword for the future is 'survival'. Having competitiveness is indispensible to survive for many people. First, your GPA is a basic. It’s like you need a spoon and chopsticks to have a meal. Then, it is important to enjoy food after preparing the basics. In other words, you need to differentiate yourself from others. I took day and night classes voluntarily and I used to come home around 2 am after doing chores in Dongdaemun market until dawn when I was a college student. The owner of clothing stores suggested that I work as an office designer and I was able to participate in designing and various collections since college. Thus, you can increase your value. I hope you guys become a person who looks like their wearing a 1,000,000 won suit when it really costs 300,000 won. "Survive and be a man of value" is what I want to tell.   Everybody wants to succeed. We envy socially successful people and we hope to be like them. Many people want to succeed, but they live ‘half-assed’ every day without a proper plan. Sometimes they put more emphasis on sleep and rest. However, a person cannot succeed without eagerness. These days we often see a singer who has been unknown for a long time but gains much recognition in audition programs, and we are extremely impressed by them. What moves us? It is their eagerness and desperation about music. Thus, eagerness leads to success which we have dreamed of for a long time, and sometimes it exerts a powerful force to move someone's heart. So what are you? a fox? or a rabbit? I hope everyone is a rabbit running like the devil for their long-term goal rather than a fox running for an immediate goal.