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How an Australian woman fell in love with another country's clothes
Miranda Day grew up in Western Australia with no connection to Korea. Now her work is inspired by its traditional clothing and is being embraced by the community.
Published 15 January 2023 6:33am
Updated 23 January 2023 12:30pm
By Leah Hyein Na
Source: SBS News
Image: Miranda Day with some of her hanbok designs. (SBS News / Scott Cardwell)
Miranda Day was always going to be a maker.
Born and raised in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, her father a sailmaker and her mother a quilter, she grew up surrounded by sewing machines.
At 17, she moved to Melbourne to study costume design at Swinburne University and says living in the city opened her eyes to other cultures.
But it was while watching a Korean film that she fell in love with traditional North and South Korean clothing known as hanbok. It is worn by males and females for special occasions, including weddings and Lunar New Year.
Miranda Day sewing beading on a top known as 'jeogori'. Source: SBS News / Scott Cardwell
"It was so simple but it had so much beauty to it … almost simplifying it down made it more beautiful."
Day decided to focus on hanbok for her graduation works but due to a lack of English resources on how to make them, she had to attempt it just by looking at photos.
Hanbok designed by Miranda Day. Source: SBS News / Scott Cardwell
"I realised very quickly it was very hard to learn about hanbok without understanding the language and culture," she says.
While studying, she also reached out to Australia's Korean embassy, the Korean Cultural Centre, and Korean studies academics for guidance.
"They were so willing to help. It was just a chain reaction. They introduced me to other people and eventually I met Sunok Yang."
Miranda Day and her mentor Sunok Yang at the Melbourne Korea Festival in 2014. Source: Supplied / Miranda Day
The two met at Yang’s hanbok fashion show at the first Melbourne Korea Festival in Federation Square.
"I was told someone would help me do hanbok fitting, and Miranda came," Yang, 69, says.
"I was surprised that [a] non-Korean came, and I was surprised more after seeing her tying such perfect hanbok ribbon, goreum."
"Making hanbok ribbon is difficult, and not even many Koreans can do it perfectly."
I was surprised that [a] non-Korean came, and I was surprised more after seeing her tying such perfect hanbok ribbon.- Sunok Yang, Hanbok designer
Day asked Yang if she would be her teacher.
"I was old enough and had been looking for a Korean successor but I couldn't find anyone," Yang says.
"At first I thought she couldn't do it, but she did it well. So I thought, this could be better because my wish was to promote hanbok in Australia and Miranda as a local might do the job better If I teach her well."
Through Yang's broken English and Miranda's broken Korean, the two women connected. Yang's techniques for making everything from a jeogori (top) to a chima (skirt) were passed on.
"Sewing doesn't need a language. It's the visual aspects of learning [that matter]," Day says.
Day went to Korea to attend a language exchange program at Yonsei University in Seoul and Yang took her to explore Gwangjang Market, a traditional hanbok market.
"I know it's not usual to pass on all that you've learned to someone who's non-Korean, but she was so open and willing to do it," Yang says.
In 2019, Day began creating her unique take on hanbok and was invited to a fashion event in Gyeongju, Korea, the same year to participate in a cultural expo with other young hanbok designers from the country.
She says she surprised the audience by showcasing her unconventional, contemporary designs with short sleeves, shorter skirts, and female pants.
Miranda Day's modern hanbok on display at the 2019 Gyeongju World Culture Expo. Source: Supplied / Miranda Day
The work Day unveiled also showcased native Australian flora and fauna, such as wattle and gum leaves, by Australian textile designer Reece Scannell.
"Traditionally, Koreans have a lot of their own native flora-fauna in the hanbok, so I wanted to do that with Australian designs," Day says.
Her mentor Yang saw the fashion show online.
"I was so moved that I cried. I have been telling people in Korea that I take pride in Australian designer's hard work on hanbok," she says.
In 2015, Day opened MiranDay Designs online, and now runs a studio in Thomastown, Melbourne, under the same name.
She makes traditional and contemporary hanbok for both Korean and non-Korean customers with prices ranging from $60 to $300. She estimates she’s made 500 hanbok over the past decade.
Despite not having Korean heritage herself, Day wears hanbok for special events for work, business and as evening wear.
She says this and her work are not cultural appropriation - broadly described as when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful or stereotypical way - because she has been engaging with the Korean community in Australia to learn about their culture, history, and language.
“The aim of my business is to share and pass on the knowledge I have learnt to others – both Koreans and non-Koreans – and give other people the opportunity to experience and learn about hanbok and Korean culture,” Day says.
“I am thankful to have had so much positive support over the years and I hope that through the work I am doing I can keep giving back to the community and to those that have helped me along the way.”
Miranda Day participated in the 2022 Korean culture event at Melbourne University. Source: Supplied / Dominic Mulligan
"Even in Korea, there are many attempts to modernise hanbok to suit the modern lifestyle of Korean people."
"I think making hanbok suitable for the Australian lifestyle and climate is a very clever and smart way of adapting hanbok for Australia."
More than 102,000 people in Australia were born in Korea, according to the 2021 Census.
The map below shows where Australia's Korean speakers live.
Ms Kim says hanbok has also evolved to no longer just be clothing worn on special occasions - or just by Koreans.
"As Korean culture gains popularity around the world, many non-Koreans are also very familiar with traditional Korean hanbok which appeared in Korean historical dramas and the music videos of K-Pop stars such as BTS and Blackpink."
Jihee Kim says Miranda Day’s hanbok are welcomed by Australia's Korean community. Source: Supplied / Korean Culture Centre Australia
"But also, I think a lot of Koreans are very proud of their heritage."
Korean-Australian Dean Kim recently ordered his first hanbok from Day for the upcoming Lunar New Year.
The 35-year-old was born in Australia to Korean parents and has never owned hanbok, although he wore a multicoloured one at his doljanchi (first birthday party) as is tradition in Korea.
Dean Kim ordered a custom-made hanbok from Miranda Day. Source: SBS News / Scott Cardwell
"Hanbok's very expensive and it's obviously a very good quality kind of material, but also shipping it from Korea was going to be super expensive."
This year, he’ll be sporting a vibrant hanbok made by Day - including red pants and a white shirt with a small yellow flower pattern and a navy vest - to surprise his 94-year-old grandmother.
He'll perform a sebae - Korea's unique Lunar New Year tradition which involves a deep bow showing respect to the older members of a family - and expects his grandmother to cry when she sees him.
Dean Kim and his parents at his 'doljanchi', or first birthday party. Source: Supplied / Dean Kim
Mr Kim says he experienced an "identity crisis" growing up.
"I wasn't Australian enough for my Australian friends and I wasn't Korean enough for my Korean friends, and at times I'd feel torn."
But as he got older, he says he realised he didn’t need to pick one culture.
"It's a special, unique, beautiful thing that I am both. I get the best of both worlds."
Dean Kim and Miranda Day. Source: SBS News / Scott Cardwell
Day hopes to expand her business in 2023 and focus on renting out hanbok to make them more affordable, with prices starting at $100.
“At the end of the day, it's about promoting and sharing hanbok, and that's what I want," she says.
Lunar New Year will be celebrated on Sunday 22 January. For more information and stories about Lunar New Year, go to
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