How Andersson Bell built a global cult brand between Stockholm and Seoul – GQ
Mon 25 Nov
By Mahalia Chang | Photo Courtesy of Andersson Bell
It started in Stockholm. Which, admittedly, is a strange place for a South Korean brand to begin. And certainly a way away for Dohun Kim, the designer behind Andersson Bell.
"Andersson Bell was born as a love letter to duality."
Dohun Kim, Creative Director of Andersson Bell
Growing up in Gwangju, in the southwest corner of the country where tree-topped hills rise through the gaps between towering residential buildings, Kim blew from there to Seoul. He cut his own clothes, scoured vintage markets for treasures, and switched his artistic major three times across two universities. But it wasn’t sweeping Gwangju, or the blinding energy of Seoul — it was the Swedish capital that unlocked it all.
In Stockholm, Kim found the balance he was searching for — in culture, in fashion, in people — like a dose of iodine dye that lights up an X-ray. It had always been there, of course, but now he could see it. “When I came back to my hometown in Seoul,” says Kim, “I wanted to translate all of that.”
Andersson Bell was born a year or so later, as a love letter to duality — Andersson, a common Sweden last name, joined with Bell, a nod to the ringing Buddhist temple bells that soundtracked Kim’s childhood.
Andersson Bell Collection