HANBOK SILHOUETTES meet EAST AFRICAN KITENGE TEXTILES in MOYO
The MOYO shirt jacket, developed by design-focused social enterprise Jerrybag in collaboration with designer Hyunah Kim of ili studio, combines the structural silhouette of the Korean Hanbok with East African Kitenge textiles. Named after the Swahili word for ‘heart,’ the garment translates the layered construction, wrapping technique, and relaxed proportions of traditional Korean dress into a modern shirt jacket format.
The design pairs the understated geometry of the Hanbok with the high-contrast colors and dynamic patterns of Kitenge fabric, bridging Asian and African design languages. The familiar shirt jacket format serves as an accessible entry point for consumers in both regions to engage with cross-cultural aesthetic elements.
FROM KAMPALA TO SEOUL: SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION
Production of the MOYO jacket takes place in Kampala, Uganda, through a local women’s cooperative trained at Jerrybag’s Sustainable Design Center, an initiative established in 2024 via the KOICA Inclusive Business Program to support skill-building and entrepreneurship. Hyunah Kim, drawing from her experience living in Rwanda, developed the concept to explore shared design possibilities between Korea and East Africa. The shirt jacket is distributed through AFRO LOOM, a lifestyle design retail platform operating in Seoul and Kampala.
subtle wrapping techniques draw direct inspiration from historical Korean garment construction
project info:
name: MOYO shirt jacket
designer: JERRYBAG | @jerrybag.official, ili studio | @ili._studio
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edited by: Christina Vergopoulou | designboom
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