By Kim Tae-jong
Lee Jin-woo, a middle-school student in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, took two part-time jobs ahead of the winter season. After school he handed out flyers to passers-by in the street and worked at a fast food chain for two months.
After saving up about 700,000 won ($605), Lee quit both jobs and rushed to a North Face store and spent all his savings on a Himalayan down jacket.
“I couldn’t ask my father to buy me such an expensive coat as we are not that rich,” he said. “But I also didn’t want my classmates to look down on me because I’m poor.”
Lee believes an expensive item of clothing is the best way to stand out among his peers.
Like Lee, a number of teenagers want to wear North Face jackets not just for their warmth and stylish features but more for the exhibition of wealth.
Down jackets by North Face have been a sensational hit among teenagers for about five years and are a must-have item. They are now referred to as a “school uniform.”
Lee’s friend Jang Tae-hwan says they feel they could become outcasts if they do not wear the right coat.
“In my class, 35 out of 40 wear a North Face down jacket,” Jang said. “If you don’t wear one, you will feel like you are inferior to your friends.”
Since North Face sells various kinds of down jackets with different price tags, teenagers also say they classify their friends based on how expensive the one they wear is.
A recent online posting illustrating the jackets and their hierarchy according to price tags has drawn keen public attention.
According to the posting, those wearing the Nuptse 2, which costs 250,000 won, are “losers,” as a lot of students choose it to just join the North Face craze. But only top ranking students wear a Himalayan down jacket, which costs almost 700,000 won.
Parents are up in arms over the craze but they are helpless to do anything.
“I know it’s really ridiculous,” said Choi Gyeong-soo, a father of two sons. “But I had to buy my sons expensive North Face down jackets as they told me they could be bullied if they didn’t have one.”
A civic group of parents is now planning to hold a campaign to discourage teenagers from wearing expensive brand clothing.
“It’s not right for students to blindly follow the trend of wearing expensive clothes from a certain brand,” said an official from the Parents’ Association for True Education. “We’re now considering various measures to ask students to voluntarily not wear them as well as talking with school boards to include winter coats as part of school uniforms.”
Experts say teenagers want to buy North Face jackets because they want to fit in. “They simply want to be in the majority group by buying expensive products that their peers have,” Shin Kwang-young, a professor at Chung Ang University said.
Oh Sung-sam, a professor at Konkuk University, pointed out adults’ prevalent materialism has an influence on teenagers.
“It may not be strange that teenagers are so addicted to expensive down jackets,” he said. “They simply learn from adults who want to buy expensive cars, bags and houses, to simply show off their wealth and belong to the upper class of society.”