On a cool January morning, a model sits beneath a Korean pine tree in the northwest of Seoul, the gravity-defying lengths of her hair mimicking the uneven growth of branches above her head. On either side, embellishing those rolling waves, are two mother-of-pearl inlay intricately cut to show the soaring herons and flowers often seen in old paintings. Any Seoul-based creative will instantly recognize the work as belonging to Gabe Sin, the incredible and iconoclastic hair designer best known for drawing references from Korean history and culture and transforming them into whimsical wearable pieces. “I have a lot of interest in old Korean art,” he says. “I try to express the most Korean things.”
Born in Seoul in the 1980s, Sin has always been based in the capital city and maintains a small studio in Itaewon, where he spends hours dreaming up and crafting his show-stopping hair sculptures. Naturally, the room is filled with extensions and wigs, but also flowers, boxes of starch (used to firm up the hair), jugs of resin (to preserve the pieces), and countless trinkets he gathers on meandering walks around Seoul’s sprawling wholesale markets.
Of course, there is plenty of pearl, which Sin sources from jagae (mother of pearl) craft shops around the city. Each jagae hair piece takes him about one week and is painstaking to make. His work nods to the 2000-year-old craft technique called najeonchilgi, in which mother of pearl is inlaid onto decorative boxes, cabinets, or other objets d’art scattered about the home. Growing up, Sin’s grandmother’s house was filled with these pieces; thus, it holds personal meaning. “It’s a work that began from a place of familiarity or longing,” he explains. “I started from the idea that what felt sentimental to me would feel the same to others.”
Here, Sin shares a quintet of stunning hair pieces while expanding on his path to sculpture and the power of finding beauty in familiar things.
Vogue: Tell me about how you found yourself in hair design.
Gabe Sin: “Since I was young, my dream has been to be a hairdresser. After working in hair design for a while, I opened my own shop. Although it was small, it was mine. But after running a shop for a long time, I found myself sitting at my desk day after day, worrying over numbers. Then suddenly, I thought, ‘Is this what I really liked and wanted to do?’ While wandering around like that, a photographer I was close to suggested we work together. As we did, I realized again what I really wanted to do. To actually touch hair and style hair, that was the work I really loved. I realized that I am a person who can feel happy just by doing that.”
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Strangely enough, I always feel like something’s running through my head. Movies, dramas, artworks, animations, etc. They exist as floating images in my eyes and mind, as do various things related to the five senses—what I have heard, seen, and touched. Before I work, I have various conversations with my collaborators, and the vague images and uncertainty floating in my head gradually become something clear. What I was thinking about in the abstract is gradually realized in reality. A lot of my work is actually done spontaneously. As though biting its own tail, my inspiration evolves and gradually, the work moves in the direction I want.
When did you start making hair pieces, and what you drew you to working with mother-of-pearl inlay?
For about four years now, I’ve been working closely with creatives on the same wavelength as I, and we've just tried various things together. Once, I saw mother of pearl, which was always at my grandmother’s house when I was young, in the interior of a cafe and was so overjoyed. It’s a work that began from a place of familiarity or longing. I started from the idea that what felt sentimental to me would feel the same to others. However, the work of mother-of-pearl is still difficult, so I think I need more time to develop it. But I plan to develop it without stopping. Each time I make one, it takes roughly one week.
Why is reimagining traditional Korean art and culture so evocative to you?
I am interested in old Korean art. I try to express the most Korean things. I wanted to express the colors of Korean pine trees and folk paintings using najeon or mother-of-pearl inlay. I tend to lean on familiarity a lot. I think the power that comes from familiar things is incredible. I always hope that others can relate with what I’ve felt and experienced in my life, as I express in my work.
Photography: Peter Ash Lee
Photo Assistants: HyeonWoo Lee, Doheun Park
Model: Um Seo Yoon
Stylist: Jang Heejun
Stylist Assistant: Choi Yena
Production: A PRJECT
Executive Producer: Bo Kelly Suh
Production Assistant: Indigo Cho
Hair: Gabe Sin
Hair 1st Assistant: Im Ji Eun
Hair 2nd Assistant: Semin Park
Hair Assistants: Lee Seung Taek, Yun Ye Rim, Jeong Min A, Imyujin
Makeup: Oh Seongseok
Makeup 1st Assistant: Choi Yuri
Makeup 2nd Assistant: Lee Byunghyun
Set Design: Jeon Minkyu
Florist: Chungrokhwa Studio
Vogue: Chioma Nnadi, Editor, Vogue.com; Visual Editor, Landon Phillips; Senior Beauty Editor, Lauren Valenti