On the name
Dalbeom
Beom is the old native Korean word for tiger, plainer and older than the borrowed one most people reach for now. Dal is moon. Dalbeom is the tiger under the moon, the animal that turns up again and again in Korean folk painting once the sun goes down.
Those painted tigers are never frightening. The eyes are too big, they are usually half smiling, and now and then one is holding a pipe. Drawing a dangerous thing without making it menacing felt worth copying. We wanted clothes that behave the same way — quiet from across the room, talkative up close.
One story at a time
There is no seasonal collection. We draw one thing — this one is called Moonlit Tiger — put it on two garments, and sell that until the next drawing is ready. Everything is printed after you order it, so there is no warehouse, no end-of-season sale, and no box of unsold shirts in storage.
The trade is that you wait about a week. We think that is fair.
From Texas
Dalbeom is made in Frisco, Texas by someone who grew up in Korea and works in the United States. Whatever sits in the gap between those two places tends to end up in the clothes.