In this story, we focus on the manufacturing process and the caring hands that lead it. We continue to maintain a handcrafted approach, paying tribute to unique talents like Svetlana and Andrey who share a passion for pushing boundaries in their lifework – highlighting the great minds and processes within is our way of keeping an inner rush and reflecting on what really matters.
The ‘Bale Jacket’ is the most time-consuming item at J.Kim that consists of from 153 to 173 individual pieces. We were eager to create a special moment for the garment, showcasing a story of creation and the efforts of talented couple behind it.
Credits:
Video: @sashakulak
Editor: @vera.v.romanova
Music: Goze
J.Kim Objects is our new experimental creative project where we combine new forms with traditional techniques
and collaborate with craftsmen of Uzbekistan.
The space, located in the heart of Tashkent at Chorsu Bazaar, lives in a subtle interaction with this wonderful place and reflects our vision for the evolvement of the city’s architectural landscape and cultural environment.
J.Kim Objects:
Tue – Sat, 12 pm – 4 pm, Tashkent, Sakichmon street, 1/12
Thanks for joining us on our journey this far — and see you soon!
Designed by JOY Studio
Photographer Denis Komarov
J.Kim House, Tashkent
Unique clothing shaped by Uzbek and Korean culture, crafted by artisans in Uzbekistan.
Available to discover and take with you.
Open by appointment.
Imagine Central Asia as a vast patchwork — each country holding its own symbols and traditions, yet connected through shared memory and centuries of exchange.
Quroq (or kurak) is one of the oldest shared languages of these lands. Found across Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, it was never just a sewing technique. It carried a sacral meaning rooted in protection, ritual, home, and knowledge passed through women’s hands.
Its role was to safeguard brides, young mothers, and children from illness, the evil eye, and unseen forces. These pieces accompanied life’s transitions — from girlhood to marriage, from birth to early childhood.
Even a single fabric scrap was believed to hold protective power. That is why quroq lived in everyday objects — quilts, cradle covers, curtains, dowry textiles — not as decoration, but as part of the home’s sheltering shield.
The more complex the composition, the greater the talismanic force it was believed to hold. Among Tajiks, intricate seams were thought to confuse and entangle harmful spirits.
J.Kim Quroq continues this language — where patchwork is not ornament, but a way of holding memory, strength, and unity.
Image sources:
1, 3, 5, 9, 12, 13, 15 — Christine Martens, Sacred Scraps: Quilt and Patchwork Traditions of Central Asia (International Quilt Study Center & Museum, 2017).
7 — International Quilt Museum, Patchwork (kurak) wall hanging, 19th century
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14 – J.Kim Quroq pieces
One of the most precious things around J.Kim are the women who live with the brand.
Some of you have been with J.Kim for a decade, growing and evolving alongside it. Others we have met only recently along the way. What unites you is not a role or a profession, but a certain way of being — women with a strong inner core, quiet autonomy and an instinct for creation.
Women who build, connect and shape the cultural environments around them. There is a quiet magnetism around them that naturally draws others in.
Over time, J.Kim has become a reflection of this kind of woman — whether she is leading a company, raising a family, building institutions, or dedicating herself quietly to a rare and niche craft.
In these images, you will see some of our customers. But they are only part of a much wider circle.
Thank you for being around and for your support.
Malia Obama — filmmaker
Diana Campbell — curator
Nani — photographer
Jama Nurkaliyeva — museum director
Daria Zolotukhina — creative producer
Aziza Azim — creative director
Kim Yesol — sculptor, DJ
Christine Sun Kim — artist
Sofia Burnasheva — creative director
Togzhan Dulat — creative director
Throwback to ‘The Shape of Home’ — an interview with Jenia Kim published in Holiday Magazine @holidaymagazine
In the conversation with Christopher Niquet @christopherniquet , Jenia reflects on the personal and cultural threads behind J.Kim — from early memories of Uzbekistan and family history to the decision to return to Tashkent and build the brand there.
The feature appeared in the issue dedicated to Samarkand, which also includes photographs by Hassan Kurbanbaev @hassankurbanbaev from his series Untitled (Portrait of Uzbekistan) — quiet, contemplative images of everyday landscapes where present-day Uzbekistan and the nostalgia of the past seem to gently blur into one another.
The Avgvst × J.Kim jewelry collaboration begins with a shared way of seeing form — where minimalism meets ornament, and structure holds softness.
At the heart of the collection are symbols of warmth and protection. A baking mold becomes an earring — an image of home and hospitality. Here, hospitality is seen as a woman’s choice, never an expectation placed upon her.
J.Kim’s signature floral forms are reinterpreted in metal through a more distilled approach. A pendant draws from the tumar, a traditional Central Asian amulet once used to carry handwritten prayers, now holding space for something personal and close to the body.
This idea of care and making is reflected in the presence of Lexie Smith, a baker and artist, who became a natural muse for the collection.
To celebrate the launch, with Avgvst Berlin we were hosting a series of intimate gatherings across cities, from Berlin to Almaty — sharing this warmth with those who feel close to our ideas.
SS26 Quroq collection
Quroq is a patchwork tradition across Central Asia — fragments of fabric brought together into one textile, passed through generations as a gesture of care and memory.
For SS26, we photographed two women from Central Asia.
Kamila moved from Kazakhstan to France twenty years ago, while Amalia recently arrived from Uzbekistan to study.
Like pieces of fabric brought together in a single quilt, their different journeys meet in one story. The collection was photographed in a quiet country house outside Paris.
Photographer: Sacha Alexander
Models: Kamilya Kuspanova and Amalia
A J.Kim Heirloom piece.
Handmade in Uzbekistan.
Reinterpreting naive embroidery once created by women for their dowries.
Each detail is done by hand, from thread to finishing.
Now available in our Tashkent showroom.
This is not a reproduction of traditional Korean dress. This is a translation shaped by a multicultural experience.
J.Kim grows from Korean and Uzbek roots, from a way of seeing heritage not as something fixed, but as something lived, carried, and reassembled over time. The FW25 Fleece Ear-Flap Hat draws its origins from jobawi, a traditional Korean winter headwear.
First worn by women during the Joseon dynasty, jobawi was designed to protect the ears and head from the cold. Over time, the form became closely associated with children’s dress: practical, warm, and often regarded as a small talisman. Embroidery on jobawi carried quiet wishes for health, longevity, and care.
Children’s jobawi were typically more compact and rounded, fitting closely around the head. Women’s jobawi, by contrast, evolved into more elaborate forms. Deeper in structure, with extended ear flaps, decorative cords, tassels, and embroidery, they came to carry symbols of well-being, longevity, and beauty. Here, jobawi shifted from pure necessity toward expression and cultural meaning.
The same object existed in different states:
between function and symbol,
between childhood and adulthood,
between protection and adornment.
This gradual transformation — shaped by time, use, and meaning — became the starting point for our interpretation. Not a literal reconstruction, but an attempt to preserve the inner logic of the form: care, layering, and a quiet dialogue between past and present.
Images sourced from:
1. Archival photograph, unknown.
2. A Joseon Dynasty scene by British female painter Elizabeth Keith.
3. Collection of Andong Municipal Folk Museum.
8. Archival photograph, unknown.
9. Collection of Andong Municipal Folk Museum.
10. Archival photograph, unknown.
11. Collection of Andong Municipal Folk Museum.
