A viral parody by South Korean comedian Lee Soo-ji has unexpectedly triggered a wave of second-hand sales of winter jackets from a particular brand in one of Seoul’s wealthiest districts.
Lee’s video, which satirizes typical moms in Seoul’s education-mad neighborhood of Daechidong, or the “Daechi moms,” has left some mothers feeling self-conscious about their fashion choices -- particularly their Moncler down jackets, a longtime status symbol in the area.
Lee, best known for her work on SNL Korea, posted the video titled “A Day in the Life of Jamie’s Mom, Lee So-dam” on Feb. 4. In it, she plays an affluent full-time mother shuttling her 4-year-old son between after-school academies. She exaggerates all the Daechi mom stereotypes: eating a roll of gimbap in her car, a Porsche, like a busy celebrity, calling her child by his English name, and discussing, in a soft, refined tone and sprinkling English into her Korean, to boast about the child’s trivial achievements.
The sharp parody resonated widely, racking up nearly 2.5 million views by Thursday and trending on YouTube Korea.
What grabbed even more attention was Lee’s outfit: a glossy Moncler Parnaiba long down jacket, a Chanel Gabrielle handbag, and a Hermes necklace -- luxury staples often associated with the so-called “Gangnam mom uniform.”
Daechi-dong, a neighborhood in Seoul's expensive Gangnam district, is the main center South Korea’s private education industry, home to thousands of hagwon. Daechi moms have become synomous with parents who go all in for kids’ education.
The parody has sparked discussions in online mom cafes, where some users admitted they now feel hesitant to wear their Moncler coats in public. One wrote, “I used to wear mine without thinking, but now I feel like people might laugh at me.”
This discomfort seems to have led to an uptick in second-hand sales. On Thursday, a search for “Moncler Padding (down jacket)” on Karrot, South Korea’s largest peer-to-peer marketplace, showed roughly 200 active listings in the Gangnam area -- many posted within 24 hours. While there’s no definitive proof linking the spike to the video, the timing suggests a possible connection.
Moncler, originally founded in France and now headquartered in Milan, has long been a status symbol in South Korea, with its coats carrying a hefty price tag of between 1.5 million to over 4 million won ($1,030 - $2,760). The Parnaiba model featured in Lee’s video sells for around 3.9 million won. Moncler Korea, which became an independent entity in 2020, generated 332.3 billion won in revenue and 53 billion won in operating profit in 2023.
Not everyone agrees with the idea that Gangnam moms feel pressured to abandon their Moncler jackets. One mom cafe user countered, “Not everyone in Gangnam cares what others wear, and Moncler jackets aren’t exclusive to us.”
mjh@heraldcorp.com
