Employees of T’way Air, a South Korean low-cost carrier, wear shorts in this photo provided by the company.
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — As South Koreans increasingly prefer comfortable clothes during the monsoon season and this year’s unprecedented heat wave, the young generation is leading the trend of wearing shorts to work.
Musinsa Co., a South Korean fashion platform, analyzed its search data for June and July, revealing that users searched for men’s shorts 40 percent more than last year.
Searches for denim Bermuda shorts surged by over 120 percent, along with increased searches for flip-flops and short-sleeved t-shirts.
In South Korea, many workplaces still consider shorts taboo, viewing them as ‘unruly’ and ‘unprofessional’.
Korean Air Co. lifted restrictions on workplace attire in September 2019. Recently, an employee posted an article on the company’s anonymous forum, complaining about being rebuked by a superior for wearing shorts to work.
The controversy over the post ended after Korean Air Chairman and CEO Cho Won-tae commented that wearing shorts to work was “the employee’s personal right, and no one can say anything about it.”
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
