A “Rags-to-riches” Korean American Success Story

The American Dream- a term embedded in American history as long as the country itself. It’s a message of hope that anyone, regardless of background or social standing, can succeed with enough hard work. It has attracted many immigrants to the United States over the centuries in hopes they could build a better life for themselves and has become the national ethos of the nation. It is then no surprise that a lot of the successful American companies and brands have actually been started by these immigrants. Kraft, Capital One, Ebay, Intel, Google, AT&T, Yahoo, and more would just be naming a few.

If young Americans think about a popular clothing store chain in the United States, many would think of Forever 21 among them, maybe it would even be the very first clothing store chain they think of. Most youth have probably found themselves at the store at one point or another and most probably have an article or two of clothing from this clothing giant. However, what most of these wearers don’t know is that the man behind it all is actually from Korea. Forever 21 founder and CEO Chang Do-won was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to the United States in his 20s amidst political unrest in South Korea in the 1980s. In a 2016 interview with Forbes magazine, Chang described his story and how he achieved such success in an article titled ‘Exclusive Interview With One Of America’s Most Successful Immigrants: Forever 21’s Do Won Chang’.

 In the interview, Chang Do-won divulged that when he first arrived in the US, he didn’t have much. He and his wife, Jin-sook, started their new life in Los Angeles and went straight to work when they arrived. By landing simultaneous part-time jobs at a coffee shop where his hourly wage was around $3, a gas station, and a small start-up business by cleaning offices, Chang worked 19 hours a day, just scraping by. All the while, Jin-sook also worked as a hairdresser to bring in income. Originally, Chang thought to strike rich with the coffee industry- part of the reason he took up a part-timer at a coffee shop. However, he noticed that all the people with nice cars were actually working in the garment industry, thus changing his focus. He ended up purchasing a 900 square foot space in 1984 and turned it into Fashion 21. In a space that had several failed businesses plaguing its storefront, Fashion 21 made $700,000 its first year open. Chang made significant business capitalizing on heavily discounted merchandise purchased directly from manufacturers.

Due to good business, the couple opened up several more storefronts, opening up one every six months, and changing the name to Forever 21. In 2008, during the Great Recession, Chang aimed to open up thousands of jobs for the American public instead of downsizing- a goal he claimed to have reached with 7,000 newly available jobs made within the company. Currently, Forever 21 still remains a family business. Chang remains CEO while his wife, Jin-sook, operates as chief merchandising officer. Their two daughters, Linda and Esther, both work in the company as well with Linda managing marketing and Esther overseeing the company’s visuals. Chang told the press in an interview with the LA Times that “It’s important my daughters learn from the hard work my wife and I put into this company” when talking about his two daughters.

In the same interview, Chang said that it is a humbling reward that immigrants coming to America can look at Forever 21 and it can give them hope. Immigrants can walk into the store and see how someone like themselves was able to make it and do well and that something like the Forever 21 success can come from something as “simple as a Korean immigrant with a dream”.

Written by: Lacey Bonner

Originally from the Washington DC metropolitan area, 3rd year student and Candidate for a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Candidate for Bachelor of Arts in the Korean Language at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, current exchange student for a 1-year period at Korea University and intern at VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea)