Meet Nigbnus

Nibgnus is a rising Korean fashion brand founded in 2019 by designer and creative director Sungbin Hong. Rooted in a spirit of playful experimentation, Nibgnus brings bold, experimental designs to life through its distinctive aesthetic and interactive clothing. The brand is known for signature details like elongated straps and heart-shaped cutouts - elements that explore the characters we embody when getting dressed and invite wearers to engage in a playful, hands-on relationship with their clothing.

Pieces such as the Parachute Hood Halter Top, String Mini Shorts, and Knot Tank encourage tactile experimentation, with customisable straps that offer endless styling possibilities. Nibgnus blurs the line between fashion and play, reminding us that personal style can be both expressive and fun and the focus on appearance does not have to sacrifice joy.

Sungbin Hong’s creative journey spans top fashion institutions like Parsons School of Design and Central Saint Martins, followed by experience at acclaimed houses including The Row, Marc Jacobs, and Theory. Her multicultural background informs a fresh perspective on ready-to-wear, transforming everyday inspirations into wearable, conceptual pieces.

We sat down with Hong to learn more about the Nibgnus universe and get a glimpse of what’s next for the growing label.

Who are you, and what do you do? 

I go by Sungbin, Eileen, Hong, the founder of Nibgnus, a designer, someone's friend, a surfer, and probably many other names I’m not aware of. I spend a lot of time studying the world through the medium of clothing and sharing what I've learned with others. In my spare time, you can find me surfing, cooking, or debating femininity with friends over dinner. 

The concept of play is central to your brand and the pieces you create. Why is ‘play’ important to you? 

I want to remind people of the highest core value that humans can pursue – joy. I believe that pure joy – which is different from pleasure – is our greatest privilege. As we grow into adults, we tend to forget that we have the right to enjoy this natural privilege. Since I have chosen the profession of expressing and speaking up to the world, it's important for me to voice that we should live life with more warmth, more joy, and more play – play not to win, but play to just play. 

Design features like your signature elongated straps in several of your pieces encourage tactile experimentation between the garment and the wearer. Why do you think it’s important to establish this sense of experimentation with clothing? 

In the early days, while conducting various visual experiments, I was fascinated by the form factor of long strings and how they react to a body’s movements. Then, in the process of incorporating the customizable nature of strings into my designs, I wanted to give people more creative latitude to make their own choices with, and within, the clothing – to wear their different decisions. I hope that my clothes are not a one-way statement but a two-way conversation. When I put my designs, and thus my voice, out into the world, I want the consumers to add their own voices to complete the conversation. 

Moreover sustainability for me means more than just simply using organic cotton; it means that any single piece should transcend time and trends. Timeless designs can be styled many different ways and thus remain in one’s wardrobe for a long, long time. I believe that creating clothes that can be worn frequently for a long time is my way of contributing to the ecosystem. The more ways a piece can be styled, the more occasions it can be worn to, and the more decisions one can wear. More agency begets more usage, which begets more meaning. Through this, the consumer creates a more meaningful bond with the clothing itself. 

How do you personally play and experiment with the clothes you wear on a daily basis? 

Sometimes I take a single piece of clothing and push myself to the limit with it. I explore exhaustive questions about the form and function of every part of the clothing and style it accordingly. For instance, with a button-down shirt, what happens ifI button it in all the wrong places; or what if the sleeves’ role was not just to cover the arms but also to act as halters to support the weight of the clothing; what if I use safety pins; or what if I use other trims. I try to explore every possible reinterpretation of the incumbent functions of every part of the clothing. Through these experiments, the most basic piece can become the most avant-garde. I find great joy in the play of experimenting with the diverse functions of clothing. 

At the end of the day, since the functions of clothing are merely proposed methods of usage by the designer, my experiments are retorts that ask, “but what if?” 

What advice would you give for cultivating more joy through 'clothing play' in our everyday lives? 

I believe that if we reduce the role of clothing as armor and grow the role of clothing asf joy, everyone will be given the chance to freely explore their own joy. The fashion industry invests heavily in stimulating our feelings of inadequacy and doubt, insecurities that drive us to think we need new clothes and new images. We don’t need to ignore the expansion of our world driven by insecurity, but we should strive not to be subject to its rule. Learning, and practicing, to break free from this will enable greater frequencies of joy. 

The more we let go of the obsessions and pressures that go into "how should I look" (often conflated as “how should I be perceived”), the wider the frequency range of joy we can read and understand. 

You studied at Parsons and Central Saint Martins. What was the most valuable skill you learned during your formal education, and do you believe design school is essential for aspiring fashion designers? 

I am always grateful for the education I received. I believe that the traditional education system cannot be perfectly tailor-made to each individual's life, so whether you have the framework of this ready-to-learn system or not is ultimately supplementary. What is most important is designing a custom-fitted program to educate oneself, whether inside or outside that framework. 

The framework is like a bit of insurance and merely one path of learning. Whether to use it or not is up to the individual's discretion and choice.  Personally, I enjoyed mingling with the youngest possible congregation of like-minded people who shared the same dream as me. I enjoyed walking the path with them in growing and manifesting our dreams together. I am grateful to have been part of the intense pioneering energy of the uninhibited, free-spirited talents who were at the ground level of culture, designing the upcoming trends of the industry they were studying and dreaming of breaking into, without even realising it. 

How do you balance running an emerging business with your creative practice? 

I think it's like endlessly walking a tightrope between art and commerce. The moment you lose balance, you fall immediately. Times are always changing; your circumstances are always changing; and in response to those changes, you have to constantly find a new centre – an equilibrium point between your creative integrity and commercial reality. This can be quite cumbersome, challenging, and seemingly suboptimal in many ways, but suitable for someone like me, who enjoys play on “hard mode”.. It’s a rewarding game to solve difficult problems that require a constant application of effort, self-awareness, and ingenuity – an infinite game, thus an infinite story. 

You’ve worked at The Row, Marc Jacobs, and Theory. What did you learn from these major industry labels, and do you think working in the industry is important for aspiring designers? 

Spending time, even if brief, at various brands was very beneficial for me. It was helpful to observe, from within, a standard for decision-making between art and commerce. Some brands taught me the criteria for selecting clothes to put on the runway, while others taught me the criteria to apply as filters in productizing a garment. By closely observing and being held accountable by the company’s respective organisational structures and timelines, I could discover the mechanisms for decision-making.. As you establish your own criteria that is tailored to your own “line-in-the-sand” standard on this art-commerce spectrum, it’s helpful to rigorously test your own assumptions and train your decision-making mechanisms with reference points from existing industry insiders. 

What's next for Nibgnus? 

I know what I know and don't know what I don't know. What I know is that fun and cherished clothing will come out on time, and what I don't know is exactly what form they will take and when they will come out. For now, I plan to prioritise deepening the brand's roots. 

How do you balance running an emerging business with your creative practice? 

I think it's like endlessly walking a tightrope between art and commerce. The moment you lose balance, you fall immediately. Times are always changing; your circumstances are always changing; and in response to those changes, you have to constantly find a new centre – an equilibrium point between your creative integrity and commercial reality. This can be quite cumbersome, challenging, and seemingly suboptimal in many ways, but suitable for someone like me, who enjoys play on “hard mode”.. It’s a rewarding game to solve difficult problems that require a constant application of effort, self-awareness, and ingenuity – an infinite game, thus an infinite story. 

You’ve worked at The Row, Marc Jacobs, and Theory. What did you learn from these major industry labels, and do you think working in the industry is important for aspiring designers? 

Spending time, even if brief, at various brands was very beneficial for me. It was helpful to observe, from within, a standard for decision-making between art and commerce. Some brands taught me the criteria for selecting clothes to put on the runway, while others taught me the criteria to apply as filters in productizing a garment. By closely observing and being held accountable by the company’s respective organisational structures and timelines, I could discover the mechanisms for decision-making.. As you establish your own criteria that is tailored to your own “line-in-the-sand” standard on this art-commerce spectrum, it’s helpful to rigorously test your own assumptions and train your decision-making mechanisms with reference points from existing industry insiders. 

What's next for Nibgnus? 

I know what I know and don't know what I don't know. What I know is that fun and cherished clothing will come out on time, and what I don't know is exactly what form they will take and when they will come out. For now, I plan to prioritise deepening the brand's roots. 

Written by Grace Robinson