With its rapid proliferation through the mainstream media, fashion has discarded its former title of a niche trend for the elite and become a global phenomenon. However, even now as individuals are entitled to unique styles of their own, the formidable issue of time and expense persists.
Amongst the new contesters rising to challenge the current fashion market and offer more affordable and easily accessible means of choosing one’s style is the mobile application – Cocon.
Cocon, a mobile application created by the startup software development company Black Tangerine, is an AI-based styling application that suggests customized outfits to users based on their skin tone, physique, and other personal preferences.
The founder and CEO of Black Tangerine is Kim Sange, an alumna of Ewha’s Department of Fashion Industry.
Kim confessed that her inspiration for Cocon came from personal passion for fashion and beauty – coupled with the potential of AI to address issues within the fashion industry such as excessive production, wastage of clothing items, and the dominance of Western clothing brands in the global fashion industry.
Right beside her behind the success of Cocon is Cho Sohee, Kim’s longtime friend and a machine learning developer at Black Tangerine. Also an Ewha alumna with a bachelor’s degree in law and philosophy, she currently handles the development of statistical-based AI algorithms behind Cocon’s personalized recommendation system, as well as the application’s platform design.
Although Cocon currently serves as a personal color analyst or virtual stylist, Cho revealed that the long-term goal of the application is to become a direct shopping retail platform that can innovate the perception of fashion. Cocon aims to focus on customers’ direct needs, allowing them to find their personal style without devoting excessive time or money while adding more fun elements through an online community open to sharing different fashion content.
Working for a small startup requires flexibility in job details as employees are required to wear multiple hats due to quick business growth and understaffing.
“Just take a look at Sange,” Cho said with a hint of pride. “Not only is she the CEO, but she is also the administrative planner, the designer, the marketer, and essentially a member of every department here at Black Tangerine.”
Kim laughed out loud at this comment and conceded that she does consider herself a true “hustler” in terms of work ethics and strives to lead her team through action rather than words.
“If running ten laps can show my coworkers that they can push their own limits to run just one more, then that is what I try to do,” Kim admitted. “I arrive at work the earliest, go home last, and sleep the least, but it is all for our growth as a team.”
The pair’s experiences at Black Tangerine have been rewarding despite the challenges posed by working with an understaffed startup team.
Kim finds leading her team most rewarding when she sees each member grow, which in turn expands the team’s growth. Cho also values the experience, having learned immensely from teamwork and collaboration.
Cho recalled her first memory together with Kim at an in-school business seminar in their freshman year of university.
“In a huge lecture hall with over 200 students, the professor asked those of us planning to start our own business later to raise our hands,” she reminisced with a smile. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘how can I even think of owning a business when I’m barely even 20 yet?’ But sitting right beside me was a young college freshman Sange, the only student with her hand already in the air.”
Kim chuckled and countered that Cho is the person she respects the most in her life because she is brave enough to challenge herself and strong enough to never give up.
“I am forever grateful I had a chance to encounter such a friend in university,” Kim disclosed. “Having the privilege of watching her grow not only a coworker but also as a lifelong friend has also given me motivation for my own personal goals.”
Kim and Cho credit their time at Ewha for fostering their pioneering mindset, combined with a learning environment that taught them that they do not have to live bound by social prejudice or preconceptions.
For students who struggle to pave a path for themselves post-graduation, Kim suggested to defy the safe, passive path walked by countless others. Cho wistfully admitted that neither her college majors nor her former administrative office job had anything to do with her current profession in the IT industry.
As someone who completely turned her career path around in her thirties, Cho emphasized that as cliché as it sounds, it never truly is too late to pursue one’s dreams. However, she warned that switching one’s profession simply for a higher salary or to conform to society’s trends will not take one very far.
“Coming from two people who followed perhaps some of the most atypical career paths post-graduation, you really need not be afraid to make bold decisions because failure itself is just another piece of learning experience no one should be ashamed of," Kim concluded.