Sit down with Sia Park by Jake Tartaglia and photography by Mintae Kim
South Korea’s Thisisneverthat has built its name by blending Seoul’s streetwear energy with global influence. Since 2010, the brand has grown from an in-house creative team to major international collaborations, including becoming the first Korean label to work with New Balance UK Made. For Sia Park, who leads International Relations, the focus is always on balance—scaling while staying true to the brand’s vision and trust-driven partnerships.
At its core, Thisisneverthat is a “mixture of aesthetics,” drawing from 90s American and Japanese streetwear while shaping its own identity. With stores thriving in Japan and plans to strengthen its presence in the U.S., the brand continues to expand carefully, keeping its emphasis on fabric, quality, and storytelling.
How did you get in contact with Thisisneverthat, and when did you come into the brand?
I used to work for Carhartt WIP in Korea. One of my coworkers at Carhartt moved to Thisisnverthat first, and he wanted to work with me
How did you get the position to be dealing with and overseeing International Relations?
I’ve always been interested in the brands from other countries, not like Korean brands. That’s why I chose Carhartt for my first job. After a few years I switched my thoughts about Korean brands and felt like it’s a very blue ocean. I thought it was a really great time to expand our Korean brand into other countries.
Is there any celebrity or athlete you personally want to see wearing Thisisneverthat that you haven’t seen yet?
For celebrities, ASAP Rocky because he is my favorite. SZA just wore our brand, and I think that was a bigger step in speaking to more celebrities.
Your in‑house production—from design through visuals—has become a signature. What were the challenges scaling this model, and how did you learn to balance growth while maintaining creative control?
We are still trying to balance because obviously we have an in-house studio and creative team, but we have so many collaborations to handle everything by our own team. Recently, we have been trying to work with photographers from other countries. For example, for the recent New Balance collaboration we worked with a photographer named Frank Lebon, who is very famous for visuals and all photography. This was our first collaboration with a photographer outside.
When you bring in an outside creative, does the in-house creative team give a run of what you are looking for or do you let the creative have their own vision?
For the initial concept of the campaign or photography, our creative team puts together all of the references and all the concepts like a mood board. Then I’m like the communicator for the collaborations with other brands. I am the main contact, but with our creative team, they reach out to the photographer that our team is eager to work with.
How do travels to global cities factor into the design and storytelling? Any recent influence from a specific city?
I think that all the design and creative juices, when it comes to the design part of the brand, are all from our creative director and our whole design team. They are sometimes influenced by other countries. For the campaign shoots, we normally have shots in the countries that they are influenced by. Last season, we had a photoshoot in Helsinki or like other countries that people don’t usually go to. Our design team is really interested in new and quite different aesthetics.
What’s your process for integrating global influences into collections without losing Korean streetwear authenticity?
Korean Streetwear is literally based in Seoul, but I think the whole of the brand is inspired by 90s American Streetwear and Japanese Streetwear so I wouldn’t say it’s a Korean Streetwear Brand. I think that the aesthetic of the brand fits other countries fine.
If you could describe Korean Streetwear with three words, how would you describe it?
Mixture of Aesthetics. I feel personally that the aesthetic of Korean streetwear is rooted in other countries’ streetwear, so I don’t think it has its own originality, to be honest, so yeah Mixture of Aesthetics.
Does Thisisneverthat reach out to brands, or do brands reach out to you regarding collaborations?
So far, many brands have reached out to us, and nowadays, there are some brands we want to work with, so for that we reach out using our network of connections.
What brand would Thisisneverthat want to work with on a collaboration in the future?
When I was in Paris in January, our design team wanted to do a collaboration with Osprey, so I knocked on the door of their showroom and I pitched it. We haven’t collaborated on a backpack before, other than the GREGORY one.
Can you walk us through a memorable project—say with New Balance—that exemplifies how brand alignment drives success?
The recent collaboration with the 991 V2, which was UK-made. There are many lines under New Balance, but the UK Made is quite premium. UK Made New Balance doesn’t offer any opportunities to other brands, so Thisisneverthat was the first brand collaborating with New Balance UK Made in Korea. We are also working on another UK Made project right now.
What were your tipping points—the moments or strategies—when you realized Thisisneverthat could scale beyond Seoul?
Like 3 or 4 years ago. Thisisneverthat has been 15 years since 2010, so it’s quite long in Korea, but for the overseas market, I think people feel like it’s very new. Around 4 years ago, we had a pop-up event with New Balance in Paris, so that was the moment I think where people realized it.
For an emerging brand, how do you recommend prioritizing between product, storytelling, and partnerships?
At Thisisneverthat we try to do everything, but for me, I do care about partnerships. Business is all about trust.
What’s next for Thisisneverthat? Any aspirations beyond streetwear—maybe lifestyle, global retail, creative services?
We already have two stores in Japan, and the market in Japan has been really, really great. So, we are planning on opening another one in Japan, maybe next year.
What’s an innovation or market that excites you in the next 3–5 years?
The US Market, because we worked with a distributor in the US Market, but there have been so many issues. The Streetwear market in the US has been really tough, so my main goal is to stabilize the market in the US and work with good accounts and good shops.
When looking to expand into the US Markets, how do you keep your creative team focused on keeping the brand image?
We want to make it very, I wouldn’t say fancy, but very delicate and focused on fabrics and quality.
Thisisneverthat photography by Mintae Kim
