On April 29, the Korean Cultural Service of NY (KCSNY) will conclude their series Girl Power: Embracing What Matters with the 2013 documentary Nora Noh. Nora Noh is a retrospective documentary which examines the career of Nora Noh, a pioneer of Korean fashion. Contrary to the current philosophy of many current designers, Nora Noh has remained obstinate in her perspective that, “Clothes should behave like clothes. Clothes are not a work of art.” This ideal remains prominent throughout Nora Noh, a cinematic homage to a woman who dared to defy conventions of modesty, while helping to develop Korea's fashion-forward sensibility.

Directed by Kim Sung Hee, Nora Noh examines the harshness of life for women in Korea during World War II and the decades which followed. Nora Noh entered the fashion industry as a nineteen year old divorcee, whose arranged marriage was initiated to prevent Nora from becoming a “comfort woman." Following her divorce, she changed her name from Noh Myung Ja to Nora Noh in honor of the character from Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. During a period where the Korean women were restricted to careers choices such as being a housewife or factory worker, Nora began to pave a path for Korean women to become more liberated through fashion. As the perspective in Korea regarding work evolved, Nora Noh seized the opportunity to create unique ready-to-wear clothing for career women. The designs of Nora Noh reflect practicality and functionality, including reinterpretations of the hanbok.

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