Four Apparel and Fashion Design students form a team, achieving results through a major-based problem-solving project

Wins top excellence prize for analysis and development proposal of Korean-style wildfire firefighting suits

Demonstrates hands-on, major-linked project capabilities with tangible, product-based improvement proposals

[December 9, 2025]

<From left: PARK Ji-won, LEE Ji-hae, CHAE Hye-rin, and RYU Su-min, students of the Department of Apparel and Fashion Design>

 Students from the Department of Apparel and Fashion Design at Yeungnam University (YU, President CHOI Oe-chool) won the Top Excellence Prize (Minister of Employment and Labor Award) in the Youth Project category at the “2025 Future Tomorrow Work Experience Best Practice Contest.” The awards ceremony was held on November 24 at the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul.

 The contest, jointly organized by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is held annually to discover and disseminate outstanding cases from youths, companies, and operating institutions participating in the Future Tomorrow Work Experience Support Program. It serves as a national platform where young participants present and compete with projects carried out to solve real-world problems in actual work settings.

The YU student team—comprising CHAE Hye-rin, LEE Ji-hae, RYU Su-min, and PARK Ji-won from the Department of Apparel and Fashion Design—carried out a project titled “Product Analysis and Development Proposal for Korean-Style Wildfire Firefighting Suits for Natural Disaster Response” in collaboration with the participating company TAK Textile Co., Ltd. Their project earned the highest evaluation, leading to the Top Excellence Prize.

 Focusing on the growing frequency of wildfires and large-scale natural disasters driven by global warming and climate change, the students highlighted the importance of protective equipment for disaster response personnel. They conducted a systematic analysis of wildfire firefighting suits currently used in Korea, examining structural design, materials, and functional performance.In particular, they closely investigated safety-critical elements such as thermal protection performance, weight and mobility, ease of wear, pocket and equipment layout, as well as visibility, waterproofing, and breathability, identifying on-site inconveniences and areas requiring improvement. Based on these findings, the team proposed a Korean-style wildfire firefighting suit that significantly enhances practicality and wearability by integrating the strengths of industrial safety wear and outdoor apparel. Their incorporation of field requirements, reflected through interviews with actual firefighting personnel, received high praise from the judges.

CHAE Hye-rin, the team’s representative student, said, “Although wildfire firefighting suits are a highly specialized and complex field, we learned a great deal by intensely discussing everything from data research and physical product analysis to improvement design as a team.” She added, “I deeply realized that fashion can go beyond aesthetic expression and become an important technology that protects human life. I am sincerely grateful to our professors and all those involved for providing us with this valuable opportunity.”