
Kim Chi and Sundae Flowers Launch Korean-Inspired Edibles
By Joan Summers
Jan 23, 2025If her mom is reading this, Kim Chi does not smoke weed. For the rest of us, be glad she does, because she’s cooked up a delicious new treat to enjoy some K-dramas too these long winter nights.
PAPER caught up with the international drag icon ahead of the launch of her collaboration with the fashion brand Sundae School, which turned its Korean streetwear infused brand into cannabis hotspot Sundae Flowers. The yuzu- and kimchi-infused edibles are launching with the campaign “Kim Chi Over Flowers” – a play on the legendary K-drama masterpiece Boys Over Flowers – pulling inspiration from everything Kim Chi loves and has become known for throughout her drag career. Reference points include vintage comics, Korean pop culture and, most importantly here, delicious food.The brand tells PAPER: “We wanted it to taste like mom’s love and really bring people back to their childhoods, bring people back to a sense of nostalgia.” Kim Chi, for her part, wants to stress that “If my mom is reading this interview, I don’t smoke.” The same goes for my editors, who are definitely reading this.
Most importantly, both Kim Chi and Sundae Flowers stress the importance of the campaign’s all-queer and fem creative team, and all queer cast, Kim Chi included. Kim Chi says, “I think, especially now more than ever, it is very important to cherish and support businesses that support LGBTQIA+ people and queer communities,” and adds that “We’ve seen so many people who were previously pro-LGBT and pro-progressive movements all grift because they are scared of losing their income.”
For more from our interview with Kim and the Sundae Flowers team, read below. Kimchi Yuzu gummies will be available starting January 23 exclusively at www.sundae.flowers.How did you get connected with Sundae School?
Kim Chi: I've been a huge fan of the Sundae School brand for a long time, and I just think they do amazing things. I think their clothes are great. They have such a cool spin on the whole THC branding. And I personally had exchanges with their social media account. But it was two years ago at the Gold House Gala here in Los Angeles that I met the owner, Dae, and he was like, “I'm Dae! We've chatted on Instagram before,” and I was like, “Oh my god, so nice to meet you.” And then we ended up hanging out all night together and had a blast.
Were you involved in the process of choosing this flavor combo for the gummies?
Kim Chi: The yuzu flavor is their top-selling flavor in Sundae Flowers. So then the Sundae School team came up with the idea to take a vegan kimchi and then turn it into a powder, and then add it to them for a little spicy heat. Kimchi is, obviously, the national dish of Korea. So it's like, why not marry those two?
When did you start smoking? I mean, I’m guessing you do. [Laughs]
Kim Chi: If my mom is reading this interview, I don’t smoke.
Same, Mom, and also my editors. I’ve never smoked.
Kim Chi: But for anyone that is not my mom, when I turned 18 actually. It’s typical to go to college and go to art school and smoke. All the art school students smoke weed.
You came up with quite a few famous drag queens in the Chicago scene. Did you ever smoke weed with any of them, back in the day?
Kim Chi: Oh, like every drag queen — not every drag queen! — especially before being on Drag Race…
Name names!
Kim Chi: My group of drag queens, what we would do is craft kikis. So whatever costume that we’re working on, whether it’s a headpiece or a garment, we’d bring it over to each other’s house, and then we’d smoke weed and just craft the outfits all night long, for whatever show we had coming up. That was the culture back then in Chicago.
Lunar New Year is coming up; you performed at a celebration in Toronto last year. What was it like, to be able to perform drag for Lunar New Year’s?
Kim Chi: It was amazing, especially just to see the Asian American community come together to have fun and celebrate. It was cool. I’m really supportive and happy to go to any spaces that are predominantly Asian, especially queer Asians, because growing up in a small town in Michigan, I didn’t have access to that. So now I finally feel like I’m part of the community again, especially after moving to LA. I became friends with so many Asians here, and I was getting invited to these full Lunar New Year parties. I finally feel at home.
Do you have a favorite memory or tradition at Lunar New Year?
Kim Chi: In Korea, we eat this thing called tteokguk, which is a rice cake soup. It is very delicious, and you play this game called Yutnori, and then you bow to your relatives that are older than you, and they give you money. Growing up, my parents always took the money away because they’re like, oh, we’ll give it back to you when you’re older. I’ve never seen a penny of that money! But I like the idea of getting money from relatives.
What could you put it towards now? Costumes, maybe, or weed... but they’re not reading this! How does it feel, also, to be able to work with other Korean artists and designers throughout your career?
Kim Chi: It feels full-circle, especially a lot of creatives that I follow, when I see them following me already, or reaching out to me when I’m a huge fan. Like, are you kidding me? I’m a huge fan of you! And then even Korean designers reach out to me, like, Oh, I love to make you traditional Korean clothing. It’s so cool. I never thought I would get to do what I do now.
In the same vein, obviously drag culture has blossomed in Korea, especially with Drag Race going international. But even before that, did you ever hope or dream there would be a Korean franchise, or maybe even their own style of drag competition show?
Kim Chi: I know they’ve been trying to make Korea’s Drag Race happen for a while. Typically, when these foreign Drag Race versions happen, they usually get a queen from that country who’s competed on Drag Race to host it. Drag Race reached out to me, and when I saw the email, I was like, oh, that’s cool. Am I going to be the RuPaul of Korea? And I opened the email and they’re like, oh, you would like to go compete? Oh, I don’t know about that.
Would you sooner do All Stars than a Korean franchise first?
Kim Chi: I don’t know if, at this point, I’m interested in competing again. I’m a huge fan of Drag Race, and I always will be, but I just don’t know if I have the competitive spirit left in me anymore. But I would love to do a competition in a different setting. My friends and I play social deduction games all the time.
Have you seen any of Bob [The Drag Queen] on this season of The Traitors at all?
Kim Chi: Yes! He’s made great TV. A terrible player, great TV.
The creative for this campaign was also inspired by your love of vintage Korean comics and pop culture. Are there any reference points in that world that continue to inspire your drag artistry?
Kim Chi: Absolutely. Aesthetically, magical girl cartoons and comics from the ‘80s and ‘90s will always be my inspiration. Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Saint Tail. I’m sure a lot of people haven’t even heard of those last two. But I’m a magical girl nerd. And then fashion wise, I love the high fashion runways from the Y2K era, anything Galliano for Dior and all the makeup work that Pat McGrath did during that era. I use them as inspiration for my outfits and things.
Corrine [from the Sundae School team] what creative mission did you have for this campaign?
Sundae School: What was really pivotal about this shoot, and what we wanted, is that all the main creative for the shoot, myself, the photographer and the director, all fully queer, fully femme team. And another thing we made sure was that we made sure all of the talent, the other models, including Kim Chi, were also queer. Those were very important to us just because we’d want people who’d be able to get it. So often in this industry, there’s this thing where people tell the stories of certain communities, but they don’t necessarily involve the people themselves into that. Overall, when we were coming together with this flavor and tasting it, we wanted it to taste like mom’s love and really bring people back to their childhoods, bring people back to a sense of nostalgia. We really hope that carried across in the creative direction as well through the new wave films that the director referenced, also through the pop culture references like Boys Over Flowers, which is a tongue-in \-cheek reference we made in the campaign name, calling it “Kim Chi Over Flowers.”
I also saw on your website that you’re raising money for the LA wildfires. Where can you tell us that money’s going, and has anyone on your team been impacted by the fires at all?
Sundae School: So we actually have had, unfortunately, people [on the team] who were impacted by the fires and had to evacuate, and I think one person in particular did lose their homes. So it was very, very important for us to be able to give back, especially since a lot of Sundae School’s past was based out in LA. And obviously LA is where Kim Chi and Dae had met at first, when they were going through the initial stages of thinking through this collaboration. But overall, this is going towards the LA wildfire relief, specifically the Coalition Firefighter Fund, which helps sort of like incarcerated firefighters and provide support towards the LA wildfire relief.
I want to get back to Boys Over Flowers quickly, which was a favorite of mine to torrent and watch rips of in high school. Do you have any K-Dramas right now that you’re obsessed with, or watching and would recommend?
Kim Chi: I’m currently watching Check-In Hanyang. I’m trying to decide if I like it or not three episodes in. I recently finished Love Next Door, which I loved. It’s more of a sappy family drama over a romantic story, but it’s definitely worth watching. And then to anyone who’s just getting into K-drama, you have to watch The Glory, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, It’s Okay Not to Be Okay. These are classics!
Hometown Cha Cha Cha is so good.
Kim Chi: And then underrated favorites? Twinkling Watermelon is really really good.
Do you have something you look for when you’re watching a K-drama? A theme, or a genre, like romance, family, suspense.
Kim Chi: I don’t do monster or horror things, because those tend to be so graphic and gory. And I don’t enjoy watching gore. I love feel-good comedies or sappy dramas. My rule is I download an episode before I go to the gym, and then when I’m on the treadmill for an hour, I watch that one episode. That’s like, my treat for the day. And it also motivates me to go do cardio for an hour every day. But then there’s awkward times where I’m watching it, and then I’m crying because I’m sad, and I look crazy. I’m like, on the treadmill, crying and wiping my face with a towel, and then one time, this lady was like, are you okay? I’m like, no, it’s just K-drama! Like, I look crazy at the gym.
I’ve never thought of downloading a Netflix episode before I go to the gym! I should do that.
Kim Chi: I also just want to add about my collaboration. I’ve done many photo shoots and video shoots with various other people, and Sundae School, because of our schedule, we had to do both in one day. They’re the most professional, organized team I’ve ever worked with, such a clear vision. Normally, shoots take forever to sort up, and it takes forever to get the light and everything. With Sundae School, they knew exactly the stuff they wanted to do. All the people knew exactly what they’re doing. They were a dream to work with.
Speaking of having an all queer team, especially in a time of political uncertainty and fear, how does it feel to still be able to work with queer people and center queer people in your work?
Kim Chi: I think, especially now more than ever, it is very important to cherish and support businesses that support LGBTQIA+ people and queer communities, because we’ve seen so many people who were previously pro-LGBT and pro-progressive movements all grift because they are scared of losing their income, due to a fascist regime that we’re entering. So anyone brave enough to stand on their moral ground and support queer people, they’re the one. They’re the truth.
Sundae School: Growing up in a very religious background, growing up in Asia, where it’s not as friendly to be pro-LGBTQ+ rights, being able to have the opportunity to do a project that really vocalizes all of this is something very near and dear to my heart, as well as for a lot of the other people on the team. Considering the recent political events that have unfolded, and how quickly they are unfolding, I think it’s still important to be able to have outlets like this and be able to have projects that are so open and vocal about these things. I think it’s very easy to forget that we are here and that there is this community, if we don’t consistently project our voices.
Creative direction: Corinne Ang
Assistant creative direction: Hee Eun Chung
Executive production: Ellie Rha
Hero: Kim Chi
Talent: Han Chen, Joshua Choi, Cory Nakamura, Matthew Ngyuen
Production: Runner Films
Executive production: Shayan Farooq
Direction: Ellie Rha
DP: Alexey Kosorukov
AD: Bianca Vitale
1st AC: Garrett Gaston
Gaffer: Chase DuBose
Key grip: Jake Reardon
Photography: Hee Eun Chung
Photo assist: Mei Kobayashi
Art direction: Taylor Venegas
Styling: Elizabeth Wang
Styling assist: Peaches Valdellon-Vergara, Alexa Ramirez
Bespoke Hanbok designer: Cheonshik VanDamme
SFX MUA: M.O.
Set PA: Johanna Facada
Truck PA: Emilio Cordova
Creative post: Ellie Rha
Sound design: Jay Herrera
Colorist: Ryan Berger
Stills creative post producer: Ali Zilahy
Graphic design/illustration: Corinne Ang
Junior graphic designer: Danielle Mariz Berger
From Your Site Articles
- Sundae School Brings Cannabis Couture to NYC With 4/20 Fashion Show ›
- Meet the Siblings Behind Smokewear Street Style Brand Sundae School ›
Related Articles Around the Web
MORE ON PAPER
Music
Björk Is Hopeful for Our Planet
Story by Matt Wille / Photography by Vidar Logi / Styling by Edda Gudmundsdottir / Makeup by Daniel Sallstrom / Hair by Ali Pirzadeh / Nails by Texto Dallas / Set design by Andrew Lim Clarkson / Masks by James Merry
Story by Matt Wille / Photography by Vidar Logi / Styling by Edda Gudmundsdottir / Makeup by Daniel Sallstrom / Hair by Ali Pirzadeh / Nails by Texto Dallas / Set design by Andrew Lim Clarkson / Masks by James Merry
21 January
Music
Miss Bashful by Linux: A Match in Brooklyn
Story by Linux / Photography by Diego Urbina
Story by Linux / Photography by Diego Urbina
17 January