She stood five-foot-ten with a thick mane of hair, sometimes bleached blond. Her quirky sensibility set her apart from other runway models. Daul Kim brought a fresh perspective to international fashion.
Raised between Seoul and Singapore, she developed a bicultural worldview. This background shaped her artistic approach to modeling and life. The young model built her career throughout Asia before reaching global stages.
In 2007, she made her fashion week debut in Paris. This marked her arrival on the international scene. Her journey represented a path many Asian models aspired to during that era.
Beyond the catwalk, Kim cultivated serious artistic pursuits. She painted and created video films with genuine skill. The model even mounted a solo art exhibition in Seoul.
Her life compressed tremendous achievement into barely two decades. She embodied a generation expected to be more than clothes hangers. These top models added creative output to an already demanding profession.
Career Highlights and Fashion Milestones
Paris Fashion Week in 2007 witnessed the arrival of a distinctive talent who would redefine Asian representation in high fashion. The young model’s breakthrough moment came with immediate impact.
Rise in the International Fashion Scene
That season, she walked for prestigious houses including Chanel and Maison Martin Margiela. Her presence on European runways signaled a new era for Asian models in luxury fashion.
The following years saw her command catwalks across four fashion capitals. She became a regular presence in New York, London, Milan, and Paris shows.
Collaborations with Iconic Designers
Her partnership with Dries Van Noten proved particularly meaningful. The Belgian designer’s intellectual aesthetic aligned perfectly with her understated yet striking presence.
She also worked with Alexander McQueen, bringing dramatic intensity to his theatrical shows. Christopher Kane featured her in commercial campaigns that reached British high streets.
| Fashion Capital | Designers | Years Active |
|---|---|---|
| Paris | Chanel, Dries Van Noten, Maison Martin Margiela | 2007-2009 |
| New York | Various ready-to-wear collections | 2008-2009 |
| London | Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane | 2008-2009 |
| Milan | Dolce & Gabbana, other Italian houses | 2008-2009 |
| Seoul | Local designers | 2009 |
Kim’s career trajectory moved at remarkable speed. From unknown to international fixture in just two years, she embodied fashion’s accelerated pace.
Daul Kim: Unmasking the Pressure and Personal Struggles
While celebrated on global catwalks, her personal writings revealed a profound disconnect between public success and private suffering. The fashion industry’s demanding pace created intense pressure that few outside the spotlight could comprehend.
High-Fashion Expectations and Emotional Turmoil
Representing South Korea on international stages brought overwhelming expectations. Each success seemed to deepen her sense of isolation rather than relieve it.
Friend Joy Yoon described the unique burden of being Korea’s face worldwide. This pressure created a loneliness that proved suffocating for someone so young.
Intimate Reflections on Her Blog
Her English-language blog offered raw glimpses into this internal struggle. The entries documented a deteriorating mental state with startling honesty.
One October entry captured her emotional reality: “mad depressed and overworked… the more i gain the more lonely it is.” She described feeling “like a ghost” despite her visible success.
The final blog post featured a video of British singer Jim Rivers’ track. This last entry became a haunting epitaph when read after her death.
Her writing style—lowercase, urgent, deeply personal—created intimacy with readers. Yet this vulnerability may have intensified the very pressure she sought to escape.
Media Coverage and the Narrative Surrounding Her Death
The news broke on November 19, 2009, with a stark police report from Paris. Model Daul Kim was found hanged in her apartment in the city’s 10th arrondissement. Her boyfriend discovered her and alerted authorities.
Paris police initially treated the death as an apparent suicide. This tragic event immediately generated competing explanations for her death.
Global News Perspectives and Local Insights
Her Seoul agency, Esteem, quickly pointed to professional pressure. They suggested the young artist felt lost after achieving so much, so young. This narrative of burnout aligned with her blog’s themes.
Meanwhile, her international agency confirmed her mother was traveling from Korea. The media spotlight intensified around the circumstances of her death.
Investigative Reports and Conflicting Accounts
Then, a darker story emerged. The Daily Beast reported she had messaged a close friend hours before her death. She described a violent fight with her boyfriend.
She expressed fear of leaving him. This account complicated the simple suicide hypothesis.
French authorities maintained their belief she committed suicide but kept the case open. Her family made her blog private, ending public access to her words.
Her death was the second model suicide in Paris that year. It also resonated within South Korea, a nation grappling with a high suicide rate among public figures.
Honoring the Legacy of a Trailblazing Icon
Her legacy endures not just in fashion archives but in the conversations she sparked. The model’s blog became a poignant record of the cost of success in a high-pressure industry.
Her Paris agency remembered her as a top model and a great friend. Her final blog entry, with its video titled “say hi to forever,” turned a British singer’s track into an accidental memorial.
Phrases like “mad depressed and overworked” are now shorthand for discussing mental health in creative fields. Her death forced the fashion world to confront its duty of care to young talent.
Daul Kim’s life and work opened doors for a generation of Asian models. Her story remains a powerful reminder of the complex person behind the public image.
