Forever 21 was founded in 1984 by Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang, Korean-American immigrants who are devout Christians. The company prints "John 3:16" on the bottom of its shopping bags. However, Forever 21's clothing lines — particularly its fast fashion targeting teenagers — often feature immodest styles that create tension with Christian values.
Do Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang founded Forever 21 after immigrating from South Korea in 1981. They are devout Christians who attribute their extraordinary business success to God's blessing. The John 3:16 printing on Forever 21 shopping bags is their public expression of faith — the verse "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" appears on every bag as a quiet testimony.
The Changs have spoken about their faith in multiple interviews, describing prayer and church attendance as central to their lives and business decisions.
The complexity of Forever 21 as a Christian company is that its core business — affordable fast fashion primarily targeting teenage girls and young women — regularly produces clothing with immodest cuts, revealing designs, and styles that biblical modesty principles (1 Timothy 2:9, 1 Peter 3:3-4) would suggest Christians should avoid wearing.
This creates an honest tension: the founders are genuinely Christian, the bags carry John 3:16, but the products they sell are often not what a biblically-minded Christian fashion guide would recommend. Christian parents shopping for teenage daughters should exercise discernment about specific items regardless of the company's faith foundation. The company went bankrupt in 2019 and has since been restructured.
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