The third hot topic is "the spine breaker is a thing of the past."

Remember how the term "spine breaker" was coined when expensive padding jackets costing hundreds of thousands to over 1 million won became a trend among students?

Well, that is now a thing of the past.

Fortunately, relatively affordable padding jackets are trending lately.

This year, lightweight padding jackets from SPA brands costing less than 100,000 won are gaining popularity through word of mouth among students.

People are even calling them "spine protectors" instead of spine breakers.

In fact, sales of lightweight padding jackets for children at one SPA brand surged 320% from August to this month compared to the same period last year.

Back in the 2010s, high-end padding jackets served as a secondary school uniform that determined a sense of belonging among peers, but recently, comfortable everyday wear and athletic wear have become more common than school uniforms.

This is analyzed to be the result of more students layering zip-up hoodies or lightweight padding jackets, taking into consideration indoor heating conditions and mobility.

In addition to the spread of a practical culture, high inflation must also be seen as having had an impact.

According to the Statistics Korea, the consumer price index for jumpers stood at 120.59 as of last September.

This marks a 6.3% increase compared to the same month last year.

It is also worth noting that this increase rate was more than twice as large as the overall consumer price rise of 2.9% from a year earlier.