Kim Chi

Sang-Young Shin (; born August 8, 1987), known professionally as Kim Chi, is an American drag queen, artist, entrepreneur, and television personality best known for competing on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Shin was the first Korean-American contestant on the show as well as the first Korean-American drag queen on American national television. She owns the beauty brand Kim Chi Chic Cosmetics.

Early life Sang-Young Shin was born in the United States on August 8, 1987, and lived in South Korea as a child. Her parents, who are divorced, also live in Chicago. As of 2016, Shin lived in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. She attended Okemos High School. As of 2017, her mother did not know she did drag until she reached fame on TV. Shin studied graphic design in college before working as an art director and exploring sculpture, fashion design, and painting. As she established herself in Chicago's drag scene, she developed a highly stylized persona inspired by anime, fashion, and Korean popular culture, characterized by elaborate makeup, sculptural costumes, and exaggerated femininity. Shin has described the character as "a live action anime character" whose fashion aesthetic could be described as "bionic doily", adding that she celebrates "all things cute, fun, weird, and exotic."

Following the competition, Shin returned for several Drag Race franchise productions. She competed in the television special RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular in 2018.

Outside the Drag Race franchise, Shin served as a guest judge on the drag-themed episode of the first series of Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star in 2019. She later appeared on the spin-off competition RuPaul's Celebrity Drag Race in 2020 and competed on the Hulu reality competition series Drag Me to Dinner in 2023.

In May 2017, Shin joined the North American leg of the Werq the World tour, an international drag concert tour hosted by Bianca Del Rio and Michelle Visage. The tour also featured Alaska Thunderfuck, Alyssa Edwards, Detox, Latrice Royale, and Violet Chachki.

Business ventures Following her appearance on RuPaul's Drag Race, Shin expanded into the beauty industry through cosmetics collaborations and other commercial ventures. In 2016, she partnered with Sugarpill Cosmetics to develop a collection that included Kim Chi Liquid Lip Color, a donut-scented lipstick, and Kim Chi Electric Teal Eyeshadow.

Later that year, Shin released Kimchiji, a package of emoji and stickers featuring her catchphrases and illustrations associated with her drag persona, which was made available through Apple as the Kimchiji Keyboard App and Kimchiji Sticker Pack.

In 2025, Shin collaborated with Korean-American streetwear brand Sundae School to create Kim Chi Over Flowers, cannabis edible gummies flavored with vegan kimchi.

Shin published two books in 2025: a superhero graphic novel co-written with Stephan Lee, Donutella Hamachi and the Library Avengers, and a cookbook, Kim Chi Eats the World.

Recognition In June 2019, a panel of judges from New York magazine placed her 17th on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former Drag Race contestants.