Born in the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown, the half-Chinese and half-Korean Kim Wu grew up steeped in the arts of Kung Fu. Instructed by her beloved uncle—trained in the alley right behind his shop—Kim was told from an early age that she would one day help save the world from some great calamity. But the teenager was far more concerned about making it through design school and getting a job in the fashion industry than worrying about potential cataclysms. In her spare time, she helped run the family kite shop, keeping a watchful eye on her spectacularly lazy twin cousins.