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Hanbok is traditional Korean clothing characterized by colorful but elegant patterns. Usually, Hanbok was worn mainly on special occasions or holidays such as Chuseok and Lunar New Year. However, as global K-pop stars such as BLACKPINK and BTS chose Hanbok for their stage costumes, interest in Korean traditional costumes has increased worldwide. In fact, after they performed on stage wearing Hanbok, the number of searches on Google for "Hanbok" skyrocketed. In particular, when the comeback stage of BLACKPINK performing in Hanbok was revealed, thousands of visitors flocked to the online shopping mall of the Hanbok brand. Ms. Dan-Ha Kim, CEO of the shopping mall, said “we are a small online shopping platform for domestic consumers, but as overseas consumer traffic suddenly surged, all of the Hanbok products on the site were sold out in an instant.”
The expanding influence of Hanbok can be seen from the fact that many video clips of people from different nationalities performing cover dances wearing Hanbok are uploaded on YouTube. As Hanbok is becoming increasingly popular globally, luxury brands are also interested in Hanbok and they are using patterns and colors in their designs.
Hanbok x Luxury Brands
1/ Reinterpretation of Hanbok using Dior fashion items
In May, French luxury fashion brand Dior held 2022 F/W fashion show at Ewha Womans University ECC (Ewha Campus Complex) in South Korea. This show was the first global fashion show after the three years of the pandemic, so it was more meaningful that Seoul and Ewha Womans University was chosen for the show.
Ewha Womans University ECC was designed by famous French architect Dominique Perrault in 2008 and is characterized by its nature-friendly design using the old building. Moreover, Dior and Ewha Womans University agreed on a partnership to support future woman leaders, and this fashion show drew more attention as it was the significant first step to strengthening their partnership.
Pietro Beccari, Chairman and CEO of Dior, said, "We chose Seoul for this special show as the city is the World’s most vibrant place where best suits to connect with Dior’s long heritage.” Featuring a narrative collection from Dior’s creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, many key figures from the fashion industry both from domestic and international gathered around the place.
Yuna Kim, a former figure skater, and Dior’s ambassador attended the fashion show wearing a re-interpretation style of Hanbok using Dior items. A Dior skirt resembles Hanbok's luxurious skirt, and a Dior bag look like a traditional Korean clutch bag well matched together. In addition, a sweater with calm patterns on the top modernized the overall outfit. With this outfit, Yuna Kim was praised highly by the press for showing the beauty of Korea especially as she is an ambassador of Hanbok.
2/ “Saekdong Jacket” Collection of “Gucci Gaok”
Gucci Gaok, Gucci’s second flagship store in Korea, presents a special collection. This collection is inspired by "Saekdong Jeogori, one of the types of Hanbok which are characterized by stripes of colors in red, green, yellow, and blue.” Gucci has been collaborating with other brands by combining two logos together or using characters in their design usually. However, this special collection means beyond a simple collaboration as Gucci developed their own patterns inspired by a culture of a specific country for the first time.
3/ The Daenggi of Louis Vuitton
Jung Ho-Yeon, a global ambassador of Louis Vuitton and one of the main characters of Netflix's original series "The Squid Game", showed up at SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Awards wearing a “Daenggi”. Daenggi is a hair accessory worn with Hanbok, and it completes the Korean traditional outfit. The Daenggi she had worn on the day was made by Louis Vuitton’s designer, Nicola Jeschiere, and it is even more special in that a luxury designer made traditional Korean accessory. The fact that Jung Ho-Yeon wore a Louis Vuitton dress with a Korean accessory was groundbreaking, and Vogue, a world-renowned fashion magazine, commended this collaboration as "a significant blend of Hollywood's charm and Korean tradition."
Patterns and styles of Hanbok will continue to be used in new and interesting ways that catch the public’s eye. Examples of luxury brand’s using Hanbok will continue to come out and the fashion industry will see an increase in creative ideas that are inspired by traditional beauty.