The Hanbok Wave fashion project is bringing traditional Korean dress to the world

London’s Korean Cultural Centre transformed into a runway last week with the launch of Hanbok Wave, a project designed to transform traditional Korean dress into a collection of men’s and women’s clothing.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with Korea Craft and Design Foundation combined with 10 Korean designers to host a one-off show in London where they presented 30 outfits out of an overall 60 created.

The Hanbok Wave fashion event is part of the 2022 Hallyu Collaborative Content Planning and Development, with world-renowned South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim’s “personality and image” acting as the inspiration for the collection.

The 10 designers selected for the event are Morinori, Liv Damyeon, Lee Young-Ae Traditional Clothes, Hyeon, Heyum Hanbok, Happly, Haemi By Saimdang, Guiroe, Geumuijae and C-Zann E.

Images of the collection will be featured in Marie Claire France, and at the end of the year, Hanbok Wave’s pictorial video will be shown on billboards in New York’s Times Square as part of a project “that supports the Hanbok industry to pioneer overseas markets through collaboration with Hallyu cultural artists.”

The fashion event video will also be shown on the V&A museum’s social channels related to the current Hallyu! Korean Wave exhibition “adding a synergistic effect to the spread of the Korean Wave.”

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, “As Hanbok and Hallyu are listed in the Oxford Dictionary, interest in Korean Hanbok is increasing abroad through popular culture. We look forward to the global audience discovering the charm of Hanbok and designers in the Hanbok field to expand into the world.”