Clothes of Wind

 One day in October 2020, the New York Times reported that Hanbok has attracted more and more attention from the world as more innovative designers modernize traditional Korean clothes and wear the fashion products popularly by K-pop stars. + 

Of course, even before that in 1993, famous designer Lee Young-hee held a fashion show in Paris under the banner of ‘Clothes of Wind’, and at that time, it was highly favored by foreign shoppers.

Since then, many Korean designers have inherited Madame Lee’s designing work and have been widely promoting the unique beauty and excellence of Hanbok through the design of more creative and trendy fashion products. That’s one of the interesting news of fashion business world.

The following debate about the beauty and excellence of Hanbok will probably be of interest to anyone and may also be convinced. ++

First, Hanbok is more beautiful to women than men, although people’s perspectives are different. Anyway, the top and jacket(jeogori) of female Hanbok are tightly attached to the body, and the bottoms and skirts(chima) are amply, making the beauty of lady stand out.

Among the collections of the Kansong Art Museum, which has been exhibited at the Dongdaemun market ddp for a long time, ‘Portrait of a Beauty,’ the work of the famous painter Shin Yun-bok (1758-1813) of the Joseon dynasty, is an immortal cultural asset and is probably popular anywhere in the world. +++

The painting, which is quite good enough to be compared to the beauty of the Mona Lisa, showed her own beauty as a model in it, and furthermore, her beautiful figure dressed in Hanbok will also make the artistry of the old fashion designers admired.

Second, the advantage of Hanbok is remarkable in that it is designed in various colors exposed in nature. The reason why Hanbok is so beautiful is because colors in harmony with nature are preferred by everyone.


The color of Hanbok symbolized social position and marital status. Bright colors, for example, were generally worn by children and girls. And, unmarried women often wore yellow jeogori and red chima while matrons wore green and red, and women with sons donned navy blue. 


-Some of the popular Dongdaemun fashion items we exported last week, seoulclick.com-


In particular, Koreans traditionally wear clothes of various colors on some of the family’s feast days including public holidays. Saekdong jeogori is a representative example. The costume is painted in the so-called ‘obangsaek’, a color scheme of five traditional Korean colors of white, black, blue, yellow and red.


Third, through a flat design, a Hanbok can be naturally wrapped and tightened with clothes, rather than putting the body in the clothes, so that a unique style can stand out according to the body shape of each person. In this respect, Hanbok is different from the western-style clothes, and its design often reveals its beauty.


Lastly, Hanbok stands out with its artistic curves so that we call it ‘clothes of the line’. The delicate harmony of straight lines and curves is also worth complimenting the beauty of the clothes.


Thanks to the beauty of this Hanbok, it has become common for foreign tourists who come to Korea to borrow their costumes at low prices and visit various old palaces in Seoul for free. In addition, they buy a bit of items as souvenirs at Gwangjang market, a mall specializing in Hanbok located in the Dongdaemun shopping district.


Just that Gwangjang market discussed now is a marketplace of modernized buildings that was first established in the early 1900s under the name of Dongdaemun market. Since then, when the modernized Pyeonghwa market was opened in the early 1960s, it has begun to become a huge shopping district as it is today, and Gwangjang market in the shopping complex has continued its tradition as a mall that specializes in selling Hanbok and its fabrics and parts. 


The market not only sells Hanbok, a traditional fashion product, but also sells fabrics and parts for the clothes amid the modernization of Hanbok.


In a situation where the consumer preference for Hanbok is increasing due to the strong Korean wave, Gwangjang market is satisfying the desire of domestic and foreign shoppers by purchasing excellent Hanbok designed and manufactured in a modern trend based on the tradition of Hanbok at low prices. 


Opening in the midst of the Corona Pandemic, online performances of K-pop stars are definitely becoming hot news that has emerged as the star marketing of Hanbok.


“Girl group Blackpink unveiled its new song ‘How You Like That’ on NBC’s ‘Jimmy Fallon Show’. The modernized Korean traditional dress, Hanbok, caught the eyes of viewers. The music video with Blackpink wearing the Hanbok garnered 170 million views.” ++++

According to the recent NBC News, after the BTS members’ western-style clothes made of Hanbok fabric were exposed to numerous fans, the world’s interest in Hanbok is growing more and more. +++++ 

As such, Dongdaemun market produces very beautiful Hanbok and its fabric provides happiness to people around the world through wholesale and retail. Hanbok, praised for its clothes of wind, will continue to be popular like a strong storm in the future.

+ nytimes.com/2020.10., A Centuries-Old Korean Style Gets an Update

++ blog.paradise.co.kr, The roots of Korean fashion, the characteristics and charm of Hanbok

+++ en.wikipedia.org / wiki, Portrait of a Beauty

 ++++ ariranginstitute.org, K-pop Group Blackpink sport Modern Hanbok.

 +++++ KBS News, March 31, 2021.

<47>



Bong Sul (Advisor, SeoulClick)

www.seoulclick.com

Read more: Bong (Bong Sik) Sul, Dongdaemun Style, ebook.kstudy.com, Seoul, 2019.

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