Hanbok expo highlights shift toward everyday wear
Rolls of silk in deep blue, pale jade and translucent pink covered one corner of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) on Friday, as merchants unspooled the fabric across their tables and walked visitors through the differences in weight and weave. A few steps away hung cropped tweed jackets, button-front skirts, jeans, mini bags and jewelry, all of them drawing inspiration from hanbok, or traditional…
Silk fabrics of various shades adorned a section of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza on Friday, as merchants displayed clothing inspired by traditional Korean attire. Nearby, modern garments such as tweed jackets, skirts, jeans, bags, and jewelry echoed the aesthetic of hanbok. The 2026 Hanbok Expo kicked off on Thursday at the DDP Art Hall in central Seoul and will run for four days.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with the Korea Craft and Design Foundation, organized the ninth edition, which will feature 149 hanbok businesses and institutions. The event's launch coincides with the designation of hanbok saenghwal, or hanbok lifestyle, as a National Intangible Heritage in July 2022. The Korean government is actively promoting the hanbok lifestyle, with the aim of gaining UNESCO's Intangible Heritage listing by 2030. A booth near the entrance will collect visitor signatures in support of this initiative.
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- Hanbok expo highlights shift toward everyday wear koreatimes.co.kr
