Thousands of foreigners walking around Seoul’s palace ground is a very familiar sight to any international media. The beauty of traditional hanbok is no hidden fact thanks to hundreds of historical Korean dramas and movies, also a total fashion statement/airport look for kpop idols trending round the globe 24/7. As a k-culture fan myself, it appealed to me more for the fact that it is unisex.
Here comes the but.
Korean fashion is known for its layered brilliance. Guess what, hanbok is the mother of the all. When I was doing my research, there were literally over 50 types of hanbok and god save me from the accessories list.
Let’s just roll over the timelines of hanbok real fast.
Source credit: National clothing
Origin - Three Kingdoms of Korea period (1th century BC ~ 7th century AD)
Silla Kingdom - Influenced by Chinese fashion. The people wore long jackets fastened at the waist, over long skirts.
Gogyeo Dynasty (918-1392) - Influenced by Mongolian fashion, shortening the chima, and the jeogori was shorter about the waist and tied with a long ribbon, and the sleeves were curved slightly.
Joseon Kingdom (1392-1897) - A turning point in the gradual transformation of hanbok. Jeogori was being worn over the chest and an additional white sash banded around the chest.
Mid-20th Century - Trend was reversed and the jeogori once again was in a longer length that typically hits a little above the waist.
1990s - The late Lee Young Hee, a well-known Korean designer, introduced the hanbok-inspired styles in Paris and New York. Hence, the birth of contemporary hanbok.
Source credit: LiveJournal
Source credit: Sonjjang Design Hanbok
New Hanbok:How this phenomenon is revolutionary for Korea
- Hanbok as Casual fashion:
With the existing standards, traditional clothings were not practical anymore. The fast life of 21st century asks for something that is easy to wear which would be a challenge as Hanbok consists of 15 minimun accessories. A plethora of different styles of modern hanbok with something to suit every gender, fashion and occasion exist these days. There are beautiful lace dress options, or linen shorts-and-shirt casual styles. There are matching sets for couples, and there are wedding designs available too.
- The Internet factor:
Since communal cultural heritage such as hanbok is not under copyright, anyone, regardless of nationality, can engage in creative activities using hanbok as a creative resource.
Be it any Asian country, say Vietnam, china or South Korea, their popularity made new visitors swarm in and be curious about the tradition, eventually leading them to wear the traditional clothing and save the pictures as souvenirs. And as the world grew digital, the words along with pictures and videos of the heart-throbe kpop idols slaying those airport/stage looks flooded all over the world,.
- Marketing:
There enters the business. More people interests more money. Making the traditional wear more practical with the current trend attracted global market to take steps beyond cultural nationalism.
The special exhibition held at Korean Cultural Center New York featured the creative hanbok works by Ying Bonny Cai, which is evaluated as a monumental project by a non–Korean.
- What to expect:
Recognizing the global trends, the fear of losing the hegemony for future of hanbok is real. The fashion wizards must not give up on the research, development, efforts on promoting researches on the direction of hanbok. The essence of any history lies in their clothing and within the modernization of it, sticking to the Magic of Hanbok can be challenging for sure, but yet the most interesting part of creativity.