[Journalism Internship] Traditional Korean clothes meet the metaverse

Hanbok, common Korean clothing, is obtaining a far more present day seem by means of the use of several modern types. Consultant contemporary hanbok model Leesle, represented by designer Hwang Yi-seul, who has 17 many years of encounter earning hanbok, has been worn by many famed famous people, together with worldclass boy band BTS, comic Yu JaeSeok and dancer Aiki.  
 
Leesle tried to globalize hanbok by introducing hanbok-type pajamas in collaboration with the brand name SPAO and hanbok made of recycled plastic in collaboration with upcycling materials enterprise Hyosung.  
 
Throughout a latest interview, Hwang expressed her intention to introduce outfits that can make anyone a “cultural evangelist” just by providing them as gifts. She explained, “[Leesle] is a brand that conveys the appeal of hanbok, which is not just worn on a exclusive day, but makes any day a special day when sporting it, and is inspired by tradition. It has been reborn as a helpful trend, solidifying its mission as a brand picked as an exceptional cultural merchandise for the seventh consecutive calendar year.”  
 
On top of that, Leesle has been marketing hanbok by collaborating with MetaJoseon, known by its virtual character Somi, in the NFT business enterprise. NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a digital file on blockchain that has a unique asset uniqueness.  
 
MetaJoseon is a company that introduces style that brings together modernity and tradition in the metaverse through the company’s virtual influencer Somi. Somi was “born” in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) but arrived to the current fashionable moments as a result of a time warp. Hwang expressed her ambition to make hanbok a aspect of world-wide information by growing her brand’s project to combine hanbok into equally the metaverse and blockchain technological know-how by through this collaboration.
 
“NFT is a trending issue all over the entire world these times. So, we think if the manufacturing-primarily based hanbok field is transformed into a blockchain-based electronic market, it will be a very good leap to secure foreseeable future competitiveness,” Hwang stated.  
 
Leesle mentioned that controversy encompassing the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Olympics led to the structure of one of their hanbok based on common Korean tradition.  
 

Found lying, Somi is a virtual character jointly produced by Leesle and MetaJoseon. [LEESLE x METAJOSEON]

At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, there was controversy in excess of cultural appropriation in which China regarded Korea’s regular culture as the society of a single of China’s minorities.  
 
“Our hanbok was intended to emphasis on ‘Korean culture’ relatively than Leesle,” Hwang mentioned. adding that 9 of Somi’s profile-form NFTs had been predicted to quickly be unveiled.  
 
“Our objective is to very first attempt, and make errors, and then discover means to share our activities with men and women who aspiration of the identical challenge, and experience the similar with a very little significantly less failure,” Hwang stressed.
 

A conventional Korean upper garment made by Leesle [LEESLE]

 
In addition to the NFT-associated assignments with MetaJoseon, Leesle is taking aspect in many attempts to globalize hanbok. Since 2016, for occasion, the corporation has been main a campaign that encourages persons to use hanbok when traveling overseas.  
 
“It is a movement aimed at donning hanbok at journey places, and the product or service orders from foreign shoppers have greater significantly during the marketing campaign,” Hwang mentioned.  
 
“Clothes are built to have on, and if people hang them in a museum, these will turn into relics, not clothing. So, we want people today to dress in them, not just see hanbok as relics,” the designer main continued.  
 
In her continual tries to popularize hanbok, Hwang also mentioned that her corporation hopes persons do not just criticize modern-day hanbok for undermining the exclusive capabilities of traditional hanbok, but relatively carry notice to it.
 
“We consider donning hanbok is additional significant than determining if modern day hanbok is standard or not.” 
 

Leesle CEO Hwang Yi-seul [LEESLE]

BY CHOI MIN-JOO, EOM SE-BIN AND YUN HA-YEON [[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]]