Culture ministry launches hanbok promotion in Milan and Paris

The culture ministry said Monday it will hold its first hanbok overseas base promotion in Milan and Paris from Sept. 22 to Oct. 6 to help domestic brands enter the global fashion market.

Five hanbok brands selected for their competitiveness—Leesle, Muluft, Ondata, Sinseoul and Haple—will participate in the program, showcasing products that blend traditional aesthetics with modern materials and designs.

Operating primarily as a business-to-business platform linked to Milan Fashion Week, the promotion includes brand exhibitions, presentation sessions and one-on-one customized export consultations. The ministry organized these meetings by pre-connecting participating brands with major distributors and professional buying firms.

Following the Milan events, two brands will continue to a showroom at the Hotel Marcel-Dassault in Paris from Oct. 1 to 6. The ministry selected these two participants based on their performance in Milan, aiming to maintain continuity in securing export channels.

Jeong Hyang-mi, head of the culture and arts policy bureau at the ministry, described hanbok as representative K-content that combines traditional beauty with modern design. "Through this event, we hope our hanbok will establish itself as a competitive content in the global fashion market, and that domestic brands will build sustained business relationships with foreign distribution networks to advance into the world market," she said.