![BTS poses in front of Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul at the start of its performance on March 21 to mark its comeback and the launch of its fifth studio album ″Arirang.″ [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/13/d9cccfd8-2b6e-4344-9a5a-a199eda3c9ca.jpg)
BTS poses in front of Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul at the start of its performance on March 21 to mark its comeback and the launch of its fifth studio album ″Arirang.″ [YONHAP]
When K-pop megaband BTS held its comeback performance in
Seoul on March 21 to celebrate the release of its fifth
studio album “Arirang,” the group appeared in black-and-white ensembles that resembled ink landscape drawings against the painted eaves of Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbok Palace.
The members’ outfits, designed by the Korean label Songzio, came as a surprise, considering that most of them serve as ambassadors for global luxury houses, including Dior, Gucci and Celine.
More striking still was the restraint. Given the symbolism of the performance’s
royal backdrop and the group’s status as a global representative of Korea, the outfits could easily have tipped into something overtly traditional. Instead, the band’s stylists and its clothing designer opted for subtlety, allowing the nuances of
hanbok, or traditional Korean clothing, to surface through soft lines and sculptural volume.
“We incorporated the flexibility of hanbok so that the performers could move freely onstage,” said Song Jae-woo, the creative director of Songzio and the mind behind the “Lyrical Armor” theme of the band’s outfits.
BTS’s choice of clothing marks a shift in the stature of Korean fashion, or K-fashion, which has long existed on the margins of mainstream global culture compared to K-pop.
However, armed with distinctly Korean elements, a refined aesthetic and a keen awareness of trends, K-fashion — particularly Korean designers — has gained momentum on the powerful tail wind of K-pop, achieving a global presence stronger than at any point in time before.
![EJAE, left, and Audrey Nuna perform ″Golden″ (2025) from ″KPop Demon Hunters″ (2025) during the 98th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15. [EPA/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/13/9bb1314c-b4bd-4dc9-b6b2-25e8700117eb.jpg)
EJAE, left, and Audrey Nuna perform ″Golden″ (2025) from ″KPop Demon Hunters″ (2025) during the 98th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15. [EPA/YONHAP]
A few days before BTS’s Gwanghwamun performance, singer EJAE wore a custom white dress adorned with bold gold ornaments across the bodice and sleeves to the 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, where she won Best Original Song for the Netflix animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” (2025).
According to the Korean designer brand Leje, which designed EJAE’s dress for the ceremony, the embroidery drew inspiration from the
mugunghwa, or hibiscus flower motif, used in a ceremonial robe worn by Kim Ga-jin (1846-1923) — an official of the Korean Empire (1897-1910) and independence activist — in 1905. The metalwork, which evokes the form of ancient Korean crowns, was crafted by a traditional artisan specializing in brass.
Founded in 2018 by designers Je Yang-mo and Kang Ju-hyeong, Leje has built a reputation for combining intricate pattern-making with handcrafted elements.
The brand gained wider attention through collaborations with Jennie of Blackpink, who wore a Leje dress accented with metalwork in a Seoul tourism campaign video last year. At the 2025 Melon Music Awards, she appeared onstage in a Leje veil and jacket emblazoned with hangul.
![Blackpink's Jennie wears a Leje dress in a Seoul tourism promotional video released last year. [SEOUL TOURISM ORGANIZATION]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/13/9e83b136-9ba5-4192-adf8-c185337afdf6.jpg)
Blackpink’s Jennie wears a Leje dress in a Seoul tourism promotional video released last year. [SEOUL TOURISM ORGANIZATION]
“There has been a growing desire among K-pop artists to incorporate Korean elements into their stage outfits as their global stature rises,” said Je Yang-mo, the designer behind Leje. “But rather than something too obvious, they want designs that reinterpret tradition in a contemporary way — something that feels beautiful and relatable even to international audiences.”
The global fashion industry has begun to take notice.
Pitti Uomo, the world’s largest menswear trade fair, which takes place in Florence, selected the Korean brand Post Archive Faction, the brainchild of designers Lim Dong-jun and Jung Su-gyo, as a guest designer last year. The Korean label Ji Yong Kim received the same honor this year
.
Pitti Uomo’s guest designer program, which offers a select few designers the opportunity to present solo shows and exhibitions, is among the fair’s most prominent platforms. Past participants include Virgil Abloh’s Off-White, JW Anderson and Sacai.
Global brands have also begun to ride the K-fashion wave. Last year, Nike released a sneaker collection in collaboration with the Korean label Hyein Seo — its first partnership with a Korean designer brand.
![A Nike advertisement for sneakers designed in collaboration with the Korean brand Hyein Seo [NIKE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/13/042c11b6-6ee2-409c-9632-c26b1b18b855.jpg)
A Nike advertisement for sneakers designed in collaboration with the Korean brand Hyein Seo [NIKE]
The shift is also reflected in sales. At Seoul Fashion Week, which takes place twice annually at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the number of orders has steadily increased, reaching $6.13 million for the spring-summer 2025 season and $6.71 million for the 2025 fall-winter season. By February, during the spring-summer 2026 season, that figure climbed to $7.54 million.
Still, industry experts caution that growth remains in its early stages. What is clear, they say, is that the current surge of interest in Korean culture presents a window of opportunity for K-fashion to expand its global influence.
“In the past, simply introducing Korean designer brands overseas was a challenge,” Song said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. “K-pop has become a key channel for showcasing Korean culture, and within that flow, K-fashion is increasingly being recognized as a cultural language in its own right.”
That dynamic was on display again at a BTS performance in New York on March 23, during which members V and J-Hope took the stage wearing traditional accessories designed by the hanbok-inspired brand Leesle.
For designers, the implications are clear. “When K-pop artists choose Korean fashion, their clothing becomes content in itself,” Je said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. “If we continue to focus on quality and refinement, these brands can become far more influential.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY YOO JI-YOEN [[email protected]]