Editor’s Note
This article reports on the successful debut of a collaboration collection with the Korea Heritage Service at The Hyundai Seoul, which drew over 670 visitors in its first five hours. The experiential space showcases fashion inspired by folk paintings, mother-of-pearl, and Hunminjeongeum, alongside Korean seal engraving activities.
The collaboration collection with the Korea Heritage Service debuted at The Hyundai Seoul, attracting over 670 visitors within the first five hours of opening. The experiential space features fashion inspired by folk paintings, mother-of-pearl, and Hunminjeongeum, along with Korean seal engraving activities.
At the entrance, designed to resemble a traditional gate with a tiled roof and dancheong (traditional decorative painting), visitors continuously pulled out their smartphones. Beyond the iconic yellow frame symbolizing ‘National Geographic Apparel,’ heritage videos played. At a photo zone adorned with Korean traditional culture—folk paintings, mother-of-pearl, and gat (traditional hats)—people lined up to take photos and videos.
‘National Geographic Apparel’ launched the ‘K-Heritage Collection’ in collaboration with the Korea Heritage Service on the 16th, opening a pop-up store on the second basement floor of The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul. (Photo by Reporter Jeong Jeong-suk)
The Nature Holdings-operated ‘National Geographic Apparel’ opened the pop-up store on the 16th to celebrate the launch of the ‘K-Heritage Collection’ in collaboration with the Korea Heritage Service. This marks the first presentation of a collection that reinterprets the aesthetic forms of Korean traditional culture—Hunminjeongeum, folk paintings, mother-of-pearl, and dancheong—into clothing, shoes, accessories, and lifestyle products.
This pop-up expands national heritage from being confined to museums and exhibition spaces into everyday content that consumers can wear, carry, and use. Tigers from folk paintings appear on T-shirts, Hunminjeongeum script adorns dresses, and mother-of-pearl and sipjangsaeng (Ten Symbols of Longevity) patterns are transferred to tumblers and key rings.
On the opening day, from 11 a.m. to around 4 p.m., the cumulative number of visitors reached 668. Despite being a weekday afternoon, the store was crowded with domestic and international customers examining products and visitors taking photos for social media. Staff members constantly moved between the warehouse and the store to restock items, and the turnover was so fast that clothes on display racks were replaced with new products within about 20 minutes.
The pop-up interior is divided into ‘Folk Painting,’ ‘Mother-of-Pearl,’ and ‘Hunminjeongeum’ display zones, along with a ‘Program Zone.’ It is designed to showcase the original forms of national heritage alongside modern reinterpretations, allowing consumers to experience them firsthand.
In the folk painting display zone, traditional painting motifs such as tigers and sipjangsaeng are applied to T-shirts, kids’ wear, and bags. The front of a purple short-sleeve T-shirt features a humorous tiger with the phrase ‘KOREA HERITAGE.’ Elements of sipjangsaeng—mountains, sun, clouds, pine trees, cranes, deer, and turtles—are also incorporated into clothing and accessories.
At a photo zone with three-dimensional folk painting and sipjangsaeng compositions, visitors wearing the collection were notably taking photos and videos. Customers also crowded in front of fitting rooms to try on products.
In the mother-of-pearl display zone, iridescent mother-of-pearl patterns on a black lacquer base caught the eye. Alongside traditional najeonchilgi (mother-of-pearl lacquerware) pieces, everyday items such as mother-of-pearl tumblers, norigae (traditional ornament) key rings, and jewelry boxes were displayed side by side.
A black mother-of-pearl tumbler features small mother-of-pearl graphics of mountains, sun, cranes, deer, and turtles from sipjangsaeng. The patterns shimmer in green, purple, and pink depending on the lighting and viewing angle. A key ring combining traditional norigae forms with mother-of-pearl, metal frames, and tassels in black, navy, purple, and red was also introduced.
Among the displayed items, the product most directly revealing the traditional craft process is the ‘K-Heritage Mother-of-Pearl Jewelry Box.’ This jewelry box, imbued with the auspicious meanings of sipjangsaeng, incorporates the craftsmanship of master artisan Oh Myeong-ho, a cultural heritage artisan who has continued the najeonchilgi tradition for over 40 years through two generations.
On a black lacquer base, sipjangsaeng patterns of cranes, deer, pine trees, and clouds are expressed in mother-of-pearl, with the surface color changing depending on the viewing angle.
The space also includes descriptions introducing the work process of mother-of-pearl master Lee Hyeong-ok and the cultural significance of mother-of-pearl. Panels explaining the artisans, craft techniques, and cultural backgrounds are placed next to each product to aid visitor understanding.
The Hunminjeongeum display zone features bright walls with a hanji (traditional Korean paper) texture filled with Hunminjeongeum characters, with a black dress displayed in front. The hem of the dress subtly incorporates Hunminjeongeum patterns, translating the aesthetic beauty of Hangul into fashion design.
This space also exhibits the work of calligrapher Go-dang Kim Jong-dae, along with explanations of Hunminjeongeum. The description notes that the structural beauty and formal balance of Hunminjeongeum have been reinterpreted into modern graphic patterns. Traditional calligraphy and modern clothing overlap in one space, intuitively showing the intersection of tradition and fashion that this collection aims for.
The kids’ collection also incorporates traditional elements such as folk paintings, dancheong, mother-of-pearl, and Hunminjeongeum. The nature, animals, and auspicious meanings contained in traditional paintings are expressed through colors and graphics tailored to children’s active lifestyles. On-site, many family customers were seen examining kids’ products alongside adult items.
The product range extends beyond clothing. Tufted rugs with three-dimensional dancheong patterns from palaces and temples, tea sets, mother-of-pearl tumblers, key rings, and jewelry boxes are displayed like individual artworks on metal shelves. The modern space, based on concrete and metal materials, is enhanced with hanji textures, mother-of-pearl patterns, folk painting graphics, and Hunminjeongeum typography, with National Geographic’s yellow frames placed throughout.
Product sales were brisk. Short-sleeve T-shirts and shirts, highly practical for summer, sold well, and interest in kids’ products continued. A field official stated:
In the program zone, product purchases are linked to traditional cultural experiences. Customers spending over 100,000 KRW receive a mother-of-pearl hand mirror, and those spending over 150,000 KRW receive a seal engraved with their name in Hangul. On-site, the engraving of customer names onto seals was in progress. Social media certification events and a gacha machine event were also operated.
The pop-up store at The Hyundai Seoul will run until the 22nd. National Geographic Apparel will continue the event at Shinsegae Centum City in Busan starting the 23rd. Subsequently, they plan to sequentially operate K-Heritage pop-up stores at major locations such as Lotte World Mall in Jamsil.
A field official commented:
