Exploring Both the Depth and Contemporary Reach of Tradition

Envisioning Future Ways of Living through Traditional Culture

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – Arumjigi Foundation, led by Chairwoman J. Kathryn Hong, will participate in Material Practices at Frieze Seoul 2026, taking place at COEX in Seoul from September 2 to 5. Ahead of the fair, the Foundation will open its 2026 Exhibition Within the Folds on August 27 at its Tongui-dong headquarters.

One is an international art platform commanding global attention; the other is Arumjigi’sTongui-dong headquarters, where the Foundation has long presented the results of its research. Viewed together, the two initiatives bring Arumjigi’s position into sharper focus. Its step onto the international stage is not a one-off event, but a natural extension of 25 years spent researching and reinterpreting Korea’s cultures of clothing, food, and housing. Arumjigi regards tradition not as a legacy frozen in time, but as a source of wisdom and beauty through which to consider how we live today. Through the attitudes and values embedded in Korean culture, the Foundation seeks to show that preserving tradition and engaging with the world are part of the same endeavor.

This outlook is encapsulated in Arumjigi’s 2026 slogan, Heritage Tomorrow – an invitation to carry forward what matters, together. It proposes that artisans and designers, researchers and the public come together to sustain tradition as a culture that anyone can experience and take part in. At a time marked by climate crisis, natural disasters, social fragmentation, and trends that are consumed and forgotten at ever-increasing speed, Arumjigi turns to the essential values held within traditional culture. What do we value, and how do we choose to live? Rather than offering fixed answers, the two exhibitions create space for visitors to
reflect on their own lives today.

Frieze Seoul 2026: Material Practices – Arumjigi Booth (MP7)

At Frieze Seoul, the Arumjigi booth welcomes visitors into an immersive environment where they can experience a way of living shaped by traditional Korean values. Within a setting that brings the proportions of the traditional hanok into dialogue with the sensibilities of
contemporary chair-based living, visitors are invited to pause and reconsider the relevance of tradition. With its focus on materials and processes at the intersection of craft, design, and contemporary art, Frieze Seoul’s Material Practices section closely aligns with
Arumjigi’s longstanding effort to bring tradition into contemporary life.

The installation unfolds through two carefully composed spatial scenes. The first reimagines the sarangbang , a scholar’s room rooted in the floor-seated culture of the Joseon dynasty. Enveloped in hanji, traditional Korean paper, the intimate space translates
into a contemporary language the restraint and openness of the scholar’s life, along with its deep relationship to nature. The second scene is a space of exchange and hospitality informed by Korea’s historical standing culture. Works by ceramic artists Kwon Dae-sup, Lee Hun-chung, and Inchin Lee, together with those of yeomjang (master bamboo-blind artisan) Cho Dae-yong – all longtime collaborators of Arumjigi – come together to create a resonant encounter among objects, people, and time.

Through four themes – how we relate to time, how we regard objects, how we make, and how we form relationships – the exhibition offers an immediate expression of the values that shape Arumjigi’s vision of life. Floor-seated and standing ways of living from different periods are presented not as fragments of a disconnected past, but as part of a continuous cultural trajectory that reaches into the present, inviting visitors to imagine the lives we may choose to create in the future.

Arumjigi Exhibition 2026: Within the Folds 

Within the Folds is the eighth exhibition in Arumjigi’s annual exhibition series to focus on clothing – one of the three pillars of traditional Korean culture, alongside food and housing. Centered on the chima, the traditional Korean skirt that has accompanied the lives of Korean women for centuries, the exhibition traces the rich continuum of Korean dress culture from antiquity to the present. Unlike many Western skirts, whose silhouettes are largely determined by their cut, the traditional Korean chima fully takes shape only when worn: air gathers between its layers, allowing the silhouette to shift continuously with the movement of the body and the wind. Across three chapters, the exhibition unfolds the structural principles and aesthetic language of layering, which create a form that is difficult to imagine before it is set in motion on the body. 

The first chapter, ‘Where the Chima Takes Shape,’ charts changes in skirt types across different periods. Rarely seen examples are brought together, ranging from pleated skirts depicted in Goguryeo tomb murals and skirts constructed from wool and felt to a Unified Silla-period chima embroidered with iridescent jewel beetle wings that change color with the viewer’s angle. The second chapter, ‘Sentiments Stitched into the Chima,’ focuses on the devotion of artisans working across dyeing, weaving, and needlework, as well as on women’s enduring desire for beauty across time. Among the works on view is the Flower-and-Bird Embroidered Seuran Chima excavated from the tomb of Lady Yi of the Seongsan clan, the only surviving embroidered chima of its kind in Korea – a testament to beauty sustained despite the restrictions of its time and an arduous making process. The final chapter, ‘Chima Unfolded Today,’ presents new works by contemporary designers who reinterpret the structure and aesthetics of the traditional chima in the language of the present. 

Developed through in-depth research with Onjium Clothing Studio, the exhibition closely examines and reconstructs the structural techniques of the traditional chima. Contemporary fashion brands LEJE, JADEN CHO, and JiyongKim contribute their own distinct interpretations. LEJE places native plants and mother-of-pearl on an embroidered chima; JADEN CHO reimagines the splendor of historical aristocratic culture through contemporary embroidery and sequins; and JiyongKim combines zero-waste pattern cutting with Sun-Bleach, a process in which fabric is faded by sunlight. Together, the works demonstrate how tradition can come into full bloom through creative practice today. 

A series of public programs will invite visitors to engage more deeply with the exhibition’s themes. On September 12, an artist talk with LEJE, JADEN CHO, and JiyongKim will explore how the designers reinterpreted the traditional chima through contemporary fashion. Special evening openings featuring media art and other exhibition-related programs will also take place throughout the exhibition. 

A Dialogue Between Depth and Expansion 

Together, the two presentations offer a multifaceted view of both the foundations of Korean traditional culture and its contemporary expansion. At the Tongui-dong headquarters, visitors can look closely at the aesthetics of the chima and its layered construction; at the Frieze Seoul booth, they can experience proportions drawn from traditional culture and their extension into contemporary craft and design. 

“While our Tongui-dong headquarters represents the depth of Arumjigi’s 25 years of research, Frieze Seoul offers a platform for sharing its value with international audiences,” said J. Kathryn Hong, Chairwoman of Arumjigi Foundation. “We hope visitors moving between the two venues will fully experience the sensory richness that Korean traditional culture has to offer.” 

Arumjigi will continue to create opportunities for traditional culture to remain in close dialogue with contemporary life across the interconnected realms of clothing, food, and housing. 

Exhibition Details 

Frieze Seoul 2026: Material Practices – Arumjigi Booth (MP7)

Venue
COEX, 513 Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Artists
Kwon Dae-sup (Ceramics), Lee Hun-chung (Ceramics), Inchin Lee (Ceramics), Cho Dae-yong (Bamboo craft)

Exhibition Dates
September 2 – 5, 2026

Arumjigi Exhibition 2026: Within the Folds

Exhibition Dates
August 27 – November 15, 2026 (Closed on Mondays, Sep 24–27, and Oct 13)

Venue
Arumjigi Foundation, 17 Hyoja-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Organized and presented by
Arumjigi Foundation

In collaboration with
Onjium, the research institute for traditionl heritages affiliated with the Joongang Hwadong Foundation

Supported by
Cartier; Eagon Park Young-Joo Cultural Foundation; Korea Mecenat Association; Arts Council Korea; EANIT BEAMPLE

Participating research studio
Onjium Clothing Studio

Participating designers
LEJE; JADEN CHO; JiyongKim

Admission
KRW 10,000 (general adult admission)

Website
http://www.arumjigi.org

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/arumjigi/

Contact
arum@arumjigi.org

About Arumjigi Foundation

Founded in 2001, Arumjigi Foundation is a non-profit cultural foundation dedicated to rediscovering the beauty, values, and spirit of traditional Korean culture, bringing them into contemporary life, and sharing them with the world.

Through research, exhibitions, collaborations with artisans and creators, and contemporary interpretations of cultural heritage, Arumjigi explores ways for tradition to remain a living and evolving part of everyday life.

Website: http://www.arumjigi.org | Instagram: @arumji 

About Onjium 

Founded in 2013, Onjium is a research institute for traditionl heritages affiliated with the Joongang Hwadong Foundation. Through research, education, exhibitions, publications, and creative practice across the fields of food, clothing, and housing, Onjium seeks to inherit the wisdom of the past while creating meaningful cultural legacies for the future. 

Website: http://www.onjium.org | Instagram: @onjium 

About Contemporary Designers 

LEJE 

Je Yang-mo and Kang Joo-hyung are the co-founders and creative directors of LEJE, a fashion label based in Seoul and Paris. After studying fashion in Paris and gaining professional experience at Lanvin, Alaïa, and Balmain, they established LEJE, taking its name from the French word le je (“I”). Their practice reinterprets the values and aesthetic sensibilities embedded in Korean traditional crafts and the spirit of craftsmanship through an experimental, contemporary lens, continually translating the beauty shaped by generations of artisans into the language of modern fashion. 

LEJE has presented collections on international stages, including Paris Fashion Week, and is carried by leading concept stores in more than ten countries, including Revolve and H. Lorenzo. The brand’s projects span fashion, craft, and design through collaborations with Sulwhasoo and Swarovski, as well as participation in trade fairs such as Salone del Mobile Milano. Through stage productions and cultural arts projects with artists in Korea and abroad—including creatingEJAE’s attire for Academy Awards and collaborating with BLACKPINK’s Jennie—LEJE has brought the aesthetics of Korea to a global audience. In recognition of its distinctive vision, LEJE was named one of FAHK (Fashion Asia Hong Kong)’s “10 Asian Designers to Watch” in 2026 and selected as a finalist for the Vogue × YOOX Challenge, continuing to expand its presence on the international stage while remaining rooted in Korean aesthetic traditions. 

JADEN CHO 

Cho Sung-min is the designer and creative director of the fashion label JADEN CHO, whose work explores the intersection of the formal qualities of historical clothing and the materials and functionality of contemporary fashion. Reinterpreting the structure, ornamentation, and functionality of traditional clothing through a contemporary lens, he proposes new expressions of Korean aesthetics. 

After graduating from the Department of Fashion Design at Kookmin University in 2016, Cho pursued an MA in Womenswear at the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom, where he developed an experimental and conceptual approach to fashion design, completing the program in 2020. In 2021, he founded the womenswear label JADEN CHO and launched UMBER POSTPAST, through which he has undertaken projects spanning fashion, Korean craft, and cultural research. 

In 2025, JADEN CHO presented its first solo runway show, marking a significant expansion of the brand’s worldview. The following year, the brand opened its first flagship store, translating its identity—grounded in Korean aesthetics and craftsmanship—into a physical space. 

His work is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and he continues to present his designs at Seoul Fashion Week as well as through exhibitions and collaborative projects in Korea and abroad. As the recipient of the 21st Samsung Fashion & Design Fund (SFDF), Cho has emerged as one of Korea’s most promising womenswear designers. 

JiyongKim 

Kim Jiyong is a Korean fashion designer and the founder and creative director of the eponymous label JiyongKim. After studying at Bunka Fashion College in Japan, he completed both his BA and MA in Menswear at Central Saint Martins in the United Kingdom, where he conducted in-depth research into patternmaking, garment construction, and textile materials. He subsequently gained industry experience at Lemaire and Louis Vuitton in France, broadening his perspective on the global fashion industry. 

In 2021, Kim launched his namesake brand, developing the Sun-Bleaching technique—using only natural sunlight to bleach fabric—into a distinctive design language that embraces the role of time and nature in the creative process. Through meticulous patternmaking and experimental garment construction, he has reimagined the conventions of menswear, developing a distinctive aesthetic while expanding the brand’s creative practice through projects encompassing fashion, installation, and exhibition. 

Kim’s originality and experimental approach have earned him widespread international recognition. He was selected as a semifinalist for the 2024 LVMH Prize, received the Samsung Fashion & Design Fund (SFDF) in both 2023 and 2024, and was invited as the Special Guest Designer at Pitti Uomo 110. 

(Text and images courtesy of Arumjigi Foundation)