---
node: fashion_division_era
type: fashion
slug: division_era_fashion
title: "Fashion in Contemporary Korea"
lead: "In the division era Western clothing became everyday wear in both North and South, and the hanbok turned into festival and formal dress; South Korea is now a centre of contemporary fashion and K-culture."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section (korea region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

Through postwar recovery and economic growth, Western dress settled into every corner of life.

## Key garments and style

In South Korea daily wear is now largely Western, and the hanbok is worn as formal dress for weddings and the seasonal holidays (Seollal, Chuseok); an easier "reformed" or everyday hanbok has also spread. In the 21st century, Seoul street fashion and K-pop have carried Korean dress to the world.

## Transition

The peninsula's dress keeps the long two-piece hanbok tradition in its formal wear while living within contemporary global fashion.