On June 17, 2026, Stray Kids' Felix became the new face of a Korean government campaign that few outside Korea have heard of — yet it has already lit up billboards in Times Square, Milan, and Tokyo. The program is called Hanbok Wave, and Felix's selection marks its seventh year.
What Is South Korea's Hanbok Wave Project?
Hanbok Wave (한복웨이브) is a Korean government initiative launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation (KCDF) to promote hanbok — traditional Korean attire — to global audiences . Each annual edition pairs one high-profile Korean cultural figure with domestic hanbok makers, then amplifies the resulting designs through international promotional campaigns. Felix's 2026 cycle is the project's seventh edition, consistent with that 2020 launch .
Quick Answer: Hanbok Wave is a 2020-launched MCST/KCDF campaign that promotes traditional Korean dress worldwide by teaming a major Korean cultural figure with domestic hanbok makers each year. Its 2026 face is Stray Kids' Felix — the project's seventh edition, following Park Bo-gum in 2025 .
The structure is consistent year to year: a single representative artist becomes the campaign's image, domestic hanbok small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) create bespoke garments built around that artist, and the finished pieces are showcased through fashion pictorials and billboard displays in major global cities . The recent roster of representative artists shows how the program has scaled.
| Year | Representative Artist | Key Campaign Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Kim Yu-na (Yuna Kim) | Figure-skating icon as global hanbok face |
| 2023 | Suzy (Bae Suzy) | Actor and singer with broad international reach |
| 2024 | Kim Tae-ri | Award-winning actor |
| 2025 | Park Bo-gum | Program's first male face; worked with four hanbok makers; Chuseok-timed billboards |
| 2026 | Felix (Stray Kids) | First K-pop idol face; five SMEs, 50 designs planned |
Park Bo-gum's 2025 cycle is the most relevant precedent for understanding what Felix's edition may look like. As the program's first male face, Park worked with four hanbok makers, and the 2025 promotion reportedly placed electronic billboards around Chuseok in Seoul's Myeongdong, New York's Times Square, Milan's Piazza del Duomo, Tokyo's Shinjuku, and Paris's Citadium Caumartin . That blueprint — bespoke garments tied to one recognizable figure, then projected onto global cityscapes — is the template Felix's 2026 campaign is set to follow, this time with five participating SMEs .
Why the Korean Government Chose Felix for 2026
The Korean government chose Felix because few active K-pop artists combine his group's commercial reach with his personal standing in global fashion. Stray Kids, the JYP Entertainment group Felix belongs to, has logged multiple Billboard 200 No. 1 albums — among the widest international footprints of any current K-pop act — which gives the Hanbok Wave campaign a built-in audience in exactly the markets the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) wants to reach. The Korea Times reported that Felix was selected in part for Stray Kids' large and intensely loyal overseas fanbase .
Fashion credibility is the second factor. Felix is a global brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton , a tie that lends a hanbok-design project genuine industry weight rather than novelty appeal. For a campaign framed around hanbok's "modern redesign" for a Gen Z international audience , a face already fluent in luxury fashion language is a deliberate choice.
MCST officials made the strategic logic explicit. Jeong Hyang-mi, Director-General of Culture and Arts Policy at the ministry, said the project with Felix would "become a catalyst to establish hanbok as attractive content that you want to wear among fans all over the world."
"[The project will] become a catalyst to establish hanbok as attractive content that you want to wear among fans all over the world," — Jeong Hyang-mi, Director-General of Culture and Arts Policy, MCST (source: Soompi).
Timing reinforces the fit. Felix's 2026 live schedule places him in front of the same markets the billboards will target: Stray Kids are set to headline The Governors Ball Music Festival in New York and to take a headline slot at Rock in Rio in Brazil in September 2026 . With the artist physically touring the cities where the redesigned hanbok will appear on screens, the campaign aligns its on-the-ground visibility with its advertising footprint — a level of market overlap that earlier Hanbok Wave faces did not carry into the same year as their selection.
What the 2026 Campaign Actually Involves
The 2026 Hanbok Wave campaign is built around a single production target: 50 redesigned hanbok outfits. Felix will collaborate with five domestic hanbok brands — all small and medium-sized enterprises — with each brand developing 10 garments that reflect his image and personal symbolism, for a reported 50 designs in total . That is one more participating maker than the 2025 cycle, when Park Bo-gum's campaign worked with four hanbok makers .
The design brief frames the work as a fusion rather than a reproduction. The Korea Times described the direction as blending Felix's image with traditional Korean tailoring silhouettes, positioning the effort as a 'modern redesign' of hanbok aimed at a Gen Z international audience . In practice, that means each brand interprets the same artist-driven prompt through its own construction techniques, so the 50 outfits are meant to read as a coordinated body of work rather than 50 unrelated pieces.
Participation was still being assembled at announcement time. Applications for the SMEs that will produce the garments were open until July 10, 2026, according to Soompi . As of June 17, 2026, the specific brand names and the finished designs themselves had not been published and should be treated as forthcoming. Fans tracking concrete details — which makers were selected, what the garments look like — will find them first through official channels: the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), the Korea Craft and Design Foundation (KCDF), and JYP Entertainment.
Once produced, the garments move into distribution as content. The completed outfits are set to feed fashion pictorials and both domestic and international promotional material, with billboard displays planned in major global cities including Seoul, New York, Paris, and Milan later in 2026 . Exact placement timing and pictorial release dates were not yet confirmed when the campaign was unveiled . The structure mirrors the 2025 cycle's approach, which paired a single Hallyu face with electronic billboards across cities such as Seoul's Myeongdong, New York's Times Square, and Milan's Piazza del Duomo around Chuseok — a template the 2026 edition extends to Felix's audience.
Hanbok Modernized: The Cultural Argument Behind the Campaign
The cultural logic of Hanbok Wave is straightforward: pair a globally-followed idol with traditional craftspeople and the distance between heritage textile and contemporary fashion narrows. The Korea Times framed Felix's cycle explicitly around hanbok's "modern redesign" — a fusion of his image with traditional Korean tailoring silhouettes, aimed at a Gen Z international audience . The premise is that a garment most overseas fans have never worn becomes wearable content once a familiar artist models it.
Felix brings a cross-cultural dimension that fits this targeting. Born September 15, 2000 in Sydney, Australia, he straddles Western and Korean identities , which is useful for materials directed at audiences with no prior relationship to hanbok. His standing as a Louis Vuitton global brand ambassador adds fashion-industry weight to a campaign built around design rather than costume . The redesign argument depends on hanbok reading as runway-ready, not as a tourist prop, and the choice of face reflects that.
Officials have made the rationale plain. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism quoted a senior policy official noting that "with the global expansion of Korean content, international interest in our traditional attire is hotter than ever" . The campaign treats hanbok less as a museum object and more as exportable fashion, leaning on Stray Kids' large and intensely loyal international fanbase to carry the message.
One terminology distinction is worth keeping straight. Hanbok Wave's materials describe Felix as a "representative Hallyu artist," "muse," "model," or "face" — a promotional campaign role tied to the 2026 cycle, not a formal standing diplomatic title . That differs from broader government appointments such as the honorary ambassador role for promoting Korean cultural content overseas that the Korean Culture and Information Service gave the then nine-member Stray Kids in June 2019 . The "cultural ambassador" shorthand circulating in coverage should be read in the promotional sense — Felix is the campaign's face for one project, working with five domestic hanbok brands to produce a reported 50 designs , rather than an officeholder of an ongoing honorary post.
Where Fans Will See Felix's Hanbok — and How to Find the Real Thing in Seoul
Felix's hanbok designs will reach the public through a billboard campaign confirmed for Seoul, New York, Paris, and Milan, with the rollout expected later in 2026 . No exact display dates were announced at launch, but the 2025 cycle offers a guide: Park Bo-gum's hanbok promotion ran electronic billboards in Seoul's Myeongdong, New York's Times Square, Milan's Piazza del Duomo, Tokyo's Shinjuku, and Paris's Citadium Caumartin around the Chuseok holiday . A similar autumn window is the reasonable expectation for 2026.
Before the billboards appear, campaign imagery will surface first through MCST and KCDF official channels, JYP Entertainment's social accounts, and K-fashion media coverage . The completed garments — 50 designs across five domestic brands — are set to be released through fashion pictorials and domestic and international promotional content .
For fans visiting Seoul who want to experience the campaign's aesthetic in person, contemporary hanbok studios in Seongsu, Ikseon-dong, and Insadong are closer to the project's direction than the standard palace rental shops. These neighborhoods host makers working in modern and fusion cuts — tailored silhouettes layered over traditional jeogori and chima lines — which mirror the "modern redesign" framing the Korea Times applied to Felix's collaboration . Traditional rental remains widely available near Gyeongbokgung for fans who prefer the classic palace-photo experience.
Three signals will show the campaign moving from planning to public phase. First, the final participating brand names, which were not published at announcement and follow an SME application window open until July 10, 2026 . Second, dated pictorial releases. Third, any tie-in around Stray Kids performances. Until those land, the concrete takeaway is simple: 50 designs, four global cities, and a late-2026 timeline — watch the official channels first.
Frequently asked questions
Is Felix officially a Korean government cultural ambassador?
Not in the formal diplomatic sense. For 2026, Felix is the reported representative Hallyu artist — the "face," "muse," or model — of the Hanbok Wave project, a promotional campaign role tied to the 2026 cycle rather than a standing honorary-ambassador title . The widely used "cultural ambassador" shorthand should be read in that promotional sense. This is separate from an earlier appointment: on June 18, 2019, Stray Kids as a group were named South Korea's honorary ambassador for promoting Korean cultural content overseas by KOCIS, under MCST — a broad hallyu role given to the whole group, not to Felix individually . Neither that role nor the 2021 Expo 2020 Dubai pavilion role was hanbok-specific.
When will Felix's hanbok designs be released?
No release date was confirmed at the June 17, 2026 announcement . Applications for participating small and medium-sized hanbok brands were open until July 10, 2026, with design and production to follow . Based on the 2025 precedent — Park Bo-gum's campaign was timed around Chuseok with global billboard displays — a late-2026 reveal is the working expectation, though exact pictorial dates remain forthcoming.
Who were the previous Hanbok Wave representative artists?
Hanbok Wave launched in 2020, and its recent representative artists were Kim Yu-na (2022), Suzy (2023), Kim Tae-ri (2024), and Park Bo-gum (2025), who was reported as the program's first male face . Felix is the seventh representative and the first non-Korean-born face of the campaign — he was born September 15, 2000 in Sydney, Australia .
Will fans be able to purchase the hanbok designs Felix models?
No commercial release was announced. The 2026 campaign is promotional: five domestic hanbok brands will each develop 10 outfits for a reported 50 designs, showcased through fashion pictorials and billboard displays in cities including Seoul, New York, Paris, and Milan later in 2026 . Individual participating brands may offer pieces for sale independently, but mass retail availability has not been confirmed.
Where in Seoul can fans find contemporary hanbok experiences that match the campaign's modern-redesign direction?
The Korea Times framed the 2026 designs as a fusion of Felix's image with traditional Korean tailoring silhouettes — hanbok's "modern redesign" for a Gen Z international audience . Fans seeking that aesthetic should look to neighborhoods like Seongsu, Ikseon-dong, and Insadong, where studios offer fusion and modern-cut hanbok styling — closer to the campaign's direction than the traditional rental shops clustered around the palace districts.
