As K-culture continues to capture global attention, various attempts are being made to promote traditional Korean culture. Among these efforts, there have been successful cases of fusing traditional cultural elements with diverse genres such as music,...
As K-culture continues to capture global attention, various attempts are being made to promote traditional Korean culture. Among these efforts, there have been successful cases of fusing traditional cultural elements with diverse genres such as music, fashion, and film. Takashi Murakami is a contemporary artist who has realized convergent creation through collaborations with numerous brands and artists. He designed new characters by fusing his own motifs with the Louis Vuitton monogram, leading the traditionally conservative brand to launch a product line featuring these characters. Additionally, in collaboration with K-pop girl group NewJeans, he participated in album design and merchandising, creating a new character by combining his Superflat Flower with NewJeans’ light stick ‘Binky Bong’ and applying it to the album artwork. Through such collaborations, Murakami has demonstrated a promotional strategy that transcends genre boundaries and continues to pursue various forms of character-based convergence. Meanwhile, Korean traditional cultural elements such as Hahoetal and Dancheong are being modernized and applied across various fields. In the Korean adaptation of the Netflix series Money Heist: Joint Economic Area, Hahoetal was used instead of the original Salvador Dalí mask, reinterpreted as a symbol of Korean humor and satire. Renowned Korean fashion designer Lee Sang-bong utilized Dancheong as a central motif in his 2024 S/S collection, presenting a harmonious blend of traditional Korean aesthetics with contemporary fashion. Inspired by Murakami’s convergence-based promotional strategy, this study proposes a Korean-style character by fusing the globally recognized Superflat Flower with traditional Korean elements such as Hahoetal and Dancheong. Through a theoretical investigation of the concepts and characteristics of Superflat Flower, Hahoetal, and Dancheong, two common traits—“humor within laughter” and “repetitive two-dimensional expression using outlines”—were derived, providing a basis for potential fusion. Superflat Flower, a smiling character combining the style of Japanese animation with the chrysanthemum symbol of the imperial family, was reinterpreted using motifs from the Yangban and Bune masks in Hahoetal along with lotus and orange blossom patterns in Dancheong, resulting in a newly designed Korean-style character. Among the key features of kidult fashion, the “application of character images” was identified as an effective approach for integrating the developed Korean-style character into fashion design. Based on this, the study applies the character to kidult fashion to expand the discourse on the identity of traditional Korean culture while exploring its potential for contemporary application and expansion within the field of fashion design. The visual characteristics of Superflat Flower were categorized into six traits: grotesque repetition, two-dimensional expression using outlines, appropriation of cherry blossoms from ukiyo-e, application of the Rinpa folding screen technique, false perspective using line thickness, and pixelated graphic representation. These were further reclassified into three categories—composition, color, and visual transformation. The textile was developed using seven fabrication techniques—silkscreen pearl print, puff print, foil, laser engraving, digital textile printing (DTP), LED panels, and quilting—applying the newly designed Korean-style character as the central motif. Finally, the four features of kidult fashion—exaggerated form, application of character images, pop art color combinations, and visual playfulness—were reinterpreted through silhouette, styling, and detail, and incorporated into five menswear looks. While the characteristics of Takashi Murakami’s Superflat Flower were directly reflected, further discussion is required to reinterpret Korean culture through an independent creative lens. Nevertheless, this study presents the potential for modernizing traditional Korean culture through the characterization of Hahoetal and Dancheong, and suggests possibilities for its expansion into fashion design. It also holds significance in academically supplementing the research gap in Takashi Murakami’s fashion design.