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Fashion brand MCM unveiled its Spring/Summer 2026 collection at Milan Fashion Week, featuring The Art of Motion, a take on how Taekwondo’s discipline and flow can be reinterpreted as luxury fashion.
On the surface, martial arts and luxury tailoring might seem worlds apart. But for MCM, founded in Munich in 1976 and owned since the 1990s by Seoul-based Sungjoo Group, Taekwondo provided a way to unite its dual heritage. The brand’s Chief Brand Officer Dirk Schönberger described movement as both physical and cultural, positioning Taekwondo as a metaphor for resilience, harmony, and control, qualities the brand wants to highlight as it approaches its 50th year.
Design cues drew directly from martial practice. The dobok (uniform) informed sculptural white tailoring; belts became exaggerated wrap closures on dresses and jackets; and maedeup (the symbolic knot) was reimagined as a design focal point. Even fabric choices—sturdy cotton, canvas, pliable jersey—echoed the balance between strength and fluidity inherent in Taekwondo.
The staging reinforced this philosophy. The Casa degli Artisti was transformed into a “design dojo,” where models moved through kinetic installations and an AI-powered hologram by Capsa Studio blurred the line between tradition and future. The immersive environment made clear that this wasn’t simply about borrowing martial arts aesthetics, but about articulating discipline, balance, and control as cultural codes in motion.
BTB So What?
It’s no surprise that more and more global brands are beginning to look to the East for inspiration and connectivity. The Asia-Pacific region is already the largest luxury goods market, valued at approximately $157 billion in 2025 and projected to grow significantly, with China holding the largest share and high-growth rates expected in markets like India and South Korea. This financial dominance makes the pivot inevitable. When China alone accounts for a significant and growing percentage of global luxury consumption, brands have begun to tailor their identity and offerings to resonate deeply with Asian consumers.
This means moving beyond generic “Lunar New Year” capsules to collections that incorporate deep cultural intelligence. Other brands have demonstrated this trend, such as Louis Vuitton collaborating with Japanese streetwear designer NIGO and various houses integrating elements like Chinese imperial motifs, Korean streetwear aesthetics, or Japanese minimalism. However, missteps have led to severe cultural appropriation backlash and show that surface-level engagement is insufficient and highly risky—a la Prada facing massive criticism for its sandals that closely resembled India’s traditional Kolhapuri chappals, profiting from a centuries-old design without initial attribution or compensation for the local artisans. The insight remains the same: cultural inspiration must be rooted in heritage, respect, and narrative depth. When brands weave a proper story that honours origin and context, they build authenticity and resonance; when they don’t, it slips into tokenism, leaving audiences alienated and reputations damaged.