'Robots need clothes too': Hansae Yes24 ventures into humanoid robot fashion

"If a future comes where humanoid robots enter our daily lives, clothing for them will be needed as well."

Hansae Yes24, a specialist in original design manufacturing for apparel, has set its sights on the humanoid robot clothing market, betting it will become a new growth engine in a future where humans and humanoid robots share everyday spaces.

Vice Chairman Kim Ik-hwan made the announcement Monday morning at a "Wear the Future" media briefing held at the Korea Federation of Textile Industries in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. "The humanoid robot and robot apparel market is a future industry that no one has yet pioneered," Kim said. "Hansae Yes24 aims to be the company that leads that future industry."

The briefing also unveiled a humanoid apparel exhibition jointly conceived and produced by Hansae Yes24 and its retail affiliate Hansae MK. The designs draw on human clothing as a base while incorporating structural adaptations for the humanoid body. Cooling fabrics manage heat generated during extended operation. High-abrasion-resistance and shape-recovery materials ensure stable wear across varied environments. Open-structure shoulder and knee panels with three-dimensional patterning accommodate the wide range of joint movement humanoid robots require.

Garment designs vary by the robot's intended function, ranging from child-sized humanoids to caregiver and gardener models. The gardener humanoid outfit, for instance, is made entirely of waterproof fabric. Inspired by Carhartt — one of Hansae Yes24's major buyer brands — the exhibition also features workwear with modular attachment points for tools and equipment. The exhibition remains open to the public through June 12.

Hansae Yes24 sees the humanoid market, projected to grow into a multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry, as a new frontier for apparel. The company believes its existing capabilities in functional textiles — including cooling, heat-dispersing, high-stretch, high-durability and lightweight materials — give it a competitive edge. It has also left open the possibility of expanding overseas production facilities as the market grows.

Asked when a commercial pilot might begin, Kim said it would come "when more commercialized robots move into homes and industrial complexes," adding that the company is already in discussions with potential partners. The briefing featured a humanoid robot dressed in a black leather stage costume performing choreography to G-Dragon's "Power." Kim said Hansae Yes24 is "in talks with the manufacturer of the robot that danced."

Son Ji-yeon, director of Hansae Yes24's research and development division, said the visual impression a humanoid makes will matter more as the robots operate in close proximity to people — much as the pet clothing market has grown alongside the bond between humans and their animals. "Beyond simply dressing robots, the design challenge is making the environment where humans and humanoid robots coexist feel more natural," she said.

Hansae Yes24 plans to develop the exhibition into a platform for research and ideas about the future apparel market, while also drawing on its accumulated digital design capabilities. The company established the domestic apparel industry's first dedicated virtual design unit in 2019, introducing 3D virtual sample production technology. Since 2023, it has operated a dedicated AI team, integrating AI into planning, design and development.

"When the humanoid era arrives in earnest, the apparel industry could face a new wave of change," a company official said. "We intend to be the company that responds and prepares for that change first."