'Yunseul' is a word that even people in Korea find difficult. It looks like a Sino-Korean word but is pure Korean. It describes the way sunlight or moonlight sparkles as it hits rippling water. Our ancestors regarded this natural sight as extremely beautiful and sought to realize it in everyday items and clothing. The celadon of the Goryeo dynasty, which resembles the color of the sky, and the prized jade-green color in hanbok are examples.
That 'yunseul' was adopted by Ferrari. In collaboration with Korean artists, it created a one-of-a-kind Ferrari 12Cilindri Tailor Made for the world. It is the "Yunseul-clad Ferrari."
On the 19th, Ferrari unveiled the one and only Ferrari 12Cilindri Tailor Made, specially made for the Korean market, at the Ferrari Banpo exhibition hall.
The event was graced by the presence of Italy's ambassador to Korea, Emilia Gatto, Ferrari chief design officer Flavio Manzoni and Ferrari head of Far East and Middle East Francesco Bianchi. Thibault Dussarrat, the new head of Ferrari Korea, also appeared publicly for the first time and delivered a welcome address.
In his welcome address, Thibault Dussarrat said he was honored to introduce this special project as his first official event, saying, "It is my honor to introduce this special project that embodies Korea's beautiful traditions and dynamic modernity in Ferrari's most innovative model, the 12Cilindri," revealing his special affection for the Korean market.
The 12Cilindri Tailor Made, which captures the essence of craftsmanship through Ferrari's top personalization program, was created exclusively for the Korean market. Under the theme "Inspired by tradition, powered by innovation," it elevated Tailor Made's standards one level higher by newly interpreting "art on the road" based on a variety of completed elements.
Ferrari Tailor Made is an exclusive program designed for clients who want to custom-create their own Ferrari to perfectly express their personality and tastes. Customers participating in this program receive support from a dedicated designer and a team of experts who interpret their requirements in line with Ferrari brand aesthetic standards. The options available are virtually limitless, and customers can experience Ferrari's unique world of creativity, elegance and differentiated quality through three collections: Classica, Inedita and Scuderia.
This special Tailor Made vehicle is the result of multidisciplinary collaboration spanning Asia, Europe and North America. In Asia, the craftsmanship of four young teams of artists representing Korea's unique heritage — Jeong Dahye, Kim Hyunhee, Graycode and jiiiiin, and Lee Taehyun — joined forces; in Europe, the design leadership of Ferrari Styling Center contributed; and in North America, the vision and expertise of the award-winning global creative platform Cool hunting, which highlights the latest trends in design, culture and technology, were brought together.
Founded in 2003, Cool hunting is an international editorial platform that discovers and shares innovations and trends across design, art, technology, culture and lifestyle. It operates based on an original curation-based approach and an exceptional sense for detecting global innovation flows.
Over a production period of about two years, the project team combined Ferrari's legendary technical and design expertise with Cool hunting's creative vision to complete the fascinating challenge of realizing Korea's dynamic artistic and cultural energy as a one-of-a-kind Ferrari work.
The most notable feature of this 12Cilindri is the specially developed "yunseul" paint that mysteriously changes color depending on the light. This unique color was born from inspiration in Korea's traditions. It exquisitely blends the historical heritage of Goryeo celadon, which has a diverse spectrum of greens, with the rhythms of K-pop and electronic music and the neon lights of a futuristic city, capturing the cosmopolitan charm of Seoul. The result is a vivid, luminous finish that shifts from green to purple with a blue sheen, evoking the pure Korean word for sunlight sparkling on waves, namely "yunseul."
The Ferrari 12Cilindri is inspired by the iconic Ferrari GT models of the 1950s and '60s. It is a model that embodies the mission of the "two-seat front-engine V12 Ferrari," pursuing the perfect harmony of elegance, broad usability and performance. The 12Cilindri is the latest evolution of this storied lineage, inheriting its unique heritage while taking performance, comfort and design to a new level.
The vehicle's sculptural beauty represents sportiness, dignity and refinement. Clean, harmonious lines combine perfectly with innovative solutions designed for outstanding performance, such as an integrated active aerodynamic system and a reverse-opening bonnet that dramatically reveals the engine bay. Added to this is the visual completeness provided by the dual twin tailpipes, a symbol of Ferrari's 12-cylinder engines. Under the bonnet sits a new 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine that produces a powerful 830 horsepower (cv). Rotating up to 9,500 rpm, this engine delivers seamless linear power delivery and Ferrari's characteristic grand soundtrack. With a top speed over 340 km/h and about 3 seconds to accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h, the Ferrari 12Cilindri combines extreme performance and uncompromising refinement to redefine the modern GT car concept.
Traditional horsehair craft has been newly spotlighted through the hands of Korean artist Jeong Dahye, the 2022 winner of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize and internationally renowned in fiber craft and textile art. Jeong creates works of astonishing delicacy, lightness and transparency through an original handmade weaving method that can give the illusion of floating in the air. Her works — baskets, vessels and abstract objects — offer extreme delicacy, contemplative depth and a refined modern sensibility through interactions of light and shadow.
Jeong Dahye's artistic world is projected in various ways throughout the one-of-a-kind Tailor Made model. First, the artist's signature patterns were applied to the seats, floor and interior soft materials, vividly realized through a domestically developed new 3D fabric. This is the first time this material has been used in a Ferrari vehicle. The same pattern was also screen-printed on the 12Cilindri's glass roof so that the unique beauty created by shadows and light can be enjoyed when light passes through. This too is a first in Ferrari's history. The most symbolic element is the dashboard, which features an actual craft piece made from horsehair sourced from a Mongolian chamber of commerce–certified supplier, offering an unprecedented experience of integrating artwork into a vehicle interior. All of these "firsts" were made possible by close collaboration among the Ferrari Styling Center, R&D team and creative partners.
Kim Hyunhee is an artist who reinterprets Korea's traditional objects from a critical, contemporary perspective through material innovation. Her representative dowry box series is made of translucent acrylic with a dreamy feel, visually shaping its inherent role as a "repository of memory." The artist often installs transparent objects suspended in the air to express lightness and fragility, creating immersive, dreamlike spaces for viewers. Her artistic world has been widely recognized through awards at prestigious competitions such as the Cheongju International Craft Competition and the Iksan Korea Craft Exhibition.
Kim Hyunhee's distinctive translucent technique makes its presence known across the vehicle exterior. The artist's touch was applied to elements ranging from the Scuderia Ferrari shield and wheel caps to the Ferrari lettering emblem and the Prancing Horse logo; this level of customization in the Tailor Made program is being applied for the first time. The interior center tunnel also features the same translucent effect as the exterior for an original variation, and a handmade dedication plate bearing the project name written by the artist in traditional calligraphy was installed.
The artist also made a traditional Korean box that can store precious and meaningful items in the 12Cilindri's trunk space. This product was designed so the vehicle owner can actually use it like a luggage case. In particular, the box's interior contains an object in the shape of a Ferrari key reinterpreted in the artist's unique visual language, allowing the owner to fully experience a diverse and original artistic world.
The white color became a core theme that runs through various interior and exterior elements of the vehicle, inspired by the artistic inquiry of artist Lee Taehyun. Contemporary artist Lee Taehyun is well known for employing Korean traditional techniques, including lacquer. He reinterprets tradition in a contemporary context through the extremely complex process of "white lacquer" technique. His works, which combine modern materials with lacquer, are characterized by creating smooth glossy surfaces that give a strong visual impact. Through lacquer work he explores concepts such as layering, depth and material transformation, serving as a bridge between Korea's artisan traditions and the language of contemporary art. This vision of the artist was implemented in the 12Cilindri with original white brake calipers and white shift paddles. Notably, this is the first time white calipers have been applied to a model produced at Ferrari's factory.
The rhythms of electronic music were vividly revived on Ferrari's exterior livery through the meticulous work of Graycode and jiiiiin (GRAYCODE, jiiiiin). The sound artist duo, internationally recognized for performance and installation works that explore the intersection of sound and space, technology and art, visualized Ferrari's iconic V12 engine sound as their own score for this project and infused rhythm onto the body. The pattern was meticulously applied to the body by Maranello artisans. To add visual depth to the livery, the same yunseul paint was used with a technique of applying one shade darker. This unique method was developed only for this model and is a first for Ferrari.
Cool hunting founders Evan Orensten and Josh Rubin, together with project curator Jane Lee and Ferrari's design and R&D teams, inspired the artists' work and coordinated the entire project.
Ferrari also prepared a special time to share the project's artistic value and design philosophy with Korea's future generations. On the 20th, about 20 students majoring in design at Seoul National University were invited to participate in a Q&A session to engage directly with Flavio Manzoni for an in-depth conversation about design. When Ferrari held the Universo Ferrari exhibition in Korea in 2023, the first Asian location, it also invited engineering students from Seoul National University to a meeting with Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna. Ferrari plans to continue expanding opportunities like this so the next generation of talent can nurture their dreams.
[OSEN]