Kwak Hyun Joo show, photo by Fielding Hong

If the goal of Seoul Fashion Week is to help spur the Korean fashion industry and increase the globalization of Korean fashion, how effective is the event at attaining its goals? 

While the international response to SFW tends to be positive, reactions from international buyers, spectators, and participants point to contradictory causes for its success and indicate various ways to improve and grow in the future. 

How Korean fashion can increase its international appeal

Wilma Silvestri, an Italian buyer from the store Bito, stressed that she believed that the distinctive Korean character in design would be the key factor in the success of Korean fashion internationally.  “[It’s the] Korean mood that will be the difference.  In Italy, it’s the Korean designers who take influences from the traditional clothing [that are popular].  This is the special ingredient, because for us in Europe, we already have so many brands.” 

Bernardo da Franca, a German buyer from the store Fashion Clinic, however, offered an opposing opinion on which designers had caught his eye, stating a need to throw aside ideas of “Korean fashion” and simply make beautiful clothes.  “I’ve seen some nice shapes here, it’s not Korean or non-Korean, it’s just international fashion…I’m not very interested in where collections come from, I have designers in my shops that I don’t even know where they’re from.” 

Chad, a Canadian model who walked in a number of menswear shows at this year’s Seoul Fashion Week, stated that this may be one reason that Korean menswear has already taken off internationally – there seems to be no identity issues with menswear, the clothes simply have global appeal, while women’s wear may still be struggling to strike the balance between being both international and uniquely Korean. 

How Korean fashion can increase its place in the international market

While the opinions on the fashion side of things may be varied, the views on the business side seem to be the same.  In order to increase the marketability of Korean fashion, both da Franca and Silvestri emphasized that Korean designers should work within certain price points to gain viability in overseas markets. 

“There are a lot of very good Korean designers, [but] the young designers, they have to make the prices lower because the problem in Europe is that if the prices [of unknown Korean designers] are the same as famous European brands, consumers prefer the big names,” Silvestri explained. 

The future of Seoul Fashion Week

As for Fashion Week itself, while all expressed satisfaction with the organization of the week, each had a few suggestions for SFW’s growth and improvement. 

da Franca made one simple request – to move SFW up earlier in the buying season, in order to give designers maximum business opportunities, stating the short time between the SFW and the delivery date can hinder buying.  He also expressed approval at the new location at Kring and suggested that future SFW expand to even more locations, an added benefit for buyers who get to see very little of the city outside of SFW while they’re here. 

Chad suggested that if Seoul Fashion Week’s goal is to be international, it could be beneficial to open up the schedule in order to allow not just Korean designers, but also designers from other countries.  By doing this, it could bring more international attention to the SFW and subsequently the Korean designers that are being showcased.  “It’s nice when they do bring foreign designers over because Korean designers can talk with them and this in the end can elevate Korean fashion.”  

Silvestri drove the point again that Seoul Fashion Week should strive to distinguish itself from other international fashion weeks – including continuing to encourage the young atmosphere, due to the audience skewing younger than most other fashion weeks, citing “the presence of many fashionable young people at the shows” as one unique feature of SFW that she appreciated.  Fielding Hong, an expat who attended the show agreed.  “Going to SFW can give you a prime opportunity to people watch and witness Korean street fashion at its best.”

Tags: Entertainment, fashion, Seoul Fashion Week, Seoul Metro, Tourism, Travel in Korea
Posted in Events, Korean culture, Travel in Korea