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While Seoul’s next-gen fashion designers are on the rise, the city’s biannual fashion week in March and October has struggled to capture the attention of international buyers, editors and influencers. That may change this year, as Seoul Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2024 edition moves to September to coincide with buzzy international art fair Frieze, which will take place for the second time in the city.
Seoul Fashion Week SS24 will run from 5-9 September at its usual location, Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), officials confirmed to Vogue Business. In addition to Frieze Seoul, the new date also coincides with other local cultural events in September, such as art fair Kiaf Seoul, public art initiative Seoul Light and trade event Seoul Beauty Week.
Hosting Seoul Fashion Week around the same time is “a chance to provide buyers with a variety of attractions to enjoy Korean culture and art, in addition to discovering new fashion looks in Seoul”, says Kwon So Hyun, director of the fashion and beauty division at Seoul Fashion Week and Seoul Metropolitan Government. Event organisers plan to invite art dealers to attend Seoul Fashion Week as well as Frieze. Collaborations between Frieze artists and Seoul Fashion Week designers are also in the works, says Kwon, but declined to share more details.
So far, 22 brands say they will participate in Seoul Fashion Week, with names like D-Antidote, Lie Sangbong and Greedilous returning to the calendar. Still, a majority of Korean labels with significant international businesses, such as Hyein Seo, Andersson Bell, Minjukim, Post Archive Faction and Low Classic, have no plans to take part.
A notable newcomer that will present its collection during the week is We11done, the fashion and lifestyle brand run by Jessica Jung and Dami Kwon, who is South Korean singer G-Dragon’s sister, and which was acquired by Sequoia Capital China last January. Seoul Fashion Week’s alignment with Frieze Seoul, which runs from 6-9 September in the Gangnam district, was appealing, according to We11done’s chief operating officer Mo Kim. “We think that this is the right timing.”
We11done’s presence could attract other labels of a similar calibre, which have been hesitant to show their collections in Seoul, opting instead for showrooms in Milan and Paris. Now, with Seoul Fashion Week as the first event on the global fashion week schedule, there is “an expectation that more buyers will be able to visit Seoul with a sufficient budget”, rather than seeing local designers at the tail-end of the buying season, says Kwon. “[Korean] brands [will] have an opportunity to showcase the trends of the new season first.”
Art fairs are fertile ground for luxury brands seeking to broaden their consumer base. Authentic collaborations with artists can help to raise awareness and unlock spend.
Another challenge for Seoul Fashion Week is the overlap with its Chinese and Japanese counterparts. New York Fashion Week will also coincide with the event. While foreign visitors still make up a minority of the audience, Shanghai Fashion Week has been increasing its international pull by focusing on nurturing local designers such as Shu Shu Tong, Danshan and Staffonly. Tokyo Fashion Week faces similar challenges as Seoul: most homegrown brands with global appeal, such as Undercover, Ambush and Sacai, all show in Paris.
Coinciding with Frieze could help to tip the scales in Seoul’s favour this year. Frieze launched in London in 2003 and proliferated to New York and Los Angeles, becoming one of the world's most influential contemporary art fairs that is endorsed by many designers, including Raf Simons and Marc Jacobs. In September 2022, the art fair expanded to Asia, choosing Seoul as its first location. The inaugural event drew many of the world’s biggest gallery names, including Gladstone Gallery and Pace Gallery. This year, international brands, including Saint Laurent and Dr Barbara Sturm, are confirmed to host activations.
To tap into growing global hunger for Korean culture, Enhypen, the K-pop group who made their fashion show debut in January at Prada, have been named as ambassadors for DDP and are promoting the world’s first overnight stay at the Seoul Fashion Week venue. In February, the event organisers named Korean girl group Newjeans as honorary ambassadors. Last March, Lee Jung-jae, lead actor in the popular Korean TV show Squid Game, was the face of the event.
Local celebrities have influence not only in Korea but across Asia and other parts of the world, thanks to the growing popularity of K-pop and K-dramas, says Kwon. “There are a lot of domestic and international events in September [that] can promote the beauty of Seoul.” Now, the priority is to stage Seoul Fashion Week “in a more creative and unique way”.
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