Models are lined up on the stage and the director is busy giving cues. The tall, thin models, the flashing lights, the eye-popping outfits – this is a fashion show!

From October 22 to 28 Seoul hosted its own Fashion Week where everyone, from world-famous designers to up-and-coming novices and even the general public, can take part. Since 2000 the city of Seoul has been hosting Fashion Week twice a year, in spring and fall, to present the designs for the coming seasons. Here’s Ms. Choi Hyun-jung in charge of the fashion team at the Seoul Municipal Government’s Culture, Design, and Tourism Headquarter to explain more about Fashion Week.

Seoul Fashion Week is a business event held twice a year, in spring and fall, to further develop Korea’s fashion industry. The latest Fashion Week is to show off the looks the next spring and summer. The audiences view what is going to be hot next season and after the show the buyers engage in sales negotiations to acquire the new designs. Many of the invited foreign buyers are from department stores or boutiques where Korean designers’ outfits are going to be sold. Also, many local fashion magazine editors and fashion industry insiders attend the show to discover new Korean designers.

Proving the mounting popularity of hallyu all over the globe, this fall’s Seoul Fashion Week was attended by some 700 reporters and buyers from Korea and abroad. In particular, overseas businesses have actually paid to come to Seoul Fashion Week, making this year’s event the best ever fashion week in terms of both quality and quantity. Following the footsteps of Korean dramas, pop music, and movies, the Korean fashion industry is taking up a big portion of hallyu. Let’s check out the fashion show itself.

Seoul Fashion Show 2013 presented, among others, the Seoul Collection featuring some of the top names in fashion, the Generation Next for up-and-coming designers, and the Donation Runway Program in which star designers donate their creations and the sales proceeds are given to non-profit organizations.

Some sixty star designers, including Chang Kwang-hyo, Ko Tae-yong, Lie Sang Bong, Lee Seung-hee, and Choi Chul-yong, showcased their collections at the flagship event of Seoul Fashion Week, the Seoul Collection. Here’s designer Jung Du-young.

The theme for my men’s wear was the men of Venice. I wanted to reinterpret their romantic and relaxed atmosphere. It is no longer trendy for today’s men to wear boxy suits. What’s fashionable nowadays is to bring out one’s own personality with relaxed tailoring.

The models’ powerful runway walk and the awed applause marked the Seoul Collection. The common thread that ran along the collections for the next spring and summer was the use of the color white. With white as the basic theme in the collection, the outfits used accessories like colorful scarves, print patterns, and quilting for distinguishing points. Here’s designer Lee Suk-tae.

My theme is “White Boy.” I tried to modernize the 90s design with the color white. I showed 28 outfits. Women’s wear used to be detail-oriented, but it will be simpler and more functional and sportier in the future.

- I can see the trend changes. I think white or monochromatic color will be hot next year. I saw some mannish details in women’s wear. It’s exciting. It’s really different seeing the show for real instead of on TV.
- I enjoyed it and it seems white is going to be in next summer. I liked the shorts. It was nice getting to know young people’s taste.

Seoul Fashion Week provided a sneak preview of next year’s hot fashion trend. Each designer was allotted an hour or two to stage a splendid and elegant fashion show and to proudly demonstrate the artistic talent and vision to the audience and overseas buyers. Here’s Ms. Choi Hyun-jung in charge of the fashion team at the Seoul Municipal Government’s Culture, Design, and Tourism Headquarter for more.

Each major city has its own fashion week. There’s one in Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai. Seoul Fashion Week has been around for quite a while and is recognized as one of the best among overseas buyers. The designers taking part in Seoul Fashion Week usually get high marks for their creativity. Since the spread of hallyu, foreign buyers and press are taking interest in Korean fashion as a part of hallyu.

When Seoul Fashion Week was first launched, most of the foreign buyers and press members had to be invited, because, frankly, Korea was not recognized as a fashion center. But the Korean fashion industry kept trying to enter the global market and some talented Korean designers won recognition at overseas fashion show to finally see orders pouring in at the recent fashion events. Here’s Ms. Choi Hyun-jung in charge of the fashion team again to explain more.

We looked over the event’s performance records over the past decade. It’s been only five years, starting in 2008, that we’ve seen some real results in terms of purchase contracts. Purchase figures grew about forty times since the early days. Asian buyers and fashion reporters were mostly invited at the beginning, but now they are eager to attend Fashion Week on their own. That’s when I realize how Korean fashion has become a solid part of hallyu.

It is not easy for individual designers to meet with buyers and pioneer new overseas markets, which is why Seoul Fashion Week is a godsend for many designers. An Intalian style director, who has worked with Korean designer Jung Du-young for a few years now, sees the potential of fashion hallyu.



It’s still too early for Korean fashion to become world-class, but I see its potential when I work with passionate and hard-working Korean designers. I was here in March, too, but there seems to be more people now and the atmosphere resembles that of Europe. Six months is not a long time, but I can see the progress. I love the colors of Jung’s work this time and he always knows how to balance classic and modern elements in fashion.

Another distinction of Seoul Fashion Week is that the event admits not only professional designers and buyers, but also the general public. The event offers a valuable opportunity for the designers to boost people’s interest in fashion and read the fashion trend among ordinary people. Here’s fashion designer Sheen Je-hee.

A fashion show’s foremost purpose is to communicate with buyers. But Korean fashion shows seems to put more weight on communicating with the press and the public. Subsequently, designers see the Seoul Collection as a window of communication with the masses. I don’t consider fashion as just fashion, but the epitome of commercial art. I hope events like this approach the public more often and I am happy to see that Seoul Fashion Week is not just a festival for designers, but a chance to enjoy fashion with the general public.

Unlike in the past, this fall’s Seoul Fashion Week took place in two main stages – the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan and Seokyo Xi Gallery in Seogyo-dong – with offside shows held in department stores and the Gangnam area in southern Seoul. Some of the tony neighborhoods in Seoul served as the venues for the fashion celebration, heralding the blossoming of Korean fashion.

Such fashion shows are crucial to young designers who hope to lead Korean fashion in the future. Fashion school students study the upcoming trends and reach for their dreams.

- I think they used brighter colors, like pastel blue or pink. They also used a lot of pleated materials. My dream is to become a fashion designer and this show gave me hope.
- I want to see a lot of shows like this and find my own color as a fashion designer and eventually make it to a bigger stage.
- It was an entertaining and unique experience. I was able to read next season’s trend. Everything has gotten very slim and men’s wear used a lot of bright colors, like women’s wear.

New designers in Seoul Fashion Week tend to be inspired by the collections of the industry’s established stars. Here’s designer Yoon Seo-hyun, who took part in Seoul Fashion Week for the first time.

I get really busy, because I begin to see some things I haven’t seen before and I have to start researching on those topics. I get all this energy to talk with other designers, study other trends, plan for the next season, and what not. I think I enjoy the synergic effect.

Fashion is not just dressing someone in clothes, but styling a person from head to toe. So designers of shoes and accessories are also a vital part of Fashion Week. Here’s shoe designer Oh Kyung-hee.

It’s nice that I get to meet many fashion designers and exchange information. I think fashion shows should take motifs from a lot more sources than musical plays or movies. This season’s Fashion Week is definitely grander and paid more attention to details. I was certainly motivated. Fashion covers from head to toe, so there will be more opportunities to work together with fashion designers. I saw lots of witty and amusing outfits.

While professional designers were busy with their shows, ordinary participants took part in a market set up in Jeong-dong to sell their creations and exchange their ideas with visitors.

They explained about their creations and accessories, put prices on them, and kept reaching for their dreams.

- I make hand-made bags. This is something I made for a short trip to the market or something. It can carry a cell phone, a few credit cards, and some cash. I love it when people like the design. That’s why I keep coming back to this event.
- I’m here because I like hand-made things. There are so many talented people here. I have a lot to learn. That’s why I lowered the prices of my stuff. I’m going to wait out until the end.


The Korean fashion industry still has a long way to go and many milestones to achieve, but it certainly has huge potential. Seoul Fashion Week aims to enjoy the same level of recognition given to Paris, Milan, New York, or London. Everyone involved with Seoul Fashion Week looks forward to the day when the Koreans’ exquisite craftsmanship and unique creativity are applauded in the global fashion stage.