Korea becomes Asia's most attractive fashion spot

Models walk the runway for the studio K during Seoul Fashion Week on March 21 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul. / Courtesy of Seoul Fashion Week

By Rachel Lee

Don’t forget that fashion is still a business after all the glitz, glamour and endless hype of Seoul Fashion Week, which ended on Wednesday.

Over the past few years, the capital city has emphasized the importance of actually “selling” designers and taking them to the next level: international markets. And it seems to have impressed an army of overseas buyers and merchandisers, who now see Korean fashion as top of the Asian fashion scene.

“Over the last five years or so, buyers and press coming from abroad definitely became more serious,” Paul Khor, director of Actually, told The Korea Times. Actually, a concept fashion store based in Singapore runs both online and brick-and-mortar stores, selling pieces from about 50 brands worldwide.

“What I like about Seoul Fashion Week is that there have been a constant inflow of new designers and it’s very interesting to see many different things,” Khor said.

Tony Lee, merchandising manager at Harvey Nichols Hong Kong, has been visiting the event for about six years and seen rapid improvements in the standard of designers’ collections since. Harvey Nichols is a prestigious English department store chain with a flagship store in London.

“Designers like Juun.J, for example, showed new prints and I think it was a trend-setting style,” Lee said. “We are always looking for something new, and the Korean designers attempt new designs every season and that’s why our customers love them so much.”

Apart from local designers being adventurous, there is another important factor that makes them attractive: price.

“Prices are reasonable here compared to other international designers. Though celebrity designers like Park Seung-gun of pushBUTTON have raised prices to a high-end level, prices in general are good considering the quality of materials and fabric,” the manager said.

The convenient location is the cherry on top.

Compared to past fashion week locations including SETEC and IFC Mall, Dongdaemun Design Plaza has overcome their shortcomings by making it easier for buyers and press to save time and money travelling around to see shows and attend business meetings.

So the question arises as to whether the country has reached a stage where it can compete with the world’s fashion capitals including London, Paris and Milan. Maybe it is not at those levels just yet, but it’s now said that Korea has beaten Japan, which used to be the one and only Asian country with the hottest designers and collections at its fashion week with the likes of Comme Des Garcon and Yohji Yamamoto.

“Korea is way better than Japan in terms of design,” said Yen Chiung Jone, buyer at retailer LiLium Hong Kong. “Japanese fashion is only about ‘flashy flashy’ stuff, whereas Koreans present both modernity and funky stuff. So the world is paying more attention to Korea now for sure,” the buyer added.

“Japan disappeared. Thanks to the ‘Korean wave’ and Samsung, the country’s become the most attractive market in Asia with its distinctive style and good details,” Khor said.

William Rebein, director of American multi-brand shop Behaviour, praised the “solid basis in the country, in which small fashion enterprises can grow,” which leads to further improvements in the Korean fashion industry.

For Korean fashion to become more globally competitive, industry experts point out major drawbacks from Seoul Fashion Week as well as the industry as a whole.

“I think what you need is a big star player like Japan’s Comme Des Garcon. You need to nurture the local designers and brands so that individuality sells rather than the Korea branding,” Khor said.

“Although Korea has strong outer wear items due to the cold winter weather, more variety in collections are needed like t-shirts, bottoms and whatnot to target a wider customer base,” Lee said.

The manager also pointed out the shortage of seats available for buyers and press because of the heavily celebrity-focused event.

“At the end of the day, the show is for business, not for celebrities. London Fashion Week, for instance, makes sure a certain proportion of seats are reserved for buyers, but here, absolutely no,” he added.

The 2015 Fall Winter Seoul Fashion Week was held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza for six days from March 20, featuring 79 shows.