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Seoul Fashion Week to kick off Tuesday
A photo from ADSB X JP Bonino that will be exhibited during Seoul Fashion Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza from Tuesday to Saturday / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
By Ko Dong-hwan
By Ko Dong-hwan
NewJeans is a global ambassador of this year's Seoul Fashion Week. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
International fashionistas, designers and traders will flock to Seoul for the 2024 Spring/Summer edition of Seoul Fashion Week (SFW) running from Tuesday to Saturday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza.
A total of 30 runway events will be held during the event for 21 top local brands and eight new brands. The opening day will see K-pop girl band NewJeans who are the event's global ambassador at a photo call.
Runways for nine brands including Whysocerealz, Demoo Parkchoonmoo and Seokwoon Yoon have been arranged separately to showcase special presentations that fuse fashion and arts. Jointly presented with Hyundai Department Store, the special feature is for “artsumers” who crave cultural elements in fashion, according to the Beauty and Fashion Industry Division under the city government's Economic Policy Office.
All the runway events will be livestreamed on the
.
The event is expected to provide a backdrop for exchanges among 94 of the country's local fashion brands, some 127 buyers from 27 countries as well as distributors and investors in the country's local fashion industry.
In addition to the event's frequent participants like French mall chain Printemps and American brand 3NY, newly participating traders joining this year's trade show include French department store Bon Marche, Italian high-end boutique shop Eraldo, British luxury mall Liberty London and Japanese mall brand Isetan.
The event will be open to the public on Saturday and items showcased at the trade show will be available for purchase.
Outside DDP, a fashion-plus-technology experience zone will invite visitors for an AI hologram photoshoot, while a special exhibition, collaborated by Scandinavia-inspired local brand Anderson Bell and Uruguayan photographer JP Bonino, titled “ADSB X JP Bonino,” will also be held. The sideline shows' common themes will be climate change and sustainable fashion.
K-pop's global popularity is now extending to K-fashion, which makes SFW a perfect opportunity for Korean local brands and designers to leap forward globally, according to Kim Tae-kyun, who heads the Economic Policy Office.
SFW happens a month prior to the world's four biggest fashion shows in New York, Paris, Milan and London, offering early previews of the next spring and summer. The event's next Fall/Winter collection will be showcased in February.