Coronavirus boosts contactless trend in fashion industry

By Kim Jae-heun, Baek Byung-yeul

Korea Society of Fashion Business President Kan Ho-sup / Courtesy of Kan Ho-sup

The ongoing contactless trend that is expanding rapidly in every aspect of daily life due to the coronavirus pandemic was actually adopted by the fashion industry much earlier.

However, the choice to go contactless was not out of necessity then. It was rather a choice between the pleasure of shopping offline and the convenience of shopping online.

“In the fashion industry, online shopping malls have already flourished since the days when the word contactless was unfamiliar to many people. Shopping on the internet gave people physical freedom as they didn't have to walk around the stores and try on different clothes,” said Kan Ho-sup, president of the Korea Society of Fashion Business, who is also a professor of Textile Art and Fashion Design at Hongik University.

“But not all began to shop online as there were people who did not want to give up the pleasure of comparing fashion items in person with their own eyes. Thus, contactless consumption was more welcomed in the sportswear industry.”

Kan added COVID-19 has sped up the shift of Korean fashion consumption patterns to the contactless system owing to advanced smartphones and developed information technology here.

“Now, the contactless system in the fashion field not only stops at providing an online shopping platform but also allows people to experience fashion in detail at home with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology. Soon we will be able to see fashion items in 3D at home showing the quality of the materials used and the decorations put on the items,” Kan said.

Kan says the key to the future success of the contactless trend is how realistically the technology can reproduce the fashion items.

“Korea is an IT powerhouse, and local fashion firms should utilize such advanced technology to differentiate themselves from their overseas competitors. Fashion is not about 2D but 3D,” Kan said.