Director initiates campaign to help K-fashion go global

Chung So-mi, director of Seoul Fashion Week / Courtesy of Chung So-mi

Chung So-mi, a model-turned-fashion show director, is a perfectionist.

Even tiny mistakes are unacceptable in her show, although they go unnoticed by watchful audiences.

Her paranoic obsession with flawless presentation of designers’ collections has made her a workaholic and a strict boss to her staff.

Some insiders call her “tiger director” because her perfectionist work style doesn’t allow any human errors.

“Whenever shows are over, I have a moment to heave a sigh of relief. I had poured all my energy and passion into making flawless shows,” she said during a Korea Times interview on Monday. “That sense of relief is brief, so that there’s no time to regret or feel that something is missing because I have another show coming and I need to prepare for it thoroughly.”

Through more than three decades of experience as a stage director, Chung came to develop a rule of thumb. Designers’ ideas and concepts of their wardrobe should always come first, no matter what.

“I listen to them and try to read their minds about their expectations. Their ideas matter, not mine,” she said. “Sometimes, I found we are not on the same page about the show. Whenever this happens, I always try to put myself in their shoes and think like them. Then, I dream of the world they wanted to create with their works and organize things accordingly.”

Every year, Chung embarks on tours to four world premier collections, namely New York, London, Milan and Paris fashion weeks, commonly known as the Big 4 among people in the fashion industry, to get a sneak peek into the latest trends and fashion culture of the year.

Since she assumed the role as a director overseeing Seoul Fashion Week (SFW) in 2022, Chung has found herself becoming a victim of a game of expectations.

She is under pressure, facing calls to make the SFW a platform to lift Korea’s fashion industry to the next level. Some even blame Korean designers for following global trends as opposed to leading, demanding they emulate the global success of K-pop and Korean cinema and make a mark globally.

Chung said she heard a lot of accusations that “K-fashion” is falling behind and unable to ride the global boom of hallyu or the Korean Wave, adding a similar discourse is also underway among people in the fashion industry.

“People in the fashion industry have been talking a lot about the globalization of Korean fashion for the past decade, but little progress has been made so far,” she said.

According to her, the globalization of K-fashion is easier said than done, and attaining it will be a much more daunting job than the overseas success of K-pop and Korean movies.

“Fashion is a complicated business,” she said, noting it requires collaboration with related players.

“We need talented designers, and also a system that can help the industry discover them and help them keep working on their clothing without being distracted by monetary concerns,” she said. “There also needs to be a system in place for global marketing.”

She stressed that the whole process requires a lot of investments.

Among others, she said corporate sponsorships of emerging designers are necessary, but few companies are interested in such investments.

“Having world-class fashion labels is a costly project and it is not something designers can achieve on their own. It requires a supportive ecosystem,” she said.

Chung So-mi, director of Seoul Fashion Week, poses in this photo taken earlier this year. Courtesy of Chung So-mi

Seoul Fashion Week has undergone a massive reshuffle following the resignation of then-creative director Jung Ku-ho in 2019. The fashion showcase event was held twice a year with the help and support of the Seoul Design Foundation. The organizer was criticized for wasting the government's budget without making progress in its initial goal of making Seoul a hub of Asia’s fashion industry.

In 2022, the jurisdiction of the show was transferred to the Seoul Metropolitan City Government from the design foundation. Abolishing the standing organizing committee for Seoul Fashion Week, the city government selects the organizer of the biannual fashion show through competition.

The reshuffle coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. The fashion week had not been held for three years. It resumed this spring after a three-year hiatus.

Chung So-mi, left, talks to an unnamed runway model during a fashion show rehearsal in 2017. Courtesy of Chung So-mi

Under Chung’s leadership, Seoul Fashion Week has begun taking baby steps to attain the ambitious goal of taking talented Korean designers to the world stage.

The organizers rescheduled Seoul Fashion Week so that the biannual event could be held earlier than the Big 4.

The rescheduling of Seoul Fashion Week is designed to help young and up-and-coming designers more easily showcase their collections both at home and overseas, according to Chung.

“Previously, Seoul Fashion Week was held after the Big 4. So, what happened was that local designers had to showcase their works only in Seoul because they found it difficult to prepare for two different shows ― one at home and another abroad― within a short time frame,” she said.

Under the new event schedule, she said these young designers benefit because they find it easier to showcase their works to overseas buyers after Seoul Fashion Week.

“Some buyers didn’t come to Seoul because it was held after the Big 4 and they already purchased what they wanted there. So, some skipped Seoul. But from next year, Seoul Fashion Week will be held earlier than the Big 4 and buyers are encouraged to visit Seoul to test the waters of the upcoming global fashion trends,” she said.

Chung said she clearly saw the differences between established designers and younger designers, commonly known as Generation MZ. MZ is an acronym for millennials and Generation Z.

“Generation MZ designers are rebels,” she said. “The way they coordinate their outfits is bold and they excel in mix and match in fashion. Compared to the older generation, the younger generation designers excel in the presentation of their collections.”

Debuting as a runway model in 1982, Chung witnessed the ups and downs of Korea’s fashion industry. She transformed into a fashion show director in the 1990s and oversaw the runway shows of many renowned designers, including the late Andre Kim, the late hanbok designer Lee Young-hee and Jin Te-ok.

Chung wears many hats. On top of being director of Seoul Fashion Week, she teaches aspiring models, serving as president of the modeling agency, The Models, as well as president of the Korea Fashion Model Arts Association.