2025 F/W Seoul Fashion Week seeks global expansion of K-fashion

Models present HANNAH SHIN’s F/W 2025 collection during Seoul Fashion Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of SFW

By Lee Gyu-lee

• Published Feb 6, 2025 4:47 PM KST
• Updated Feb 7, 2025 3:09 PM KST

Seoul Fashion Week (SFW) for 2025 Fall and Winter kicked off Wednesday, aiming to showcase the competitiveness and growing demands for K-fashion in the global market.

Marking the 25th anniversary, this year’s fashion week, held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul through Sunday, offers a diverse selection of designer runways and presentations, a two-track trade show of exhibitions, showroom tours and collaborative works with overseas fashion brands, as well as events for the public.

For the first time, it joined hands with fashion publication Women's Wear Daily (WWD) to launch the Seoul Fashion Forum, inviting renowned speakers like CEOs of Lotte Department Store and Italian fashion brand Kiton.

The fashion week opened with Korean designer HANNAH SHIN’s F/W 2025 collection show, followed by Seoul Fashion Forum and AJOBYAJO’s show, welcoming its guests amid cold wave warnings in the country.

Inspired by German philosopher Walter Benjamin’s concept of constellations, the HANNAH SHIN 2025 F/W collection utilizes metallic and leather materials in everything from tube-top mini dresses to jackets and skirt sets to create a cosmic and futuristic look, as well as oversized fur coats.

Known for its street style look with a touch of contemporary elegance, AJOBYAJO explores the growth of its brand through this year’s F/W collection, offering family-friendly clothing for kids to older adults. The collection includes multipocket puffer jackets, deep hood sweatshirts and cutout fabric layered pants and skirts.

“With the global enthusiasm for K-culture, K-fashion brands are now expanding beyond Korea, opening stores in Paris, Shanghai and Japan. And I believe that the remarkable growth has been driven not only by the relentless efforts and dedication of passionate designers but also by SWF, serving as a path for expansion,” Joo Yong-tae, Seoul government Deputy Mayor for Economy, said as he opened the forum at DDP Art Hall, Wednesday.

“(The forum) was launched as a platform to understand the global fashion market and explore the right development strategies and countermeasures for sustainable growth … I hope today’s event will serve as a meaningful opportunity to discuss the future of K-fashion and the global fashion industry while shaping the future of Seoul as a fashion capital.”

The first session invited Antonio De Matteis, CEO of Italian brand Kiton, to share his insights on running the high-end brand with WWD Chief Commercial Officer James Fallon as the moderator.

Sharing the brand’s pride for the quality of clothing and its fabric, Matteis noted the importance of product quality to speak to global consumers.

“We always believe in quality… Each of us has different tastes but quality is quality,” he said, adding that staying keen to the consumers’ taste is also crucial.

“We have the pleasure to know a lot about our consumers … and this relation is very important because you can hear from them (about) what they are looking for and what they need. You cannot stay where you are (to stay relevant). That is the most important part.”

Chung Joon-ho, CEO of Lotte Department Store, opened the second session, sharing his insights into the luxury fashion business and the influence of K-culture in the global market.

“The domestic fashion industry (has grown) over the past decade. Both the fashion and luxury categories have experienced a steep upward trend, particularly since around 2021, when the pandemic ended … Four out of the world’s top 10 department stores are located in Korea,” he said, highlighting Korea's potential in the industry.

“I have an ambition to achieve 4 trillion won ($2.77 billion) in revenue by 2027 and I firmly believe that we are well-prepared to make this happen.”

He noted three factors that make Korean departments more appealing to consumers: variety in types of brands, high-end customer service and diverse entertaining experience from pop-up events.

“At the heart of this transformation lies the opportunities from the MZ generation (millennials and Gen Zers). As both consumers and creators, the MZ generation plays a pivotal role in strengthening K-content … The younger generations, particularly Gen Z and Generation Alpha, live in a highly globalized world while still maintaining a strong sense of pride in their Korean identity,” he said.

“Even creators producing K-content today seamlessly blend Eastern aesthetics with Western influences, allowing K-content to thrive across various domains on the global stage. And, the MZ generation is highly active on social media, making it easier for people worldwide to stay informed about trends emerging from Korea, helping Korean trends gain rapid traction globally.”

Expressing his hope for Seoul to emerge as the fashion hub of Asia, he shared the company’s projects to create a platform that offers a complete experience from entertainment to shopping.

“By the end of next year, we plan to transform the Young Plaza at our main branch into a comprehensive K-content hub, bringing together fashion, food, beauty, lifestyle and entertainment,” he said.

“Our goal is to create a dynamic space in the heart of downtown (Seoul) where international buyers and tourists can experience the coolest and most exciting K-content all in one place.”

During the fashion week, there will be a total of 27 shows, including 19 fashion shows and eight presentations, from local designers’ brands like EENK, youser and Duckdive. About 103 global buyers from 25 countries are expected to come visit to meet local brands, including department brands like Samaritaine Department Store from France, Harvey Nichols Department Store from Kuwait and Siam Piwat Group from Thailand.