Why young Koreans are embracing the 'rich girl' aesthetic

“The style of a rich girl who has nothing left to buy, even when she goes shopping at a department store.”

That is how social media users have described “Hyunbaek core,” a new trend that has recently emerged among people in their 20s and 30s. The term combines “Hyunbaek,” a shortened name for Hyundai Department Store, with “core,” which refers to the defining concept or aesthetic of a style. The look evokes a wealthy young woman one might encounter at Hyundai Department Store, characterized by an air of indifference toward shopping and an understated yet distinctly luxurious aura.

Hyunbaek core pursues quiet luxury, which subtly expresses economic ease through high-end materials like silk or cashmere rather than flaunting wealth with flashy designer logos. It seems similar to the existing "old money" trend — which sought a traditional upper-class vibe — but has some differences. While it emphasizes formality, Hyunbaek Core is marked by a much more relaxed, effortless aesthetic.

Previous fashion trends, such as ballet core and poet core, have drawn inspiration from particular professions or identities, including ballerinas and poets. But it is difficult to find a precedent for a style trend built around a specific place, as Hyunbaek core is.

One likely factor is the growing influx of consumers in their 20s and 30s to Hyundai Department Store. The retailer has pursued a strategy targeting young affluent consumers, led by its flagship The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido. As a result, the share of visitors in their 20s and 30s rose sharply from 37 percent in 2020 to 46.7 percent in the first nine months of this year. Analysts say the department store has consequently become firmly established in the minds of younger consumers as a place associated with the young upper class.

The trend also reflects a growing yearning for inherited wealth. As more young people come to believe that social mobility is difficult to achieve through hard work alone, they are increasingly inclined to idealize those born into privilege.

“Stories of self-made success and the rags-to-riches narrative have lost their persuasive power, and in their place, we are seeing an abstract longing for and admiration of inherited wealth,” said Lee Jun-young, a professor in the Department of Economics and Finance at Sangmyung University.

Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer psychology at Inha University, said Hyunbaek core appears to be an example of the panoplie effect, in which consumers identify themselves with a particular social class or group by purchasing products associated with it. She attributed the trend to declining social mobility.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.