Seoul Fashion Week still has work to do

Models wear creations for LIE as part of the spring-summer 2025 Seoul Fashion Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Saturday. (Seoul City)

For the last 24 years, Seoul Fashion Week has been the face of the fashion landscape Korea wants to project onto the fashion world -- one that is as fresh in creative aesthetics as it is powerful in demonstrating timeless beauty.

Still, local designers need to be empowered with more financial as well as administrative support to help achieve the decades-old mission, fashion experts said Monday, calling for more active support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government -- the host of Seoul Fashion Week. The biannual show’s latest spring-summer 2025 collection ended Saturday.

“Participating designers receive support but it isn’t much, not enough to allow them to craft their creations to their own taste that truly show their color,” said Cho Jung-yoon, a professor of fashion design at Sejong University in Seoul, describing more financial support as the first step to rendering Seoul Fashion Week more relevant in a world dominated by Paris, Milan, London and New York.

Competing with the major fashion capitals requires local designers to be as creative as they want to be, because “that’s the pitch that would sell” in global markets, Cho noted, adding paving the path that would link designers to international buyers is a job the government can take on.

“It’s not enough to just have shows and invite some buyers interested in the fashion week,” Cho explained, citing a pop-up event held on the sidelines of Seoul Fashion Week aimed at encouraging buyers to sign contracts with brands. Some 120 buyers attended the event last week.

“What if it doesn’t end there and designers can also make their pitches in France, for example, in addition to Seoul?” Cho added.

Models wear creations for KwakHyunJoo Collection as part of the spring-summer 2025 Seoul Fashion Week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Saturday. (Seoul City)

One of the 21 designers who showcased collections on the runway last week pointed to streamlining administrative support. The designer spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

“There were occasions when we had multiple buyers coming to our showroom, and some of them had to wait to tour the place, even though they had all booked slots,” the designer said, referring to a service that allows buyers to tour brands’ showrooms during the five-day fashion week.

The showroom tours, launched at the previous fashion week in February, are meant to give buyers a bigger and fuller picture of each brand, which has under 15 minutes on the runway to show their identity.

“If the buyers who have booked in advance have to wait, I think that says all in terms of the first impression of the brand they chose to explore more,” the designer added, noting streamlining the service shouldn’t be such a time-consuming task.