Models for fashion brand youser walk down the runway during Seoul Fashion Week held on Sept. 3, 2024. [NEWS1]

 
One of Seoul’s biggest fashion events, Seoul Fashion Week, is ready to kick off on Wednesday, showcasing this year’s fall and winter collection as well as its first-ever fashion forum to expand Korea’s fashion presence overseas.
 
The fashion week is set to run for five days until Sunday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung District, central Seoul, marking its 25th anniversary.
 
The event will hold 27 different events, including 19 fashion shows and eight fashion presentations.
 
A fashion presentation, unlike the typical lookbook that simply showcases a collection of images or videos featuring various fashion styles, offers a more immersive experience. With exhibitions, performances and shows, it allows buyers and audiences to fully immerse themselves in the brand’s identity, according to the event organizer.
 
Fashion brand Hannah Shin will open this year’s Fall/Winter (F/W) Seoul Fashion Week at 12:30 p.m. at DDP. Other brands, such as Ajobyajo, Greedilous, Jisoo Baik, youser, Re Rhee and Ulkin, are also set to present a runway show during the event.
 
Fashion brands like EENK, Julycolumn, and Kimoui will hold fashion presentations.
 
This year’s Seoul Fashion Week is slated to hold an event for fashion enthusiasts who visit DDP during the event, giving out tickets for visitors to actually watch fashion shows in person.
 
Tickets will be available exclusively to participants of the 1664 Blanc promotional booth event at DDP’s Oullim Square. Starting an hour before each show, tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
A total of 350 tickets will be given out, with 10 to 20 tickets allocated per show across 16 fashion shows.
 
Seoul Fashion Week 2025 F/W is also slated to hold a fashion forum, dubbed Seoul Fashion Forum, for the first time at DPP on Wednesday.
 
The forum aims to explore the potential and competitiveness of Korean fashion within the rapidly evolving global paradigm, as well as to expand opportunities for brands to get in touch with various fashion industries.
 
James Fallon, the Chief Content Officer of Women’s Wear Daily and Fairchild, and Antonio De Matteis, the CEO of Italian menswear brand Kiton, are set to give lectures on topics like “how the global fashion industry sees Seoul and K-fashion” and “the global competitiveness of Korean designer brands,” according to the event organizer.
 

A poster for Seoul Fashion Week 2025 Fall/Winter [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]

 
A trade show for buyers and brands will also take place from Thursday to Sunday, with 80 Korean fashion brands participating, such as Marhen.J and BLR.
 
Live performances will also be held, featuring breakdancing performances at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. every day at an on-site “open stage.”
 
“Seoul Fashion Week has played a key role in shaping the city’s unique identity, and its 25-year journey has become a remarkable achievement of its own,” Joo Yong-tae, an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said in a press release. “We will continue to strengthen its role as a global business platform and a driving force of cultural soft power.”
 
Seoul Fashion Week is a biannual fashion event showcasing various brands’ Spring/Summer and F/W collections. The event is hosted and organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
 
The event will be held around Seoul, including the main DDP venue in Jung District, central Seoul; Seongsu-dong of Seongdong District, eastern Seoul; Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul; Hannam-dong, Bukchon in central Seoul and Hongdae in Mapo District, western Seoul.
 
To find more information about the event, visit the official website.

BY KIM JI-YE [[email protected]]