How Hera Seoul Fashion Week is getting Korean designers global exposure

As in other global fashion cities such as New York, London, Paris or Milan, there are several talented young designers in Seoul, and some have great potential to become world-class designers. For various reasons, however, they have not yet been discovered, and consequently have not yet made a name for themselves on the global fashion scene. View this post on Instagram . 2019 S/S 헤라 서울패션위크 D-day! 오늘부터 20일까지 총 6일간 진행될 19 S/S Hera Seoul Fashion Week DDP에서 만나요! . 오프닝 깜짝 티켓 이벤트! 내일 10/16(화) 18:30 JWL 쇼 VIP 티켓을 get하고 싶다면? 댓글로 이번 SFW에 기대평을 남기고 하이라이트 링크를 통해 신청 정보를 남겨주세요. (당첨자 발표는 오늘 저녁! 게시글을 꼭 확인해주세요.) . 오늘 저녁 8시, 우영미 명예 디자이너의 오프닝 쇼 생중계도 놓치지 마세요! 19 S/S Hera Seoul Fashion Week Start! #19ss #hera #Seoulfashionweek #HeraSeoulfashionweek #GNS #GNERATION_NEXT_SEOUL #Seoul #Fashionweek #sfw #DDP #헤라 #서울패션위크 #2019ss헤라서울패션위크 #2019ss서울패션위크 #19ss서울패션위크 #Dday #우영미 #솔리드옴므 #wooyoungmi #solidhomme #SOLIDBEYOND30 #EVENT #티켓이벤트 #서울패션위크티켓이벤트 #패션위크티켓이벤트 A post shared by 헤라서울패션위크 HERASeoulFashionWeek (@hera_seoulfashionweek_official) on Oct 14, 2018 at 7:13pm PDT Since taking the helm in 2015, Jung Ku-ho, executive director of the Hera Seoul Fashion Week (SFW), has focused on finding “diamonds in the rough” in the local fashion industry, cutting and polishing them to shine globally. The fashion week's “10 Soul” designers project, aiming to discover 10 young creative designers, has been initiated under his leadership. Seoul Fashion Week ready to turn buzz into business “Once designers in the category are chosen, we market them globally and help them build networks with international buyers and fashion editors,” Jung said ahead of the 2019 SS Hera Seoul Fashion Week. The semi-annual, week-long shows are held from today till October 20. Menswear brand Blindness and gender-neutral ready-to-wear label Pushbutton are two of the “Soul” fashion labels SFW chose last year. Blindness, led by designer duo Shin Kyu-yong and Park Ji-sun, was a semi-finalist of the LVMH Award. A foreign journalist who attended their show last year at Seoul Fashion Week discovered the designer duo and recommended them for the LVMH Award and they made the cut as semi-finalists, according to Jung. With SFW’s support, Blindness and Pushbutton made their international runway debuts at London Fashion Week earlier this year. View this post on Instagram #pushbutton _ #PBSS19 #SPRING #SUMMER #2019 #COLLECTION _ #Pushbutton_x_Mixtage #Collaborationwork _ #Creativedirector @younggeul_kim _ #Film @boyyoon _ #Model @cha.ssoo @nanonakim _ @mixtage_official @esteemmodels @esteem.official _ #푸시버튼 #pushbutton_official A post shared by Pushbutton Official (@pushbutton_official) on Sep 24, 2018 at 8:22pm PDT “Publicity for Korean designers is one of the key missions we are trying hard to fulfil to help them earn international recognition,” Jung said. “We’re trying to let international fashion experts know we have several innovative designers who are as competitive as designers in the world’s fashion capitals, so they can consider partnering with them.” Most stunning wedding dresses from New York Bridal Fashion Week 2019 Jung said SFW is a platform young designers can take advantage of to make their fashion labels go global, revealing satisfaction with the progress the fashion week has made over the past three and a half years since he took over the leadership and became SFW’s first designer-turned-executive director. According to him, Korean fashion has become more visible on the global scene than ever before and word of SFW has begun to spread among some global fashion experts. He quoted one of the unnamed foreign experts as saying SFW is a must-see show in Asia. View this post on Instagram BLINDNESS 2018 FW-Floral shirts&Outer GQ Korea #blindness A post shared by BLINDNESS (@blindness_official) on Oct 3, 2018 at 10:07pm PDT “In the past, when I met fashion experts overseas, very few knew about Korean designers. But now they know almost all Korean designers, which surprised me.” Struggles View this post on Instagram BLINDNESS Spring Summer 2019 Backstage @_nickyz #blindness A post shared by BLINDNESS (@blindness_official) on Jul 28, 2018 at 7:15pm PDT The path SFW has taken over the past three decades since it kicked off in 1987 has not been smooth. In the past, some called the SFW “a local festival” as it had attracted few international buyers. A round-up of Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2019’s hottest trends In 2004, facing financial trouble, the organisers pondered seriously about scrapping the event. However, it managed to pull through. Back in the 1990s and the early 2000s, Seoul was far from being seen as a fashion city, partly because South Korea, which has achieved miraculous economic growth since the Korean war, was better known to the world as a technology powerhouse than for its cultural charms. The tech city image didn’t help Korean designers. View this post on Instagram 내일 ddp 오시는 분? A post shared by Sang Eun Kim (@walkxwork) on Oct 14, 2018 at 2:08am PDT For decades since the modern apparel business appeared in the 1950s, Korean designers have striven to expand their business outside the country. To make this happen, some have explored the “Big Four” fashion weeks to showcase their works. The Big Four are New York, London, Paris and Milan. In many cases, however, their global fashion outreach didn’t bear fruit. Korean designers realised financing their dream is simply too expensive. Depending on show spaces, venues for New York Fashion Week, for example, reportedly range from US$16,000 to US$60,000. There are extra expenses, such as hiring models, PR, production, styling, hair and make-up, which designers have to shoulder. Jung, a chef-turned-designer who’s had several overseas runway shows, launched his fashion label KUHO in the late 1990s and later sold it to Samsung Group’s textile company Cheil Industries. So he is all too familiar with financial setbacks Korean designers are wrestling with. Elle Fanning and Eva Longoria breeze down L’Oréal’s Paris catwalk Riding K-pop boom View this post on Instagram Seohyun at Hera Seoul Fashion Week 2017 FW 'PushButton' @seojuhyun_s Cr : Press #소녀시대 #소시 #서현 #seohyun #GG #GIRLSGENERATION A post shared by tiffany young (@stephanie.hwang1) on Mar 29, 2017 at 7:36am PDT But now time is on their side. It’s easier for talented Korean designers to be discovered by international buyers as K-pop and the digital era have created a whole new business environment for Korean designers, according to Jung. “In the digital era, I think designers no longer need to look to the Big Four fashion shows for their global expansion. I personally believe showcasing their works at Hera Seoul Fashion Week is enough [because its influence in the global fashion industry is growing],” he said. “Thanks to the internet, we know what’s happening on the other side of the globe even though we’re not there. Likewise, we can see global designers’ shows here. We provide livestreaming services during Hera Seoul Fashion Week and people living on the other side of the globe can watch all runway shows in real time.” He said Korean fashion is benefiting from K-pop. View this post on Instagram . 2019 S/S 헤라 서울패션위크 GN쇼 미리보기 고유의 지향점을 추구하며 실용성과 가치를 모두 구현한 브랜드 MAXXIJ @maxxij_official BLANC DE NOIRS @blancdenoirs_official FROMMARK @frommark_official PILLE @pille.official Introducing brands that actualized both practicality and value by pursuing distinctive directivities. #19ss #hera #Seoulfashionweek #HeraSeoulfashionweek #GNS #GNERATION_NEXT_SEOUL #GN쇼 #Seoul #Fashionweek #sfw #DDP #헤라 #서울패션위크 #2019ss헤라서울패션위크 #2019ss서울패션위크 #19ss서울패션위크 A post shared by 헤라서울패션위크 HERASeoulFashionWeek (@hera_seoulfashionweek_official) on Oct 11, 2018 at 7:45pm PDT “People outside the country are talking a lot about Korean musicians in recent years,” he says. Nicolas Ghesquière takes Louis Vuitton into the space-age at PFW “They are curious about Korean celebrities’ fashion styles and the skincare products they use. Some experts ask me if they can partner with certain Korean singers when we discuss collaboration shows. The success of Korean music has sparked global interest in Korean content, including fashion.” He aims to build SFW into a robust platform for Korean designers. View this post on Instagram . 2019 S/S 헤라 서울패션위크 GN쇼 미리보기 . "평범함 속에서 특별함을” 일상 속 평범함을 심플하면서도 강렬하게 표현한 브랜드 NU PARCC @nuparcc DAILY MIRROR @dailymirror_official STUDIO SEONG @studioseong SETSETSET @setsetset_official Introducing brands that expressed common ordinality with simplicity and intensity #19ss #hera #Seoulfashionweek #HeraSeoulfashionweek #GNS #GNERATION_NEXT_SEOUL #GN쇼 #Seoul #Fashionweek #sfw #DDP #헤라 #서울패션위크 #2019ss헤라서울패션위크 #2019ss서울패션위크 #19ss서울패션위크 A post shared by 헤라서울패션위크 HERASeoulFashionWeek (@hera_seoulfashionweek_official) on Oct 13, 2018 at 6:59pm PDT In terms of its global profile compared particularly to the Big four, Jung said SFW has a long way to go. Karl Lagerfeld lifts spirits with Chanel ‘beach party’ at PFW “Our nearest goal is to find 10 globally competitive designers and help them find business opportunities overseas,” he said. “We need to have at least 10 great designers. I feel SFW is on the right track and will take off soon.” Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter This article was originally written by Kang Hyun-kyung for The Korea Times .

How Hera Seoul Fashion Week is getting Korean designers global exposure

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Jung Ku-ho, executive director of SFW, has launched a ‘Soul 10’ project which aims to discover and market 10 young creative designers

Jung Ku-ho, executive director of SFW, has launched a ‘Soul 10’ project which aims to discover and market 10 young creative designers