Seoul Fashion Week runways to expand to Korea's landmarks, museums

The next edition of Seoul Fashion Week will expand its runway stages to Seoul landmarks and museums, taking advantage of the online platform to move beyond its usual main venue, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where the country’s largest fashion week has been hosted for the last seven years.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government, the organizer of the show, unveiled details of the upcoming 2021 fall-winter Seoul Fashion Week that kicks off March 22, including the venues and participating designers.

The six-day fashion week will take place at several museums, including the National Museum of Korea and National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, as well as other Seoul attractions like Oil Tank Culture Park and Seonyudo Park, to present the beauty of Korea and introduce talented designers.

Some of the artworks by Korea’s renowned artists such as Yang Hae-gue and Lee Seung-taek will be featured in the filmed runway shows. A total of 12 shows will take place at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, while five fashion brands will be shown at the National Museum of Korea. The fashion shows will be prerecorded and uploaded on Seoul Fashion Week’s YouTube channel, according to the schedule of runway shows. 

A total of 43 fashion brands will participate in the fashion week -- 26 established designer brands, including KwakHyunJoo Collection, aimoms, PartsParts and Saint Mill for the Seoul Collection shows, and 17 rookie designer brands, including Notknowing, October 31, rinjeon and Manod for the Generation Next shows.

Actor Bae Doona has been appointed as the ambassador of the upcoming fashion week. Videos promoting Seoul Fashion Week featuring Bae will be presented at Times Square in New York.

The opening ceremony will include a performance by alternative pop band Leenalchi, whose music is based on Korean traditional music, while Peggy Gou, a Berlin-based South Korean DJ who was recognized by Forbes as one of the Asian leaders under 30, will perform during the fashion week finale.

The 2021 fall-winter Digital Trade Show, which aims to promote sales through a digital retail platform, will run from March 24 to 30, with nearly 75 fashion brands taking part.

The sudden outbreak of the pandemic early last year led to the cancellation of the 2020 fall-winter Seoul Fashion Week, while the 2021 spring-summer event was held virtually in October.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)