Seoul Fashion Week kicks off with two locations and even more programs

Seoul Fashion Week 2024 F/W started early and expanded to Seongsu-dong, with new shows and a showroom tour to attract global buyers. Seongsu-dong offers a historic fashion scene with flagship stores and a shoemakers' street.

Girl group NewJeans poses on the blue carpet before Julycolumn's opening show for Seoul Fashion Week 2024 Fall/Winter at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Seoul Fashion Week, which commenced Thursday, is off to a fairly early start this year, showing off its 2024 Fall/Winter (F/W) collection. And this time, Dongdaemun is not the only area to watch out for.

Seoul Fashion Week is being held six weeks earlier than last year, getting a head start before the rest of the “Big Four” fashion weeks — New York, London, Milan and Paris — in order to attract more major buyers and media attention.

Despite the tighter schedule, Seoul Fashion Week has expanded in terms of both location and programs. With its main venue still the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung District, central Seoul, the event is simultaneously being held at SFactory, a cultural complex in Seongsu-dong of Seongdong District, eastern Seoul.

Of a total of 21 fashion brands holding runway shows this season, six of them will be held at SFactory.

Seongsu-dong has become a proper fashion mecca, with heaps of fashion companies opening flagship or pop-up stores and garnering large crowds. Dior, Musinsa and Kodak Apparel are few examples. Most of the buildings in the area are old warehouses or factories that have been renovated but that still keep the industrial, vintage atmosphere — a distinguishing point unique to Seongsu-dong.

The same holds true for SFactory, which used to be a textile and vehicle repair factory.

The flagship store for Enluniq, a local shoe designer label, located in the fashion mecca neighborhood of Seongsu-dong of Seongdong District, eastern Seoul [SHIN MIN-HEE]

To take advantage of the charm of the neighborhood, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the host and organizer of Seoul Fashion Week, has added a new showroom tour for overseas buyers that allows them to visit flagship stores of selected local brands. The program is a new attempt at expanding the scale of Seoul Fashion Week to other parts of the city as it was initially limited to the DDP, and to secure more global clients.

There are two courses, one each in Seongsu-dong and Gangnam District, southern Seoul. The Seongsu-dong course features brands Enluniq, Re Rhee, People of the World, Marhen.J, LCDC and Musinsa. The latter course will tour brands like War Dog, Brown Hat and Julycolumn.

Seongsu-dong may be a hot spot for everything fashion now, but its reputation actually has its roots in its historically famous Seongsu Handmade Shoes Street, home to Korea’s best shoemakers since the 1970s. Now there are around 350 shops and manufacturers in the area.

Shoes inside the flagship store for Enluniq, a local shoe designer label, located in the fashion mecca neighborhood of Seongsu-dong of Seongdong District, eastern Seoul [SHIN MIN-HEE]

Enluniq, a local shoe designer label, picked out the site four years ago specifically because of this background. The flagship store takes after a European-style interior, filled with wooden antique shelves and a chandelier, providing the perfect environment for its colorful leather loafers and flats adorned with lace or other embellishments.

Enluniq’s latest collection, titled “Indulge in Reminiscence,” is described to be based on “the echoes of carefree laughter and warmth of nostalgic afternoons,” giving an optimistic mood that director and founder Park Yun-sun hopes will be conveyed to her customers.

“I think the showroom tour will be a great opportunity for buyers to explore Seongsu-dong in addition to the DDP,” Park told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of customers from Japan who stopped by our store while they were vacationing in Seoul,” she continued. “One Japanese customer marveled at how Korea has such great shoe designs, and I think this particularly appealed well to them as Japan still has dress codes for female employees mandating wearing heels to work.”

Heading over to the DDP, Seoul Fashion Week kicked off its first catwalk Thursday afternoon with womenswear brand Julycolumn, led by designer Park Sooy. Its latest collection, titled “Homo Archivist: The Weaver of Tomorrow,” focuses on weaving to “connect heritages,” as part of the brand’s identity, which is correlated to craftsmanship as everything is handmade.

Models walk the runway during Seoul Fashion Week 2024 Fall/Winter at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul on Thursday. The opening show was by womenswear brand Julycolumn, shown here. [YONHAP]

A backstage photo from Julycolumn's opening show for Seoul Fashion Week 2024 Fall/Winter at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul on Thursday. [JULYCOLUMN]

“This concept encapsulates the delicate art of intricately weaving the past into the fabric of the future,” Julycolumn describes its collection in the designer’s note.

The show featured soprano Hera Hyesang Park, described as a muse that “embodies the feminine ideals of the brand.” She debuted the live performance of “While You Live,” a composition by Australian composer Luke Howard, which is set to be the lead track of her upcoming album. K-pop girl group NewJeans, the ambassador for Seoul Fashion Week, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the show as spectators.

Soprano Park Hye-sang gave a special live performance during Julycolumn's runway show for the Seoul Fashion Week 2024 Fall/Winter collection at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul on Thursday. [NEWS1]

Thursday continued with runway shows from brands Demoo Parkchoonmoo and Ajobyajo flaunting their 2024 F/W collections.

SFactory begins its fashion show on Friday, with brand Jiminlee, followed by ConectX. Shows for 51Percent, Fromwhere, 02 Armoire and BLR continue throughout the weekend.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has created a “Seongsu Fashion Map,” which features about 30 fashion and beauty locations recommended to visit during Seoul Fashion Week 2024 Fall/Winter. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has also created a Seongsu Fashion Map, which features about 30 recommended fashion and beauty locations to visit, including LCDC Seoul, Amore Seongsu and Tamburin. The map is available in English both online and offline at tourist information centers, the DDP and SFactory.

Seoul Fashion Week 2024 F/W is livestreamed on its official YouTube channel and continues until Monday.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]