Digital 'Seoul Fashion Week' Hits 74.43 Million Views Worldwide... Featured Over 100 Times in Major Overseas Media

YouTube Views Increased 7 Times, Overseas Share Reaches 77.2%
Three Brands Enter Global Commerce Platforms Including Luxury Amazon 'Farfetch', Opening Overseas Markets

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 21st that the ‘2022 S/S Seoul Fashion Week,’ held as a 100% digital fashion show at various iconic locations encompassing Seoul’s past, present, and future?including the five major palaces such as Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung?achieved a record-breaking 74.43 million views from 160 countries worldwide within one month. Last year, the event garnered 4.72 million views over the same period.

The Seoul city government analyzed that the success was largely due to actively leveraging the content consumption environment of the MZ generation, who are familiar with video content, by newly launching the official TikTok account, which is widely used by the MZ generation and overseas audiences, this season.

On the representative channel YouTube, views reached 1.71 million, increasing more than sevenfold compared to the previous season. Among these, 77.2% were overseas viewers from countries such as India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The proportion of viewers aged 18 to 44 (80.7%) also rose by 7 percentage points compared to the previous season.

Major overseas media outlets covered ‘Seoul Fashion Week’ more than 100 times, showing high interest. Not only traditional fashion media such as Vogue but also media popular among the MZ generation in the US, Europe, and Japan?including Hypebeast, WHOWHATWEAR, Flaunt, JustJared, and WhoWoreBest?actively featured ‘Seoul Fashion Week.’

Building on this record-breaking success, ‘Seoul Fashion Week’ serves as a platform to promote the status of K-fashion brands worldwide and also facilitates the overseas expansion of Korean designers.

Two brands participating in ‘Seoul Fashion Week,’ ‘Bmuet’ and ‘Cahier,’ secured exclusive contracts and confirmed their entry into the global commerce platform ‘Farfetch,’ known as the ‘Amazon of luxury goods,’ for the first time in Korea, with support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government. ‘Vegan Tiger’ successfully signed an order contract with the global leading showroom ‘Boon Paris,’ generating sales of over 100 million KRW.

The ‘online order consultation meeting,’ which connects overseas buyers with domestic designers, has so far resulted in order consultations worth 5.7 billion KRW. A total of 120 buyers and distribution officials from around the world?including China, Singapore, the United States, and Australia?participated, conducting 908 order consultations with 126 domestic brands. Additional negotiations for further orders and contracts are ongoing.

This ‘Seoul Fashion Week’ also approached not only industry professionals but general consumers more closely. The city supported B2C sales of participating brands by holding a ‘Seoul Fashion Week Special Exhibition’ on major domestic distribution platforms such as ‘Naver Designer Window’ and ‘SSG.COM’ for 33 brands.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to share the unique runway films of 37 brands with the Seoul Tourism Organization, KOTRA, and various embassies to successfully promote K-fashion along with Seoul’s heritage and charm.

Meanwhile, Seoul is considering holding an offline fashion show for the ‘2022 Fall/Winter Seoul Fashion Week,’ scheduled for March next year, in line with the phased recovery of daily life. If held offline, it will be the first offline Seoul Fashion Week in about two and a half years since the ‘20 S/S Seoul Fashion Week’ held in October 2019.

Park Dae-woo, Director of Economic and Job Planning at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, “This Seoul Fashion Week recorded a hit by combining three elements: iconic locations representing Seoul’s 600-year history, the unique style of K-fashion, and an MZ generation-style platform familiar with video content, attracting responses from all age groups and global attention. We will operate Seoul Fashion Week in the with-COVID era to not only strengthen the competitiveness of the fashion industry and create jobs but also enhance the city brand’s status and attract tourists.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.