5 emerging Korean designer labels driving K-fashion’s international expansion

South Korean fashion, or K-fashion, enhances the image of other major exports like K-beauty, K-pop, K-movies and the country’s cultural diplomacy around the world.

K-fashion is dynamic. Bold yet balanced, colourful but tasteful, edgy and sophisticated – making it a challenge to define, but attractive and easy to buy. You can find any style you want in Seoul, South Korea’s international fashion capital. Mega outlets with endless streetwear coupled with curated boutiques selling the latest styles by talented, emerging designers. Korean fashion is influential, and a big reason for that energy stems from the home-grown talent trying to express the hallyu narrative through innovation and creativity. Here are five up-and-coming designer labels to look out for:

MINJUKIM

Designer Minju Kim has gained prominence after winning the first season of Next in Fashion, Netflix’s fashion design competition show. Week after week, Kim wowed judges with designs displaying exceptional craftsmanship and an eye for voluminous silhouettes as exemplified by her showstopping hanbok-like, ethereal wedding dress as part of her finale showcase. Kim has an eye for a pretty, romantic, feminine dress that is approachable and flattering for women of all body types. There is something inclusive about her collections, building volume with Victorian inspirations while keeping her clothes modern, dreamy and comfortable. Think big coats, bustling skirts, peplum dresses and bubbly jackets with dangling ribbons.

Kim holds two degrees – one from SADI, the Samsung Art & Design Institute, and another from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp where she studied under the great Walter Van Beirendonck. His influence is apparent when it comes to her colour and whimsical prints. Kim also won the H&M Design Award in 2013 and the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers in 2015. She has designed for K-pop artists such as boy band BTS.

GODSOMWARE

“If you build it, they will come”, is the mantra behind Aggie Nam’s facial accessory brand. Facial accessory, not eyewear, because none of Nam’s designs has any functional purpose. It’s all purely aesthetic-driven. It was a kind of spiritual calling, an “energy” as she describes it, that forced her to create her series of signature “butterfly sunglasses”, which cover the face with carefully positioned acrylic pieces shaped like insect wings. Some of the accessories are like eyewear, others cover the face like a mask, providing a sense of theatre and performance. Other design shapes include fierce electric flames, a giant heart and a black dragon. Janelle Monáe wore Nam’s “Third Eye Protection” to a Met Gala after-party like some ancient mystic.

Nam’s designs blend the natural and religious worlds. In an i-D interview, Nam said the name of the brand means “God that exists somewhere, a thing that occurred as God insisted, and I got it from somewhere”. Nam, an atheist, is inspired by otherworldly things, and fans love her for it. The brand has built up a considerable following which loves to wear Nam’s striking accessories on Instagram.

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