Korean stars dominating Milan Fashion Week 2023: Song Hye-kyo drew a crowd outside Fendi’s show, and fans went crazy for Jeon Somi at Prada – while NewJeans’ Hanni will sit front row for Gucci
Milan’s catwalks may be the epicentre of global fashion this week, but it’s Seoul and K-pop fans who are front and centre in the battle for new luxury customers.
Outside Prada’s fashion show on Thursday, the biggest squeals of excitement came from fans of Jeon Somi, South Korea’s blonde singer with 16.6 million Instagram followers.
“I’ve been here since 11 o’clock in the morning to see Somi,” 20-year-old Italian fan Serena Danimarco told AFP. “I love her, her music, her look.”
She held up a sign reading “Somi I’m so ‘Dumb Dumb’ for you,” a reference to the singer’s 2021 single.
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Fan Giulia, 20, was crushed behind a barrier outside the show, holding up her handmade sign with photos of her idol and an “I love you” written underneath.
“I knew she was coming through the networks of Neverland, one of the Korean Idol fan groups. I am also a Blink, a Blackpink fan!” she said, referring to the chart-dominating girl group named by Time Magazine as 2022’s Entertainer of the Year.
Gucci, meanwhile, has seized on Hanni, the lead singer of NewJeans, another South Korean girl group who released their debut single last summer.
Hanni is expected in the front row of Gucci’s show on Friday.
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Like Dior, which held its first runway show in Seoul last year, Gucci also plans to hit the South Korean capital for its upcoming cruise collection in May.
A show planned for last November – which would have been the South Korean debut for Gucci’s former creative director Alessandro Michele – was cancelled following the Halloween stampede in the city centre that killed more than 150 people.
Sales of Italian fashion to South Korea rose 31 per cent in 2022, according to Italy’s fashion chamber (CNMI).
Seven out of the top 10 Italian exports to South Korea relate to fashion, the Italian Trade Agency said.
The biggest chunk comes from leather goods, comprising 21 per cent of total Italian exports to South Korea, up 5.8 per cent over 2021, followed by footwear.
- South Korea’s hottest K-pop idols and K-drama stars reign supreme at fashion weeks, with Milan’s shows kicking off with Jeon Somi and Song Hye-kyo at Prada and Fendi, respectively – and fans followed
- The influence of Korean celebrities cannot be ignored, and more luxury brands are scrambling to sign deals with big names like BTS – Jimin with Dior and Suga with Valentino – and Blackpink