We have seen and met the "k-factor" at Hera Seoul Fashion Week.
South Korea is well know around the world for its industrial design. Cars and electronics are in every house, in every pocket and on every street of the world.
The past few years, South Korea has also been responsible for introducing some prominent elements of our day-to-day culture; such as PSY's "Gangam Style" and the South Korean golf players' triumph at the LPGA.
Nevertheless, nobody expected to see South Korea driving the trends of youngsters' lifestyle.
Hera Seoul Fashion Week AW16.
There was a lot of excitement surrounding the second edition of Seoul Fashion Week under the direction of Kuho Jung, the former creative director of Samsung’s fashion division. Many were confused to discover that clothes were not necessarily the protagonists of the show.
The event was organized to give the public a conceptual overview of a new lifestyle accompanied by a system of celebrity endorsements, accessible price points driven by e-commerce, and of course, a mega-watt K-pop soundtrack.
Fashion Week in other parts of the world are organized so that the designers set the agenda for fashion, each one with their own personality and interpretation.
In Seoul, the show does not speak to a small elite group, but rather appeals to a wider audience. The Fashion Week was organized by the careful machine of artist management companies in Seoul. K-pop stars, K-drama and film actors were among the attendees.
K-Pop and K-Drama
K-Pop stars are already international celebrities, able to cross the ocean and appeal to Western audiences.
K-Pop was something born during the last century as a popular personality stream.
The Most Famous Girls Band l 2NE1's "Gotta Be You" was named MTV Iggy's Song Of The Year.
K-Drama has had more local success and popularity even though the extension to China was amazing. The most famous K-Drama, I Hear Your Voice, originally was only slated for sixteen episodes, yet it has been extended for two more due to the amazing success it had in South Korea.
In China it has been followed by a hundred million youngsters.
K-Style is not over yet. This is just the beginning of a whole new world.