We’ve talked the ears off our friends about how great South Korean beauty products are, and heard more than enough about the music and drama. Now, the fashion is making an impression in Canada, with Nordstrom the latest to get in on the act. For five weeks Pop-in@Nordstrom KFASHION, in Toronto, Vancouver and online, will carry women’s and unisex fashion pieces, plus lifestyle items like a DIY kimchi kit. It’s curated by Olivia Kim, the store’s VP of creative projects, who says, “Our Korean beauty shop was one of our most popular to date, so we are excited to see what our customers think of Korean fashion.”
Breaking wave
What’s with the surge in interest in all things Korean? Linda Sin, owner of Middle Sister Boutique in Vancouver, says the scene began growing back in the ’90s when the government started investing more in entertainment. Ten or 15 years later, things began to expand overseas—a phenom known as the Hallyu or K-wave. Singapore-based Niki Bruce is a fashion editor, expert in Asian fashion and regular at Seoul Fashion Week. She says the K-wave started when Korean pop bands began gaining popularity internationally. Around the same time YouTube launched, allowing fans to follow bands more closely. “Then there was online shopping: suddenly you didn’t have to travel to Seoul to buy the clothes these stars were wearing. So Korean style and beauty started to become big in America and other countries with large Korean and Asian diaspora populations,” she says.
The K look
Sin says Korean designers are masters of mixing street style and high fashion. “Japan’s fashion was influenced by American work wear—very utilitarian. Korean fashion is hipper, allowing designers to move with the changing trends. Koreans are very trend conscious so designers take more risks in cuts, colours and prints.” According to Kim, “The street style in Seoul is beyond—it’s incredible how they are able to take a trend and embrace it, absorb it and run with it until they move on to something else. They’re doing that with fashion but also with television, electronics, technology and beauty, and at a pace that’s faster than anybody.” For Bruce, the key is that Korean style straddles the fine line between fashion forward and wearable. “While I wouldn’t say there’s a core esthetic, there’s a core ‘feel’ which is to take an idea—say, exaggerated sleeves—almost but not quite too far. I also like that Korean fashion is wearable on a ‘non-model’ body.”
Influencing the influencers
According to Kim, Korean fashion is only going to get bigger. “People crave new and there is a constant hunger for what’s next. More and more people are paying attention to Korean fashion, which you can see being adopted through media, on websites and with influencers,” she says. “People are seeing the street style in Seoul, Tokyo and around the world and they are really curious about it. The Internet and social media makes the entire world accessible, so now there is a global audience watching and building the demand for these super-cool brands pushing trend boundaries.” But for Bruce, there’s a downside to that. “This ‘sudden’ interest has in many ways changed what Korean fashion and Seoul Fashion Week was all about, and has made it less exciting. Korean fashion used to be the fashion insiders’ secret—Seoul was the place you could visit to discover exciting new designers and trends; now it’s just yet another place for Vogue to send its street-style photographers,” she says.
Ones to watch
Bruce’s latest Korean find is Blindness. “It’s a menswear brand that’s totally on board with the new genderless clothing. The brand’s designers KyuYong Shin and JiSunm Park are trying to create a new version of masculinity,” she says. She also tips J Koo for tailored, elegant, simple pieces with unique details, and KYE for its Vetements-like feel. Both are available at Nordstrom, only till May 7.
