The street in front of the Prada menswear show in Milan earlier this month was crowded with screaming fans. The majority of the attendees appeared to have come to support the Korean pop group Enhypen, who was present at the event. Fans occasionally burst out into song, singing some of the boy band’s most popular songs.
“Can you believe it?” ” These Italian children are genuinely studying Korean!” After the concert, while Bryan Yambao, editor-in-chief of Perfect magazine, was getting into a car, he said, “That was amazing!”
A scene like this would not have been common a few years ago because the majority of events attracted only small groups of fans who camped around to see star appearances. But as South Korean pop music becomes more of a global obsession and as luxury megabrands sign more and more deals with its leading artists, the devoted young fans of K-pop groups have become a permanent fixture in the industry.
The movement is not showing any signs of slowing down: just in the past week alone, visits by Korean artists, including EXO’s Kai at Gucci, Enhypen at Prada, and J-Hope (from supergroup BTS) at Louis Vuitton, have served to light up social media with content from men’s fashion week. On Monday, Dior made the announcement that it had inked a collaboration with BTS member Jimin, who is scheduled to attend the brand’s show on Friday. Meanwhile, Valentino solidified a deal with the group’s rapper, Suga. (Because its members are all required to serve in the military right now, BTS is now on sabbatical.)
According to sources close to both the company and the band, Bottega Veneta, a fashion label known for its notoriously low profile and “stealth wealth” philosophy, is now in discussions to clinch a menswear agreement with a member of BTS. And over previous womenswear seasons, Blackpink members Lisa (an ambassador for Celine), Jisoo (at Dior), and Jennie (at Chanel) have garnered ever-larger crowds of fans while also generating crucial internet buzz. Lisa is a member of Blackpink.
The rise of K-Pop supergroups has coincided with Korean cultural breakthroughs in other media, including the streaming phenomenon Squid Game and big films like “Parasite” and “Minari.” The influence of these ensembles first swept over Asia in the 2010s before catching fire in Europe and the Americas. In recent years, the audience for Korean talents, who have long been sought after by companies for the nearly fanatical degree of social media engagement that their fans maintain, has only expanded, both domestically and internationally.
“We’re at this tipping moment where Korean influence is at the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist,” said Alison Bringé, chief marketing officer of fashion consultant Launchmetrics. “We’re at this tipping point where Korean influence is at the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist.” “Korean talents deliver that,” as “brands are looking for ways to activate on a global level,” according to the article.
According to Launchmetrics, social media posts made by or about South Korean talents have become the most important celebrity voices for driving media exposure during fashion week. In fact, Launchmetrics found that social media posts made by or about South Korean talents generated as much as 41 percent of the celebrity and influencer buzz for Milan’s Fall/Winter 2021 womenswear season. According to estimations provided by the fashion firm Karla Otto and the marketing consultant Lefty, this share may have increased to as much as 50 percent during the most recent Milan Men’s Fashion Week.
The influence of Korean celebrities online can even be greater than that of the most well-known and technologically savvy Western talents. According to Launchmetrics, a partnership between Kim Kardashian and Dolce & Gabbana, in which the reality TV star and mega-influencer assisted in “curating” and styling the brand’s September 2022 show, generated headlines and online visibility with a value of $4.6 million. This was due to the fact that Kardashian helped style the show. However, even by appearing at the Dior show in Paris during the same season as her bandmates, Blackpink’s Jisoo was able to generate publicity valued at $7 million.
The previous year, South Korea was a shining example of success for luxury goods inside the Asian market, as sales soared to an all-time high. According to a report that was just released by Morgan Stanley, the market has expanded by around 40 percent compared to where it was before the pandemic in 2019. Analyst Edouard Aubin wrote that South Korean nationals are now the world’s largest spenders on luxury goods per capita. He also stated that “for a number of leading brands, such as Prada, Moncler, Bottega Veneta, or Burberry, we believe Korean nationals now account for 10 percent or more of their total retail sales.”
However, the greater frequency of partnerships between luxury brands and Korean talent is not solely driven by the luxury brands’ growing significance in the star’s home market.
The popularity of K-pop supergroups in China has led the Chinese government to take action against what it considers to be “irrational” behavior on the part of members of K-pop fanclubs. This includes actions such as purchasing multiple copies of an album in order to artificially boost sales for a preferred act. K-pop acts are also extremely popular in the Southeast Asian market, despite the fact that it is a relatively tiny market. Overall, Asian customers—and the stars who are most likely to reach them—are likely to stay in focus this year. This is because growth is predicted to slow down substantially in the United States and Europe, which have been powering the luxury market since the pandemic ended.
Performers in K-pop are subjected to intense training and are closely controlled by a complex system of studios, which craft, control, and jealously guard their images. This is one reason why working K-pop performers have such a broad appeal: This indicates that they pose a negligible threat to the reputation of the brands with which they collaborate.
Deals with these singers are reportedly considered solid investments by fashion executives who were involved in the recent wave of K-Pop alliances. This is due to the “prescriptive” effect that the artists have over their fan bases, as stated by the fashion executives. Many are less reserved than their Western counterparts when it comes to openly endorsing specific brands or items to their admirers. In turn, fans believe that displaying their love for their favorite acts is best demonstrated by purchasing the things that their favorite artists support.
However, insiders within the sector claim that the arrangements’ primary objective is not simply to increase sales. The members of K-Pop supergroups are known to be expressive dressers who are prepared to experiment with fashion in order to differentiate themselves from the other members of their various groups. Because of this, they make for intriguing partners for companies and designers who want to create thrilling and memorable events in the world of fashion.
A spokesman for Valentino stated that Suga “truly knows fashion” and that she has been “a crucial inspiration and starting point” for designer Pierpaolo Piccioli this year.
At fashion week, the participating businesses appear content to stoke the passions of the local K-pop fans that attend their events. Even more definitively, Dior confirmed Jimin’s attendance at its upcoming male runway show by issuing a statement the previous Thursday. According to a statement released by the firm, the presentation “is an opportunity to honor Dior’s connection with the 21st century pop superstar BTS.”