Outside the Prada menswear show in Milan on Sunday, the street was lined with screaming fans, most of whom appeared to have flocked to the Korean pop group Enhypen, who attended the event. Devotees would sometimes break into song, belting out boy band hits.
“These Italian kids are actually learning Korean!” Perfect magazine editor-in-chief Bryan Yambao exclaimed as he climbed into a car after the show.
A few years ago, such a sight would have been rare: most shows attracted only small groups of fans stationed to spot celebrity arrivals. But as South Korean pop music becomes an increasingly global obsession, and luxury mega-brands increasingly sign deals with their top stars, the young fan following of K-pop groups has grown become a fixture.
The phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down: In the past week alone, appearances by Korean stars like EXO’s Kai at Gucci, Enhypen at Prada, and J-Hope (from supergroup BTS) at Louis Vuitton have helped light up social media with the menswear. content of the week On Monday, Dior announced that he had signed a partnership with BTS member Jimin, who will attend his show on Friday, while Valentino cemented a deal with the group’s rapper, Suga. (BTS, as a group, is currently on hiatus due to the military service of several members.)
Even the famously low-key “stealth wealth” house Bottega Veneta is currently in talks to secure a menswear deal with a BTS member, market sources said. And over the past few womenswear seasons, Blackpink members Lisa (Celine ambassador), Jisoo (in Dior) and Jennie (in Chanel) have drawn ever-growing crowds of fans while generating valuable buzz online.
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The rise of K-Pop supergroups, whose influence swept Asia in the 2010s before catching fire in Europe and America, coincided with Korean cultural outbursts in other media, such as streaming sensation Squid Game and hit movies like Parasite and Minari. Long prized by brands for the almost fanatical level of social media engagement from their followers, the audience for Korean talent has only grown in recent years, domestically and internationally.
“We are at this inflection point where the Korean influence is at the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist,” said Alison Bringé, director of marketing for fashion consultancy Launchmetrics. “Brands are looking for ways to activate globally, and Korean talents are doing it.”
South Korean talents have become the top celebrity voices for driving media exposure during fashion week, with social media posts generating up to 41 percent of celebrity buzz and influencers for Milan’s fall-winter 2021 womenswear season, according to Launchmetrics. . That share may have grown to as much as 50 percent in Milan men’s fashion week that closed on Monday, according to estimates by fashion agency Karla Otto and marketing consultancy Lefty.
The online impact of Korean stars may even surpass that of the most well-known and digitally savvy Western talent: for example, a partnership between Kim Kardashian and Dolce & Gabbana, for which the reality star and mega-influencer helped “select” and designing the brand’s September 2022 show garnered $4.6 million worth of headlines and online visibility, according to Launchmetrics. However, Blackpink star Jisoo generated $7 million worth of buzz for Dior’s show in Paris in the same season, mostly just by showing up.
South Korea was a bright spot for luxury brands among Asian markets last year as sales hit a record. A recent Morgan Stanley note found that the market had grown by about 40 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. South Korean citizens are now the world’s largest consumers of luxury goods per capita, and “For several leading brands, such as Prada, Moncler, Bottega Veneta or Burberry, we believe that Korean citizens now account for 10 percent or more of their total retail trade.” sales,” wrote analyst Edouard Aubin.
But the increased pace of luxury partnerships with Korean talent isn’t being driven solely by the rising importance of the star’s home market.
In China, K-pop supergroups are so famous that the Chinese government has tried to crack down on what it sees as “irrational” behavior by K-pop fan club members, such as buying too many copies of a album to boost sales of a favorite. Act. K-pop acts are also very popular in the small but growing market of Southeast Asia. Overall, Asian consumers, and the stars most likely to reach them, are likely to remain in the spotlight this year as growth is expected to slow sharply in the US and Europe, which they have propelled the luxury industry since the end of the pandemic.
The appeal of working K-pop stars is beyond their grasp: the artists are rigorously trained and closely supervised by a strict system of studios, which fiercely craft, control and protect their images. This means they carry minimal reputational risk. for the brands they work with.
Deals with K-pop stars are also considered good investments because of the more “prescriptive” influence they have on their audience, fashion marketers said. Many are less shy than Western artists about explicitly recommending brands or products to fans. In turn, their fans often view buying the products the stars endorse as a way to show love for their favorite acts.
Still, industry sources say the deals aren’t just about boosting sales. K-Pop stars often dress expressively and are willing to experiment with fashion as a way to set themselves apart within their respective supergroups. That makes them exciting partners for brands and designers who want to create exciting and memorable fashion moments.
Suga “deeply understands fashion,” a Valentino spokesperson said, and has become “a key inspiration and jumping off point” for designer Pierpaolo Piccioli this year.
At fashion week, brands seem happy to feed the fires of local K-pop fans who attend their events. Dior even sent out a statement on Thursday confirming that Jimin would be attending their upcoming menswear runway show. The show “is an opportunity to celebrate Dior’s relationship with member of the 21st century pop icon, BTS,” the brand said.
Source: news.google.com