South Korean fashion has gained global popularity and Seoul is now a major fashion capital. The article analyzes 14 popular South Korean fashion brands to see how ethical they are in their treatment of people, the environment, and animals. It discusses the rise of "K-fashion" and the modern aesthetic of Korean brands. It also explores Seoul's thriving fashion districts and culture, which have been influenced by trends like "school-uniform style shirts and pale blue jeans."

1. 22 KOREAN BRANDS
EVERY HIGHSNOBIETY
READER SHOULD KNOW

2. How Ethical Are the Most
Popular Korean Fashion
Brands?
If you’re into Korean fashion, you might wonder which brands are ethical and which are not.
We’ve done the digging and rated 14 of the most popular fashion brands from South Korea.
Keep reading to discover their impacts on people, the planet, and animals.
The rise of K-fashion
Since the 1990s, South Korean culture has been gaining in popularity, so much so
that there’s a specific word used to describe this Korean Wave: Hallyu.
K-pop, K-movies, and K-dramas are becoming significant drivers of global pop culture, and
K-fashion has also slowly made its way to the forefront of the fashion industry. As Hahna

3. Yoon puts it in her New York Times article, South Korea has emerged as “a cultural
juggernaut”.
But it hasn’t always been that way: according to Hyunji Nam, lead editor of Korean content
at Ssense, “South Korea didn’t have the national power to support fashion in or outside of
the country [for many decades], and most designers, regardless of how talented they were,
had few opportunities to show their work in or outside of Korea”. But times have changed.
Now, the South Korean luxury market ranks tenth largest in the world.
These days, K-fashion is often known for its modernist aesthetic, defined by a neutral colour
palette, elegant yet simple styles, creatively weaving in references to different trends and
traditions. The hanbok remains Korea’s traditional attire, and it has been reinterpreted over
the years and gained global recognition thanks to K-pop singers.
In an article about the current Korean culture exhibition at the V&A Museum in London,
writer Claire Marie Hailey gave a vivid description of Seoul’s fashion: “Walking around the
city, in neighbourhoods like hyperactive Hongdae and the long-immortalised Gangnam, I
swiftly fell under the influence of the young Korean population, who wore, almost
exclusively, school-uniform style shirts and polo shirts, with slacks or pale blue jeans in a
baggy ‘90s cut. The colour scheme was always white, or beige, or somewhere in between;
loved-up couples coordinated carefully. On the feet: bulbous white trainers, or kitten-heeled
sandals for girls”.
Seoul’s fashion scene is indeed thriving, and the Gangnam district is known to be the city’s
fashion area, attracting countless fashion-minded tourists from around the world. The
Dongdaemun district is also rising as a regional fashion hub, providing creative, affordable
fashion items.
With new Korean designers and brands emerging, it’s normal to ask yourself what impact
these new labels have on people, the planet, and animals. Our trusted team of analysts
looked at 14 clothing brands from Korea to try and answer the question: how ethical are the
most popular Korean fashion brands? Let’s take a look.
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11. Seoul, Korea, is quickly becoming one of the world's major fashion capitals, with
Seoul Fashion Week becoming increasingly popular. The current numbers don't lie,
either. From 2020 to 2022, the market jumped approximately 10% in revenue across
the board, growing from 28.36 billion to 37.18 billion, respectively.

12. Cute Sweet Short Sleeve Bowknot Korean Style Lolita Girl Summer A-line
Dress
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