[The Public = Margarita Kichukova] With a GDP of $1.65 trillion in 2019, South Korea ranks 12th among the world economies. Financial stability is one of the key factors which allows locals to invest in and prioritize their looks. However, that wasn't always the case on the Peninsula.
After the Korean War (1950-1953), the two newly-formed countries on either side of the 38th parallel were left devastated and practically in ruins. At the time, Koreans did not even have access to basic commodities, not to mention anything more lavish. Nevertheless, the country progressed and its rapid economic growth became known as the “Miracle on the Hangang River”.
For several decades Korea functioned as a cheap labor hub for textile and wigs manufacturing, so the people in the factories could only dream of having the financial freedom to enjoy the fashion items they were making. In the 1980s, the country become economically stable and that was marked by it hosting the 1988 Summer Olympics.
As Koreans gain financial confidence, they increased spending for fashion and it comes as no surprise that today the country is the fourth fastest growing luxury goods market in the world behind only India, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
It was in the 1970s that young people began to show their individuality through fashion. This is thanks to the spread of foreign culture through mass media such as newspapers and TV. The liberalization of school uniforms in the 1980s served as an opportunity for the generation who enjoyed fashion to expand into teenagers. After that, color TV broadcasting and professional sports began, and global sports brands such as Nike became popular among teenagers.
The heyday of Seoul fashion was in the 1990s, when the economy was booming just before the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tribulation. In the 1980s, teenagers who spent their school days without school uniforms grew into ‘Generation X’ and changed the fashion center from Myeong-dong to Apgujeong-dong.
But the tribulation polarized even fashion. Dongdaemun Fashion Town grew rapidly at the economic crisis, but on the other hand, Cheongdam-dong Luxury Street was formed in rapidly. Curator Park Hye-rim (42) explained, “The tribulation was an opportunity to divide the people of Seoul into the Dongdaemun bonded group (the public) and the Cheongdam-dong luxury group (the upper class).” Cheongdam-dong, home to various luxury brands and fashion companies, is still a symbol of the wealthy.
In recent years, when online has taken the lead in shopping, Seoul's 'fashion center' such as Myeong-dong and Apgujeong-dong has disappeared. There are no trendy items, and personal choice that fits the TPO (time, place, situation) has become more important. Curator Park analyzed, “If you look at the clothes of Seoulites in the 2020s, an era of complete individuality has begun.”
The results of this trend can be confirmed in the recent online fashion platforms which are popular in Korea.
Startups that launched fashion applications (apps) such as Musinsa, Zigzag, and Avly have continued to grow rapidly in recent years. Among them, the transaction amount of ZigZag last year was 750 billion won, almost four times higher than in 2016 (about 200 billion won), when the service was first started.
ZigZag, a women-only fashion service platform launched in 2015, started with the determination of founder to create an app that provides a more convenient mobile shopping service.
After saving favorite products and shopping malls on internet in 'Favorites', ZigZag aimed to provide a service that connects them so that the hassle of accessing different sites can be solved with one mobile app by clicking one by one.
ZigZag's director, Yoon Geosung, talks about Zigzag's success in Korea as follows.
“ZigZag is a service based on Dongdaemun Fast Fashion (a fashion brand that quickly distributes products reflecting the latest trends at an affordable price) system. I named it Zigzag because I thought it was a name that could approach consumers wittily when I saw the screen that clicks on various styles in one mobile app flows in the form of a Z- and zig-zag.”
In fact, the main customer groups of the Zig Zag app, women in their early 30s and teens, are as satisfied with the ‘pretty design’ as the convenience of the Zig Zag service.
ZigZag's success was possible because of its internal system segmented by characteristics, long-term perspective, and the 'coolness' of giving up when it was time to give up. Director Yoon Geosung explained that there were virtually no male users of ZigZag, and said that he had no plans to operate a men's shopping service.
“We set out a thorough ‘target marketing (marketing with a clear target)’ strategy. The advertisement itself does not appear for male users.”
The characteristics of these new online shopping malls reflect the tendy of Korean’s completely personalize their fashion and no longer purchase standardized fashion products, and this trend has become a major axis of the development of Korean fashion.
[Image by Hyunwon Jang on Unsplash]
The Public / Margarita Kichukova webmaster@thepublic.kr
더퍼블릭 / Margarita Kichukova webmaster@thepublic.kr