This Seoul fashion week feels like things are completely back to normal. It’s been about two weeks since SFW started and ended. So as usual, I failed my goal of watching each day as the collections were uploaded to YouTube. And I ended up binge-watching them all after everything was over.
I thought about doing a red carpet fave looks article, but I didn’t see that many events where there were a lot of idols, actors, etc like back in 2017. So I’ve decided to skip that again this year.
I noticed a few of my favorite designers were missing from this showcase, like Cahiers, DEW E DEW E, and C-ZANN E (I don’t think they showed in October 2022 either, now that I think about it). So This review will be even shorter than my SFW SS 22, just by one collection, though.
This time, we had NEW JEANS as the ambassadors for Seoul Fashion Week.
No performance similar to Kai last season. Just a video of them walking around in different designer items that are from some of the designers showing their collections this season.
If you want a tldr of this season’s designers, I highly recommend this video of the finale.
You get a mix of a live performance by Kang Hongsuk and the models walking in looks from different designers, with them both going on at the same time towards the end of the video. Pretty neat. I gotta show this Insta post of him in his fit, all excited. I do love a good purple velvet moment.
This season, you can still see some elements that have been popular for a few years now like oversized coats(it’s not a fall collection if you don’t ave tons of trench coats), leg of mutton sleeves, and wide leg pants, for example.
But now we’re starting to see Y2K in full force. Low rise pants, belly buttons exposed (lots of hoodies with 2 way double zippers, they look broken, but they’re not.) I forgot which collection it was that had tons of these hoodies, they were really cute. I think it might have been UL:KIN.
Anyway, the Y2K callbacks are here in full force, and it’s interesting to see how designers are putting a 2020s twist on it. It’s modern enough to not be a rip-off, but familiar enough to place it in recent history.
Fur (faux I think), patent leather, leather, denim, silk, satin, are still here. Mostly neutral colors with random pops of pinks, blues, and yellow were common.
But in more of the brighter collections like Greedilous, no color was off limit. There is a continuation of punk/alternative elements in collections like with AJOBYAJO and Anonymouth.
Alright, with all that out of the way, let’s get into my faves!
ul:kin
I’m so confused on how to write this brand’s name. Sometimes I see it all caps, then other times, like on Lee Seongdong’s IG, I see it lowercase. So I’m writing it both ways, lol. Anyway, another season with ul:kin on my list of faves.
I just love that every season feels like you get a majority of items that look nothing like last season, but still fit with the brand’s aesthetic.
There’s a fine line between edgy and weird kid that I think of with this brand, and it never crosses that weird kid category (like trying too hard to or just not having any taste, so anything goes).
It’s just effortlessly stylish and contemporary. You don’t have to wear a full look from top to bottom, but there are basics you can incorporate into your wardrobe and elevate your look.
That’s probably my favorite thing about an ul:kin collection. You get so much variety. Two people could wear this collection completely differently and still look good. You could play it safe or be as edgy as you want.
MMAM
The first thing in my notes say, “Cute but kinda boring.” I mean that in a good way. This collection takes risks, but doesn’t have you dated with specific design references.
I wouldn’t say there are any particular trends like Y2K going on here.
But you do have some off center pattern work, like the green skirt in the ending scene at 16:17. Incredibly cute green puffer coat and skirt suit, but a slightly modern twist on both.
Oversized coats, and lots of neutrals going on here. Basics, but not completely basic.
Miss Gee
My second favorite collection this season. Also on the safe side, but maaan when we get to the evening/event wear looks, absolutely STUNNING. There wasn’t one item I wouldn’t wear. I love the champagne rose color in these gowns in the thumbnail.
On the left side of this thumbnail, there’s a see-through long sleeve blouse and sparkly black pants, that’s another look I’m crazy about. Perfection. The beginning of this collection gave me strong French designer vibes.
Chanel and Dior in particular, a little bit of Miu Miu (I know they’re Italian, but femininity on full display made me think of that brand as well.).
Such a beautiful collection. I was entertained the whole time.
KWAK HYUNJOO
This collection also caught my eye because of how feminine it was. It also reminded me a bit of Dior when it comes to some of the suit construction, like the gray one in the thumbnail.
I think because it had a number of aspects I like in it that I saw in other collections, it was a no-brainer to include this on my list. It just fits in so well with Miss Gee and my favorite collection this season.
It’s a tad basic too in a way. But I don’t think you always need loud prints or gimmicks to get your point across with a collection.
Similar to MMAM, you have some looks that are more edgy than others, but over all it’s just a nice collection that I image would be easy to prepare to ship to department stores easily.
You don’t have odd bits that could fall off during mass production, or get eaten in a machine.
Yeah, I just really like it, idk.
METROCITY
I discovered a new brand (new to me), and I’m completely obsessed with them. This is my favorite collection this season.
I think I’ve said this before, but I love with brands put their men’s collection with their women’s wear, because I don’t have the attention span for an all men’s collection, lmao. I just don’t care for it. Or rather, I don’t have a reason to care for it, like a boyfriend or something.
This wasn’t a METRO CITY exclusive thing, four out of five of the collections on my list were coed.
But in this situation, I would see a women’s wear look, be in awe, and then a men’s wear look and that would be my time to recover, before another women’s look would blow me away, lol.
There’s such a great mix of casual and evening/event looks. The purple fur dress was sooo cute. Then later on they had this same model wear a brown fur coat and skirt suit in the finale. I need both looks, STAT.
The silver fuzzy gown worn by this model was also something I need in my closet. I’ve been more of a gold girlie lately, but the silver outfits in this collection are making me reevaluate things.
There are soooo many looks I could talk about here, but I think you just gotta watch the collection for yourself.
Or at least check out Instagram since they posted a bunch of pics on there. They even had some WJSN members and other celebrities in attendance.
I saw some handbags of theirs I’m interested in. I saw they also have watches and other accessories that look really nice. So I’m definitely keeping an eye on this brand.
And that’s it for my Seoul Fashion Week Fall Winter 2023 review! I’m curious to what y’all favorite collections are. Let me know in the comments. Follow me on Twitter for updates on the blog and other shenanigans. And check out my Instagram, I’m trying to be more active on there. I’ll see ya next post!
Take care!
Ash🦦