2024 Runway to Seoul Celebrates Korean Fashion, Beauty, K-Pop and Technology

Runway to Seoul returned to Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul, on Dec. 29 to celebrate a fusion of Korean fashion, beauty, K-pop and technology with runway shows, musical performances and interactive experiences for attendees.

Organized by the Seoul Business Agency and WWD’s sister publication WWD Korea, in partnership with the City of Seoul, the second annual runway event drew 2,500 attendees, including the likes of international influencers Unice Wani and Dulguun Odkhuu, to celebrate the depth and diversity of Korean culture.

The Runway to Seoul event was a flagship program of SeoulCon, the global influencer expo organized by Seoul Business Agency which ran from Dec. 28 to Jan. 1 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza. It attracted a total of 3,500 fashion, beauty and social media influencers from more than 50 countries.

“Runway to Seoul is a unique cultural festival born from the fusion of K-fashion, K-pop, and technology. It goes beyond being a fashion show, revealing the potential and creativity of K-fashion to the world, contributing to its strengthened presence in the global market,” said Hyunwoo Kim, chief executive officer of the Seoul Business Agency.

The 2024 runway featured seven prominent Korean fashion brands including returning labels Mina Chung and Ordinary People with newcomers Valoren, Duckdive, Tripleroot, Re-Rhee and Raive. Each K-fashion brand brought their own styles to the showcase, such as Re-Rhee’s display of the creative ethos of the Seongsu-dong scene; Valoren’s new takes on deconstructivism through modern men’s fashions; Ordinary People’s, the Seoul-based label that collaborated with Adidas on an exclusive Gazelle sneaker in October, collection of understated styles, and Mina Chung’s bold takes on abstract Eastern aesthetics.

In addition, K-fashion labels Duckdive, Tripleroot and Raive intertwined performance with fashion on their runways, with opening and finale performances by I’Am dance crew, K-Tigers dance crew and HolyBang hip-hop dance crew, respectively, before performances by We Dem Boyz dance crew, girl group H1-Key and an after party set by DJ Sura closed out the 2024 Runway to Seoul event.

Throughout the 2024 Runway to Seoul event, attendees were able to engage with participating brands through exclusive activations running from Dec. 22 to 31, such as a multishop pop-up and a photo booth from clothing brand MMT while limited-edition collaborations from all seven runway brands and Runway to Seoul-branded merchandise, which sold out due to high demand, were exclusively available to shop through e-commerce platform Kream. Additional brands present at the 2024 Runway to Seoul included New York cosmetics company Nars, Korean fragrance brand House Ville Erbatium, and craft beer company Dailybeer.