- Seoul City opens Seoul Fashion Week Pavilion in Tranoï, the Paris Fashion Week’s official tradeshow

- Tradeshow dates are March 2-5, and the Korean pavilion showcases six womenswear designers’ 2023 F/W at the tradeshow’s Palais Brongniart venue

- Seoul City is focused on consulting global buyers, driving sales overseas sales and on online platforms

- Seoul City will present five menswear designer brands at Tranoï and a 3-brand joint fashion show this June

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that the presentation of the six Korean womenswear designer brands at the 2023 F/W Paris Fashion Week Tranoï (March 2-5) Palais Brongniart venue was successful.

SMG signed an MOU last spring with Tranoï, the official tradeshow concurrent to Paris Fashion Week (PFW). Through this MOU, a SFW pavilion opened at Paris’ Tranoï trade show, aimed to support European sales engagement of Korean designer brands.

Tranoï is the Paris Fashion Week’s exclusive tradeshow, a global B2B event that brings together a community of ready-to-wear and accessories designers selected by Tranoï in partnership with the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (Fhcm). The trade show brings together major buyers from global destinations including Europe, the Middle East, and the North Americas, across major department stores, boutique shops, and online shops.

The 6 SFW womenswear brands that showcased at the 2023 F/W Tranoï were: Kwak Hyun Joo Collection, DOUCAN, LIE, MMAM, Vegan Tiger, and tibaeg.

The SFW pavilion was situated on the ground floor of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, where Seoul City attended closely to space-composition for an immersive and appealing buying experience. 

Seoul City collaborated with Tranoï to set up a dedicated sales team focused on driving per-brand sales and contract signings at the tradeshow. Online order consultation was provided via entry support for Le New Black, an B2B fashion platform, as well as a special exhibition . On March 3 (Friday) at 10:30 a.m. (local time), the event was live broadcasted for buyers who were unable to visit the tradeshow in person.

Le New Black is a B2B fashion e-commerce platform partnered with Fhcm (Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode). The platform offers virtual showrooms where items can be registered and viewed, buyers and sellers consulted, and orders placed.

The 6 SFW designers presented a catalog of uniquely Korean fashion and engaged in order consultations with buyers around the world. Seoul City is set to provide SFW’s Tranoï presenters with ongoing support to ensure successful contracts.

The designers who presented at Tranoï are set to return from Paris and participate in Seoul Fashion Week, slated from March 15 (Wednesday) to 19 (Sun). A broad and colorful set of brand fashion shows is ready to step out before guests at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), visiting from near and far. SFW is scheduled for 31 brand fashion shows, concurrently with a 67-brand SFW tradeshow.

In step with the rising European interest in Korean Fashion, Seoul City announced further support for 5 Korean menswear designer brands at the Tranoï tradeshow in June 22-25, at Garage Amelot in Paris. The 5 menswear brands to present at the 24 S/S show in June are Beyond Closet, sling stone, AJOBYAJO, IRYUK, and ul:kin.

Concurrently in Paris, three men’s brands will present a joint fashion show, making it the first time in 22 years of SFW history that a SFW menswear brand is showcased on the runway at Paris Fashion Week. The three brands slated for the runway are ul:kin, Beyond Closet, and sling stone. In particular, ul:kin will also grace the opening runway event at the 2023 F/W SFW.

Song Ho-jae, Director-General of Economy & Employment Planning Bureau at SMG stated, “Seoul Fashion Week first entered the Paris Tranoï tradeshow last year, and has since found enough footing to introduce Korean fashion competitively in the European market,” and added, “The city will continue to provide support and bolster sales, public relations, and marketing efforts to ensure that these brands not only participate in these events, but also reach successful sales deals and contracts. Seoul Fashion Week has the potential to become an attractive springboard for Korean designers seeking overseas expansion.”