South Korean Fashion Meets London

South Korean labels are now popping up and being found in some of London’s best up-and-coming stores, putting the country on the global fashion map.

South Korea is giving London, Paris, New York and Milan a run for their money. The rising influence of TikTok and K-pop has helped make brands such as ADER error, JUUN.J and WE11DONE become mainstream during the last five years. These brands have also consistently collaborated with more established streetwear names over time.

South Korean labels are now popping up and being found in some of London’s best up-and-coming stores, putting the country on the global fashion map.

Korean fashion brands are being designed and promoted by famous exports. “The new fashion crowd is a lot more aware and researches labels. We have a lot of people coming in-store already knowing about the new up-and-coming Korean designers. Korean brands have a lot of hype on Instagram and this comes from the huge K-pop influence. Korea has the music and movies and that’s all filtering into promoting their brands.”

Having experience is everything when it comes to fashion. Korean brands are restricted to particular stores such as UJNG and XU London. It’s all about quality, trends and price points. Korean brands tick all the boxes and offer a brand new shopping experience to customers. Brands offer the idea of exclusivity and affordability.

Affordability and trend appeal is a huge factor that Korean brands have captured which helped get the attention of London’s youth. Younger generations in London are turning towards smaller independent brands from Korea to stand out in a streetwear-centric crowd.

“To me, it looks like the younger generation places much more value on quality or design than on just a brand’s name value. I’ve seen a lot of people being happy with Korean brands offering them new styles with good prices, because they know some of the non-Korean brands offer them the same style over and over again… It’s design and detail, and not about the fashion name.”