Global Fashion Market Focuses on the Future of K-Fashion

The Korea Fashion Industry Association (President Han Joon-seok) and McKinsey & Company co-hosted the '2023 Global Fashion Forum' at the InterContinental Seoul COEX on October 19th. Supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Bang Moon-kyu), the event has been held since 2009 and was successfully conducted this year with the participation of around 400 C-level executives from leading Korean textile and fashion companies.

Notably, about ten global experts from McKinsey's apparel, retail, and consumer goods sectors in major cities such as Milan, London, Chicago, and Frankfurt attended. They shared insights on the global and Korean fashion industry, contemplated the cultural and industrial value of K-fashion, and presented future directions from a sustainability perspective through keynote speeches and in-depth discussions.

Beginning with an opening speech by the association's president Han Joon-seok, keynote speeches and in-depth discussions were conducted by McKinsey's senior partners Gemma D’Auria and Achim Berg, and partner Kang Young-hoon. The presentations covered topics such as implications for the fashion industry, identifying future trends, and changes in fashion brands.

Domestic textile and fashion experts, including Vice Chairman Kim Ik-hwan of Hansae, CEO Choi Jeong-hee of Andersson Bell, and Global Director Heo Cheol of Musinsa, continued the discussion under the theme ‘Not just the what, it’s the how that matters’.

The forum emphasized the need for efficient management, strategic M&A through global localization, and end-to-end supply chain management, recognizing that the future of the textile and fashion industry is shaped by five key management strategies: globalization, digital operations, sustainability, supply chain restructuring, and purpose-driven organization.

The McKinsey experts added that while overseas consumer markets are responding positively to Korean culture, it is crucial to convert interest into actual purchases through thorough localization.

In his opening speech, Chairman Han Joon-seok of the Korea Fashion Industry Association expressed hope that the forum's inspiration and insights would be the driving force for future fashion business management, discussing the challenges and solutions for the fashion industry and contemplating the present and future of K-fashion.

Participants based their discussions on the theme ‘Why K-Fashion Now?’ and expressed their wishes for K-fashion to establish itself as the next Hallyu content and make a leap forward.