Han Hye-jin's 2020 FW Digital Fashion Week: The Digital Runway in the Age of COVID-19
Model Han Hye-jin planned and presented a solo digital runway as a challenge for the 2020 F/W Seoul Fashion Week (SFW), which was entirely canceled due to COVID-19. While digital-based online runways and lookbooks have existed for a long time with plenty of domestic and international examples, I personally felt that Han Hye-jin's initiative was not only timely but carried significant meaning on multiple levels — so I wanted to record my thoughts.
What Even Is Fashion Week?
The first thought that came to mind when I saw the broadcast was, "This could be a great opportunity to introduce Fashion Week to people who didn't know about it before."
Fashion Week refers to the period when fashion shows are held for designers to present their collections. Fashion weeks take place around the world, with the four major ones being in New York, London, Milan, and Paris.
South Korea also hosts its own "Seoul Fashion Week," which is one of the most anticipated events for fashion-loving Koreans. The term "fashion week" typically refers to the event itself — as in, "I just got back from London Fashion Week!" or "Did you see the photos from New York Fashion Week?"
Shows are held twice a year: S/S (Spring/Summer) and F/W (Fall/Winter), and they're always one step ahead of the current season. (In spring-summer 2020, they showcase F/W 2020 collections; in fall-winter 2020, they showcase S/S 2021 collections.)
COVID and Digital: What "Digital" Means in the Pandemic Era
"What... that's such a stretch of a joke..."
If younger folks watched the video above, they probably wouldn't get the humor right away. (I, too, being oh-so-young myself, had absolutely no idea — but after extensive research and investigation, I managed to unearth this gem. ^^)
From the days when jokes about "digital" were genuinely funny to now, over a decade has passed, and "digital" is no longer a foreign term, a difficult concept, or some vague abstraction for any of us.
Especially with this pandemic, not only have various digital-based platforms been born and grown, but existing domains have also undergone contactless digital transformation across the board. Schools immediately adopted online learning nationwide. Companies that had never experienced remote work also implemented and experienced online-based work processes.
It extended to leisure activities too. The recently opened KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) season drew worldwide attention for its no-audience games and the various implications that came with them.
I believe these changes and phenomena were cases that accelerated the arrival of digital, online-based contactless systems.
Model Han Hye-jin's Challenge: Reading the Times
In my personal view, for all these combined reasons, Han Hye-jin's challenge carries even more powerful meaning and influence. It's built on a noble cause, reflects the current era appropriately and smartly, and rides the wave of industry trends perfectly. The challenge itself can serve as a "solution" for the times while carrying tremendous standalone significance.
In other words, in South Korea — a country that drew global attention for its successful COVID-19 response — Han Hye-jin's unique and distinctly groundbreaking challenge serves as an example of "culture-specific solutions that emerge from Korea's broader response to the pandemic," while simultaneously establishing her "solo digital runway" as a meaningful milestone in the fashion industry.
Han Hye-jin's Challenge and Personal Marketing
Admittedly, this kind of challenge was perhaps possible because Han Hye-jin was already objectively at a prominent position as a model. Taking it further, gaining the insight before planning, the planning itself, and executing it all — these may have been possible because she was a famous model and celebrity.
Yet even for her, this was a difficult challenge. Han Hye-jin mentioned that when she first pitched the idea, her agency CEO wasn't exactly enthusiastic. She persuaded them and, upon completing the project, shared her message, which went roughly like this:
"I'm always reminded that reality is different from what you imagine, but I realized that making the things I dream up and plan actually happen requires help from so many people. Also, even if the trajectory shifts a bit along the way, as long as the original purpose isn't compromised, it's worth seeing things through to the end."