We Speak Fashion

Seoul Fashion Week Steps Out: Spring 2027 Expands From DDP to Lotte World Tower

Published

3 weeks ago

October 6, 2026

Seoul Fashion Week has outgrown its home. The Spring/Summer 2027 season, held September 1–6, 2026, expanded beyond the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) for the first time, adding Lotte World Tower in Songpa District as a second venue — a structural change for Korea’s flagship fashion event, as the Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

Launched in 2000, Seoul Fashion Week is Korea’s flagship global fashion business event; across 26 years, 367 brands have staged 2,247 runway shows through it. The SS27 season kept the industry-facing program at DDP — 17 designer runway shows, eight presentations and a trade show with 97 brands — while 31 brands staged runway shows and presentations across both venues, with Lotte World Tower’s World Park hosting an outdoor, consumer-facing runway.

The two venues opened with different names attached. The Korea JoongAng Daily reported that Re Rhee opened the DDP program with “The Essence of What Remains,” a collection about finding beauty in the traces left by time. Separately, Haps Korea reported ahead of the event that KIMHĒKIM would stage its 10th anniversary collection at the opening runway, alongside a special exhibition and a runway collaboration with Adidas; Haps also reported an NCT charity flea market of stage costumes and memorabilia with proceeds donated to charity, selected runway items available to buy via QR codes, and major shows livestreamed on the event’s YouTube channel.

The season’s lineup spanned generations of Korean fashion — Lie Sangbong, Caruso, LIE, Doucan, Holynumber7, Ulkin, Hanna Shin and Mmam among them — and veteran Park Youn-soo’s Big Park showed “EXPANDED CONTINUUM” at DDP on September 4, nearly 45 years into his tailoring career. Behind it all stands the DDP itself: Zaha Hadid-designed, opened March 21, 2014, its facade made of 45,133 individually shaped panels, and still the week’s visual signature. Seoul’s fashion week now has two skylines to play against — and a second stage built for the public, not just the trade.

We Speak Fashion

L’Oréal Powers Past the Beauty Market: €35.33 Billion in Nine Months as Salon and Derm Brands Lead

Published

4 days ago

October 22, 2026

We Speak Media

The world’s largest beauty company is growing faster than the market it leads. L’Oréal reported sales of €35.33 billion for the first nine months of 2026, up 6.9% like-for-like and 7.7% as reported, in a statement released on October 22. Third-quarter sales reached €11.56 billion, up 7.2% like-for-like.

CEO Nicolas Hieronimus called it “an exceptional third quarter,” saying the global beauty market “once again proved its resilience” and that L’Oréal “continued to significantly outpace it” — company commentary put the wider market’s growth at roughly 5% for the quarter.

The quarter’s heavy lifting came from the group’s two professional-facing divisions. Professional Products — home to Kérastase, Redken and L’Oréal Professionnel — sold €1,469.1 million in Q3, up 12.1% like-for-like, while Dermatological Beauty (La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, SkinCeuticals) sold €1,871.6 million, up 12.2%. L’Oréal Luxe added €4,176.6 million (+6.4%) and Consumer Products €4,044.3 million (+4.3%), as fragrances and haircare drove growth, skincare continued to accelerate, and e-commerce sales grew around 17% — well ahead of the online beauty market.

The brand highlights told the same story. Kérastase grew double-digit, powered by Gloss Absolu, Genesis and Chronologiste; La Roche-Posay launched Mela B3 Double-Dose and Anthelios UV Air; Yves Saint Laurent’s Libre and MYSLF fragrances grew double-digit; and the newly acquired fragrance house Creed performed strongly.

Regionally, SAPMENA-SSA was the standout at +19.2% like-for-like, followed by Europe at +9.9% and North Asia at +7.8%; North America grew 2.2% (5.6% adjusted), and Latin America was the only region to decline, down 1.0%. During the period L’Oréal also closed its acquisition of a majority stake in Innovist, a digital-first Indian personal care house of brands — a results statement that underlines a simple point: at €35 billion in nine months, L’Oréal is not just leading the beauty business, it is widening the gap.