10 trends taking over Seoul, South Korea
Time to put salmon on our faces!
I just got back from two weeks in Seoul, and the city is truly a masterclass in spotting what’s next.
The shopping has always been good, but after a ten year hiatus since my last trip and the global rise of KPop/Korean culture, it’s truly a cultural center and totally different place than I remember.
After wandering through Hongdae, getting lost in Olive Young stores, and having my pants hemmed by a very concerned sales girl who now thinks New York is overrun with rats, I’ve compiled the 10 trends I saw absolutely everywhere. Some will hit the U.S. in six months, others are already here but Koreans are doing them better, and one involves salmon sperm (you’ve been warned).
Consider this your cultural reconnaissance report from the streets of Seoul.
This is a deeper dive into a topic shared in my weekly newsletter:
The Trends
1. Bag and phone charms
Though I think I spent enough money to increase Korea’s GDP, upon reflection I perhaps should have bought more charms. They exist in an abundance and variety unmatched by Amazon or any U.S. retailer (even the ones on Temu aren’t as cute). I got my phone charm at a gas station and I’m obsessed with it, but there are big retailers like Nyu Nyu and Mimi line with endless options.
2. Mary Janes
At one point I looked around on the Metro and every girl was wearing Mary Janes. They’re cute and feminine but also flat for those brutal Seoul hills.
3. Really Baggy Pants
If the girlies weren’t wearing a maxi skirt and Mary Janes, they were wearing really baggy pants that went all the way to the ground. There is a magical place in Hongdae where you select your jeans and they will tailor both the waist and the length in just an hour and included in the price of the jeans. While pinning the jeans I was buying for tailoring, the sales girl expertly folded the pants up with the ends touching the floor.
“Higher please,” I said. “Higher?” she looked at me in disbelief. “Yes,” I said, “I live in New York City and the ground is disgusting. I don’t want my pants touching it.” Another girl in the store who was visiting from China laughed and said, “Yes! Rats everywhere!” That poor sales girl probably thinks New York is a cesspool.
4. Knee high boots and tiny skirts
The third archetype of person I saw was wearing the tiniest skirt and knee high boots. I saw a lot of this in Hongdae both on girls and in the stores (it’s the clubbing and fashion district for students) but there was a girl sporting that get up at a Temple! Of course this look is popular here in the U.S. too, but it was worth noting due to its prevalence.
5. PDRN
The Olive Young stores, pharmacies, and Myeongdong shops are bursting with PDRN. PDRN, or polydeoxyribonucleotide, is a compound derived from salmon DNA that is used in regenerative medicine and skincare for its tissue-repairing properties. And it um... comes from their sperm.
The internet promises that the “DNA is highly purified and broken down into small fragments called nucleotides,” and also that many brands use plant sources like ginseng or rice. But this stuff must really work if so many people are down with putting Salmon spunk on their faces.
6. Cosmetic surgery
Less of a trend and more of a sign of the times I suppose. Everyone already knows Korea is great at cosmetic surgery. It started with Koreans getting eye surgery to make their eyes bigger and has now increased to insane medical tourism.
The amount of people walking around fresh from a full facial reconstruction (white bandages all over their heads looking like a mummy) was comical. And in terms of clientele it was like the United Colors of Benetton. I saw women of every color and creed. They were out shopping, taking their kids to the palace, just bopping around like their entire face wasn’t covered in gauze.
7. Korean designers
Growing up, my Korean family was obsessed with brand names. When we traveled there back in 2012 it was the land of knockoff Prada purses and couples wearing matching Ralph Lauren t-shirts.
Now, in 2025, it felt totally different. Koreans are choosing local designers for their bags like Marge Sherwood, Osoi, and the more reasonably priced Stand Oil. Girls everywhere wore shirts with the big tag for Matin Kim gracing the back. Korean designed brands that license American brands like Kodak and Nat Geo were omnipresent.
8. Claw games
The same way convenience stores dot the city so do hundreds of storefronts that are just full of claw games. During our time in Korea we sought shelter from the rain in Buson, warmth after eating outside at the food stands in Seoul, and our friend Arturo looked high and low for a sleeping Pikachu in said claw game abodes. I guess it’s technically just an arcade but aesthetically it looks different with the rows of identical claw machines stacked on one another.
9. Vienna coffee
Go to any of the trendy cafes in Seoul and you will see “Vienna Coffee” on the menu. It is almost always referring to an Einspänner, a Viennese coffee drink traditionally made with a shot of espresso topped with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
Traditionally served in what we might think of as a hot chocolate glass, all of the Vienna Coffees I ordered in Korea came in ornate tea cups. The whipped cream was always very stiff and much better than the kind that comes out of the can.
10. Glow cushion foundation
I saw more girls with glowing faces than the wet look or “glass skin.” Although, both were around. I remember my family giving me a Sulwusoo sample of foundations with a cushion you pressed on then patted onto your face years ago, so I don’t think that method of application is new, but it’s definitely the dominant form of foundation in Korean beauty stores right now. That’s the “cushion” part.
The glow part is that it makes your skin look super glowy. I tried a cheap one from Daiso and it made my face almost TOO glowy. My nicer one I really like. It’s from WAKEMAKE. The fact that all the Korean foundation has SPF50+/PA++++ is amazing.
This video below shows what glowy cushion foundation looks like in action.
Want more cultural intel like this? I spend my weeks tracking what’s happening in business, beauty, and culture so you don’t have to. Subscribe to my newsletter for the trends, stories, and insider observations that matter - delivered with just enough snark to keep things interesting.
please check out my article on up-and-coming Korean fashion brands! https://open.substack.com/pub/lnolet/p/korean-fashion?r=6ss6dv&utm_medium=ios