6 beauty trends spotted at Seoul Fashion Week 2025

The Spring/Summer 2025 edition of Seoul Fashion Week brought global stars to the South Korean capital. In recent years, fashion in this Asian city has come to rival the trends of New York, London, Paris, and Milan. This year, the focus was on sustainable fashion and guests were seen donning some chic beauty looks as did the model on the runway, who experimented with everything. From trademark Korean-style make-up that champions understated elegance to dramatic looks with unconventional hair colours and bright glitter, here are some of the top beauty trends spotted at Seoul Fashion Week ’25. 

Dramatic braids

Several designers presenting at Seoul Fashion Week opted for statement braids to complement their designs. While models at the Kwak Hyun Joo show chose skinny schoolgirl braids, the CEEANN presentation saw models walking on the runway sporting messy side braids. A casual, undone style was seen across the shows as guests also opted for this low-maintenance look.

Signature Korean make-up

Most beauty looks in Korean TV shows lean towards minimalism—clear skin, subtle eyeliner, and lip tint for a fresh-faced look, which was spotted on the Armoire runway. Designer Kwak Hyun Joo chose a similar look but topped it with a generous amount of blush. Models at the L'EAU ET and DUCKDIVE shows too rocked an understated make-up look. Moreover, the five-member girl group, New Jeans attended Day 1 wearing pared-back looks, rocking neutral outfits, straight hair, and make-up that echoed the beloved quiet luxury aesthetic. Singer Som Hevin wore similar make-up along with a casual denim look.

Loud hair

Elaborate hair is a mainstay of K-pop music. Artists are not afraid to sport unconventional shades like cherry red, mint green, and platinum blonde. At this year’s edition of Seoul Fashion Week, models were fearlessly experimenting with dramatic hairdos at the Maison Nica show. Dreamcatcher’s youngest member, Gahyun brought a dash of colour as she attended the show for Korean brand, Doucan in a fitted black dress and icy blue hair. Blackswan member, Fatou also chose a royal blue shade for her hair.

Vibrant eyes

At the Maison Nica show, bright yellow eyeshadow and bold red eyeliner brought the drama. For the Greedilous show, the four-member girl group Blackswan showed up sporting bright colours and busy prints. Lead dancer Gabi paired her soft burgundy hair with monochrome make-up in pale pink. Keeping her skin bright and luminous, she chose pink tones for her eyes, blush, and lips. But the highlight of her look was the blue glitter on her eyes, which added a hint of sparkle.

Dark Feminine 

Edgy make-up looks at the LIE show were a departure from traditional Korean beauty, which favours softer looks in pink or peach shades. Bold make-up with statement eyeliner also made an appearance at the DUCKDIVE show. Singer Yuju attended the Arts de Base show in dramatic eyeliner and red lips. Styling her black hair with front bangs and wearing a brown zippered jumpsuit, she served old Hollywood glamour. 

Messy waves

While most stars favoured stick-straight hair, models at the L'EAU ET show rocked dreamy mermaid waves. Singer Eunseo from the group WJSN (also known as ‘Cosmic Girls’) opted for soft messy waves, which she paired with a colour block blazer and skirt set in black and brown. She kept the make-up minimal and styled her hair in a side-part. This look—with natural make-up, no bangs, and a neutral outfit—was a lesson in understated power dressing. 

Lead image: Getty Images 

Also read: Cyber-pop meets craft at Seoul Fashion Week ‘25

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