Next month’s Seoul Fashion Week is to be canceled amid a serial cancellation of events, as worries over the novel coronavirus spread escalate in Korea.

“We have internally decided to cancel the 2020 fall-winter Seoul Fashion Week and will notify the concerned parties of the decision in a few days,” said an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government in charge of the biannual fashion week. “However, we will seek ways to support and help designers in Korea by hosting other international design fairs instead.” 

Seoul Fashion Week was slated for March 17-21.

The official added that the 2021 spring-summer Seoul Fashion Week will be held in October as scheduled.

An official from Seoul Design Foundation, organizer of Seoul Fashion Week, said it will announce the cancellation as soon as possible after a decision is made. “We are awaiting notice from the Seoul Metropolitan Government regarding the issue.”

Thirty-six designers were scheduled to participate in the main Seoul Collection shows, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Some 135 buyers from 12 Asian countries and 30 buyers from the US and Europe had been invited to the previous Seoul Fashion Week, with a strong focus on the Asian Market, where Korean designers have a higher chance of scoring sales.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)