Louis Vuitton's next show will be curated by the creator of "Squid Games"

After casting Ho-Yeon Jung, the actress who plays 067 in Suid Game, as the brand's global ambassador, Louis Vuitton is renewing its passion for the Netflix streaming champion series by hiring director Hwang Dong-hyuk as creative consultant for the show's pre-fall set design, led by Nicolas Ghesquière. The fashion show on 29 April in Seoul will be streamed live on the brand's social channels and will take place after sunset on Jamsugyo Bridge, an iconic tourist attraction across the Hangang River. In front of 100 local fashion students among the 1,600 guests, it will be the first fashion collection ever presented at this venue, and the brand's first major event under the leadership of new president and CEO Pietro Beccari. The show not only kicks off Beccari's new marketing strategy, which has made spectacular fashion events in distinctive locations a hallmark of his tenure at Christian Dior, but also kicks off the strategic partnership between Louis Vuitton, the city of Seoul and the Korea Tourism Organisation.

The South Korean government has declared 2023-24 as the Year Visit Korea. The Korea Tourism Organisation will organise various events, travel packages and promotional campaigns over the next two years. Kim Eui-sung, deputy mayor of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said the city aims to attract up to 30 million foreign tourists this year. Louis Vuitton, which exclusively shared details of the fashion show with WWD, described the event as global yet inclusive. It involved local talent and communities and reflected "Louis Vuitton's desire to highlight and showcase local culture and artistic excellence on a global scale". Given the success of Hwang's Squid Game, one of the most-watched shows in Netflix history, and the global K-pop phenomenon, the French luxury house plans to work closely with the city government. For example, it plans to add river attractions to the Seoul edition of its Louis Vuitton City Guide, install a bookstall during the Jamsugyo Bridge Walking Festival, and participate in various short- and long-term projects to conserve natural resources and improve biodiversity. In collaboration with the Korea Tourism Organisation, the brand is also planning a series of projects to promote Seoul and boost tourism, including a photo exhibition.

After all, the brand's connection to the area is not new: the fashion house opened its first boutique in the Gangnam district in 1991 and built a larger and more complete headquarters in 2019 with a façade designed by architect Frank Gehry. The exhibition 'Volez, Voguez, Voyagez' landed in Seoul in 2017, the same year Ghesquière signed Ho Yeon Jung to model for Vuitton. The brand also recently published a book in its Fashion Eye series on Seoul, in which Dutch photographer Sarah van Rij captured fleeting moments of daily life. Today, Vuitton, which will hold its own fashion show in the capital in 2020 in a setting inspired by Gehry's bold and experimental architecture, operates 35 shops in South Korea, including 18 in Seoul.