Gucci to hold fashion show at royal palace in May after cancellation

Italian luxury brand Gucci will hold a fashion show at a royal place in Seoul in May, about six months after the event was canceled due to the Itaewon crowd crush, the South Korean cultural heritage authority said Tuesday.

According to the Cultural Heritage Administration, a department of its subcommittee in charge of preserving and managing royal palaces and tombs has recently conditionally approved a plan to hold the Gucci Fashion Show at Gyeongbok Palace on May 16 during a recent meeting.

The event was originally scheduled for Nov. 1 but was canceled as the country was in grief after a total of 159 people were killed in the crowd crush during Halloween celebrations in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood on Oct. 29.

If the show is held in front of Geunjeongjeon, the main hall at the palace, as planned, it will mark the first time for a fashion show to be held at the location used to host major royal ceremonies and receive foreign envoys during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

The brand was to show off its latest Cosmogonie collection, which was first unveiled at Italy’s UNESCO-listed Castel del Monte castle, during the fashion show in Seoul.

“It’s an event that was called off in consideration of the national mourning period (over the Itaewon disaster),” an official who attended the meeting said, requesting not to be named. “We want to establish it as an event that can promote Gyeongbok Palace to the rest of the world.”