How Forever 21 helped launch K-pop fashion in the U.S. before closing its stores

Throughout most of the 2010s, Forever 21 shoppers were often unknowingly wearing K-pop fashion along with their satin camis and cutout dresses.

Shoppers may have tossed into their iconic yellow plastic bags striped shirts and jackets inspired by the South Korean boy band ENHYPEN, clear handbags and backpacks — a mainstay at K-pop concerts — or beauty products from brands like COSRX.

Forever 21, the retail chain that was a destination store at many large American malls, is set to permanently close all its U.S. stores after filing for bankruptcy this month, its second in six years. And the fast-fashion behemoth is being remembered by some for the way it introduced American shoppers to K-pop fashion.

“Korean fashion is part of Forever 21’s DNA,” said Nicole Craig, a professor at Arizona State University’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising who worked as a senior buyer at the company in the mid-2010s. 

The chain had swiftly capitalized on the stratospheric global rise of K-pop, which inspired playful giftables, beauty products and the company’s expansive graphic T-shirt business. And the store’s Korean fashion encompassed not only the style of the widely adored music groups people know today but also looks inspired by Korean popular culture in general — ranging from streetwear to cardigan sets.

Do Won and Jin Sook Chang, South Korean immigrants in Los Angeles, founded the fast-fashion retail giant in 1984, just three years after the couple emigrated from their home country. At its peak in 2015, Forever 21 had more than 800 stores around the world and raked in more than $4 billion in sales. The Changs held an estimated combined net worth of nearly $6 billion.

Led by its founders, Craig said, the retailer hired many Korean American employees and worked with Korean suppliers. Those involved were deeply invested and attuned to the latest trends in Korean fashion and culture.

The Changs’ daughters, Linda and Esther, hold executive positions at the company.

Many of the retailer’s younger employees were devoted K-pop fans who curated collections they themselves desired.

“That authenticity is certainly an advantage that Forever 21 had over some other retailers,” Craig said.

Forever 21’s rise in the early to mid-2010s “happened in tandem with K-pop and serialized K-dramas on Netflix,” said Christina Moon, an anthropologist and fashion studies professor at Parsons School of Design.

The rise of pop culture from Asia was a global phenomenon that fast-fashion retailers like Forever 21 and H&M were able to capitalize on quickly and effectively. People who worked at those companies weren’t just looking at New York Fashion Week for design inspiration, Moon said. 

“They’re drawing from what’s happening in Asia, from celeb culture and K-pop stars,” she said. 

Experts have also long pointed to the fact K-pop fashion itself draws heavily from Black culture and music, particularly hip-hop and streetwear.

In 2015, Korean-owned factories represented nearly half of the businesses in L.A.’s garment district. Back in the early 2010s, many of these small Korean labels sold garments to Forever 21, which is headquartered in the city, Moon found in her research. Forever 21’s partnership with Korean garment makers from the so-called Jobber Market, she said, propelled fast fashion into the mainstream and likely informed the company’s focus on Korean fashion trends.

“The rise of Forever 21 at the time had to do with hundreds of people in that apparel market who were producing small batches of really trendy clothing,” she said.

Another driver of Forever 21’s early success was its marketing of fashion as a means to craft identity, Moon said. Curated outfit collections made it possible for teenagers to affordably participate in many different subcultures, from punk to K-pop. 

But as the 2010s wound down, analysts say, Forever 21 had trouble keeping up with the surge of China-based online retailers including Shein and Temu, both of which took advantage of the “de minimis” exemption to ship garments from overseas cheaply to U.S. shoppers. (The rule allowed goods under $800 in value to go through customs without added duties.) The company cited competition from foreign fast-fashion giants, rising costs and evolving consumer trends as reasons for its downfall.

As the company struggled financially, Craig said, the overall assortment of styles dropped significantly. For a long time, customers could go to Forever 21 on a weekday and secure a cutting-edge outfit for a K-pop concert that weekend. But in recent years, Craig said, the brand has lost its spot as that go-to destination. Variety declined while prices rose. So went many young consumers.

“Forever 21 was founded on the idea that a teenager could go into a store with a $20 bill and find an edgy new outfit,” Craig said. “That’s not so true any more.”