![Shall we try being a 'Whimsy Girl' like Karina? The fashion trend Gen Z is focusing on [Trend]](https://res.cloudinary.com/dte6zhuck/image/upload/v1776660098/blogContent/20260419509547.jpg)
Shall we try being a ‘Whimsy Girl’ like Karina? The fashion trend Gen Z is focusing on
In recent times, the fashion industry has rapidly seen the rise of ‘Whimsy Core’, derived from the English word ‘Whimsy’, meaning ‘peculiar and unique’. Whimsycore embodies a style that captures the dreamy and quaint atmosphere of a fairy-tale scene, blending romantic details such as lace, ruffles, and ribbons with the free-spirited vibe of hippie aesthetics to offer a distinctive charm.
Runways and Brands Leading the Whimsycore Wave
The core of Whimsycore style undeniably lies in lace, ribbon details, and sheer materials. These elements instill a fairy-tale-like aesthetic and romantic mood into garments, making them especially appealing to Gen Z, who seek to express their unique personalities. Global runways and both domestic and international fashion brands are already actively showcasing this Whimsycore mood, leading the trend.
Sandy Liang Collection: Like a Scene from a Fairy Tale
Designer Sandy Liang, a New York Parsons Design School alum, presented a fantastic stage inspired by ‘The Dollhouse’ in her 26SS collection unveiled in September 2025. The collection was rich with playful items such as ribbon embellishments, lace curtain details, prominent button mini skirts, and adorable cat prints. The blend of pastel, white, and denim blue hues with lace, frills, and lightweight fabrics boasted a fairy-tale atmosphere along with practical sophistication, capturing significant attention.
Domestic Fashion Brands Capturing Gen Z’s Heart
In South Korea, brands that prominently showcase Whimsycore aesthetics have built a strong fandom among Gen Z women. Brands like OPEN YY with 430,000 Instagram followers and SINOON with 260,000 followers have successfully led the Whimsycore trend by delivering a unique branding of girlish and vintage sensibilities.
The Distribution Industry Competing with Whimsycore Collections
The distribution industry is also heating up the market by actively launching products in line with the Whimsycore trend. The SPA brand MIXXO unveiled its 2026 SS ‘Soft Girl Collection’, featuring ‘soft vintage in everyday life’ concepts, offering easily wearable items such as frill-layered short-sleeve T-shirts, tiered mini skirts, and lace-layered long dresses for daily styling. After the launch of this collection, MIXXO’s sales in the short-sleeve category increased by 123% year-on-year, demonstrating the high interest in Whimsycore style.
LF emphasizes a lovely vibe with floral patterns, lightweight materials, and loose fits in its ‘Daily Romantic Look’. Kolon FnC expands beyond functionality to emotional appeal, showcasing products that satisfy comfort and style simultaneously with its ’24/7 series’. Meanwhile, Matinkim highlighted a ‘cute mood’ in its 2026 summer collection with floral patterns, cut-out details, and appliqué embellishments, skillfully expressing a feminine and dreamy vibe with diverse materials like organza and jersey.
Whimsycore Aesthetics Expanding Across Lifestyle
Food, Interior, Hobby: Diverse Whimsycore
Whimsycore is rapidly spreading beyond fashion into makeup, interior design, food styling, and more in our everyday lives. Delicate food styling like placing star-shaped butter on toast or floating edible flowers in beverages, cozy interiors decorated with lace curtains and dried flowers, and hobbies such as crochet or diary decorating—all are diverse expressions of Whimsycore aesthetics. This phenomenon demonstrates that the act of handcrafting and decorating has become a holistic lifestyle.
Whimsical Makeup Showcased by Celebrities
In the makeup realm, ‘Whimsical Makeup’ has firmly established itself as a distinctive trend. In 2024, aespa’s Karina and IVE’s Wonyoung posted selfies with whimsical makeup on SNS, garnering explosive public interest. Notably, Karina perfectly maximized the dreamy ambiance with her smooth, dewy skin, captivating many admirers.
Whimsical makeup is characterized by bold use of pastel and vivid colors in eye makeup, intricate adornments like pearls or cubic stones on the eyes and cheeks, and ‘Fairy Freckles’, creating a fantastical style as if portraying a scene from a fairy tale on the face.
Whimsycore, A New Wave of Emotional Consumption
Whimsycore has transcended from a mere fashion trend to an important flow of emotional consumption rapidly spreading among Gen Z. As the demand for expressing oneself in a more unique and emotional style grows among the younger generation, many industries are increasingly launching innovative products and collections emphasizing ‘feel’ and ‘mood’ over function and price. It’s expected that Whimsycore will continue to inspire new creativity across various aspects of our lives.
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