K-Pop was a driving influencer force during the recent fashion week season. A study by Onclusive of the Spring/Summer 2026 fashion weeks has revealed that Asian celebrities took an unprecedented dominant role on social media, rewriting the rules of how digital influencers work in fashion. Paris once again took centre-stage among fashion capitals, emerging as the epicentre of this social media revolution.

A simple search on X (formerly Twitter) is enough to understand this new dynamic. Posts by fans of East Asian pop stars were ubiquitous on fashion week hashtags. In terms of Paris Fashion Week, whose social media hashtags accounted for one ninth of all fashion weeks hashtags surveyed, the leaders were #pfw (14.6 million) and #diorss26 (12.4 million), followed by brand-celebrity hashtags like #lingorm (8 million) and #jiminxdior (4.5 million). Dior managed to make the most of this new influence lever, with nine hashtags among the top 20, notably by inviting celebrities LingOrm and Jimin at the same show on October 1.

Thailand tussles with South Korea

The Asian celebrity surge wasn’t limited to South Korea only. Dior’s Thai brand ambassador duo LingOrm notched up a 14.01% share of social media mentions. Their impact was proof of the growing success enjoyed by celebrities starring in Girls’ love TV and web series in Asia, producing six Dior hashtags in the top 20 and an aggregate of nearly 30 million mentions. Actors Becky Armstrong (L’Oréal/Chanel, 7.33% of mentions) and Freen Sarocha (Valentino, a 2.22% share) confirmed how fashion week social media engagement had a strong Thai bedrock. 

Thai celebrity aficionados made their online presence felt also in their own language. Two Thai language hashtags featured in the top 20 ranking of the most popular fashion week hashtags this autumn, showing a remarkable degree of coordinated community engagement, via dedicated accounts, synchronised posts and engagement rewards. There were over 5.6 million Dior mentions in Thai.

Gap between classic and social media

The Onclusive study showed that K-Pop stars too were very much involved, with bands BTS and Blackpink to the fore. BTS’s Jimin generated a 13.46% share of mentions for Dior, while Blackpink’s Lisa grabbed an 8.46% one for Louis Vuitton. BTS had five band members (Jimin, Jin, V, Jungkook and RM) in the top 20, snatching a 28.34% share of mentions, while Blackpink had three, Lisa, Jennie and Jisoo.

The mentions ranking on classic digital media was entirely at odds with the social media table. Blackpink singer Rosé topped the classic media ranking with a 2.82% share for Saint Laurent, but didn’t even feature in the top 20 of social media mentions. Western celebrities like Meghan Markle, Meryl Streep and Kendall Jenner ruled the roost on classic digital media, evidence of the vast gap between 35 to 65-year-old audiences and 13 to 35-year-old ones. 

The Spring/Summer 2026 fashion weeks have established Asia as fashion’s main digital engagement driver. The fan power of K-Pop and Girls’ love series, as well as targeted viral strategies relying on twin-language hashtags and influencer duos, have overshadowed traditional Western celebrity influencers. While Paris Fashion Week, totting up more mentions than its competitors, seems to be well ahead of them in tapping this phenomenon.