Thai Stars Overtake K-Pop Idols in Paris Fashion Week Instagram Rankings

Thai stars and beauty professionals have swept the upper echelons of Paris Fashion Week's Instagram influence rankings, marking a historic shift where performers from Southeast Asia have outpaced K-pop idols for the first time. The development underscores a broader rebalancing of regional soft power within the global luxury sector, as detailed by Fashiontimes and examined in cultural analysis by nss magazine.

The figures, published by influencer analytics company Lefty on Monday, 12 October 2026, reveal that Thai talent claimed all eight leading positions during the Paris shows for spring/summer 2027. Orm Kornnaphat Sethratanapong secured first place with an estimated earned media value of $112 million (£84.4 million), while her co-star Lingling Kwong ranked second with $89 million (£67.1 million) following their appearances for Dior. The two actresses, widely known to fans of the romance series The Secret of Us as LingOrm, published a combined 36 Instagram posts for Dior that generated more than half of the fashion house's total promotional exposure value.

Fashion month across New York, London, Milan and Paris generated $1.24 billion (£934 million) in estimated earned media value, up 64 per cent from autumn/winter 2026. Paris alone accounted for $795.6 million (£600 million), representing the largest share of the total.

The phenomenon extended far beyond leading actors. Thai makeup artists, hairstylists, and family members also populated the upper tiers of the Paris rankings, demonstrating an unprecedented level of audience engagement that reached beyond the performers themselves. According to Anna Ross, vice president of insights at Karla Otto, the rankings shift was propelled in part by frequent posting, with leading Thai actors publishing upwards of 20 to 30 updates around the fashion events. Even Orm's mother generated $8.9 million (£6.7 million) in estimated earned media value through behind-the-scenes Dior content.

Similar dominance played out during Milan Fashion Week. Faye Peraya Malisorn, known for her role in the Thai romance drama Blank, ranked first among Milan's influencers, generating $43.4 million (£32.7 million) for Ferragamo through 26 posts. At Prada, Pluto actress Namtan Tipnaree Weerawatnodom outperformed established K-pop performers with $17.4 million (£13.1 million) in estimated earned media value. Prada led Milan's brand rankings with $61.2 million (£46.1 million), followed by Ferragamo. Yet K-pop icons still retained notable visibility, with figures such as Stray Kids' Felix and IVE's Jang Won-young appearing in the lower top ten in Paris, and Ateez's San delivering $9.7 million (£7.3 million) for Dolce & Gabbana in Milan.

The sudden surge represents the culmination of a broader cultural shift. For the past decade, South Korea's "hallyu" wave dominated global fashion, beauty, and entertainment, with K-pop idols becoming regulars at major fashion shows and Korean skincare achieving unprecedented virality. However, recent seasons have seen interest in Korean culture slow amid market oversaturation and socio-cultural crises within the industry. Regional data reflects a decrease in South Korean influence alongside sharp growth for Thailand, with South Korea declining by 22 per cent and Thailand growing by 85 per cent.

Thailand has actively leveraged economic strategies and government-backed creative economy initiatives to build the foundations of a new cultural powerhouse, often dubbed the "T-Wave." Much like South Korea after the 1997 crisis, Thailand invested heavily in creative and cultural industries following economic uncertainty in 2024, with the appointment of Srettha Thavisin as prime minister in 2023 further accelerating this vision. According to the academic journal East Asia Forum, the government aims to create 20 million jobs within four years and generate annual revenues of around 4 trillion baht (over $100 billion), allocating 5.1 billion baht to 11 cultural sectors including food, sports, and festivals.

Data reported by WWD highlights a rapidly expanding market, projecting that Thai fashion e-commerce sales would reach $276.4 billion with most revenue coming from China, and the number of users interested in Thailand's fashion sector reaching 18.1 million by 2029. On the luxury and lifestyle front, Dior opened a new concept store in Bangkok in December 2024, nicknamed "Gold House" for its facade of 300 gold-covered windows.

Industry observers note that brands are responding to these changing dynamics through varied strategies. While some luxury houses lean heavily into the viral engagement offered by Thai romance drama stars and their fiercely loyal fanbases, other labels maintain diverse approaches. Virginia Ritchie, chief marketing officer at Tommy Hilfiger, noted that brands are avoiding chasing temporary trends in favor of sustained relationships.

Questions remain over whether the political and economic framework within Thailand can sustain its cultural industries consistently over time. Analysts caution against overly ambitious state-backed initiatives, such as the "One Family One Soft Power" project which aims to train 20 million citizens to become cultural ambassadors without clear implementation guidelines. Observers note that the region has not yet fully challenged Korea's historical dominance, particularly regarding the strategic importance of Chinese consumers. Even so, the momentum established during the latest fashion month suggests that Thai entertainment will remain a permanent fixture of luxury fashion's online conversation.