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SeoulCon 2023, on Korean television
YTN's coverage of SeoulCon and its global K-beauty creators.
In December 2023, Seoul named Cassandra Bankson a Global Creator of the Year at the SeoulCon APAN Star Awards, an honor for the people carrying Korean culture and beauty to the world.
On December 30, 2023, at the DDP Art Hall in Seoul, Cassandra Bankson was named Global Creator of the Year at the SeoulCon APAN Star Awards, the headline awards of SeoulCon, the city's first global gathering of the world's biggest creators.
The trophy is engraved with her name and the date. The recognition is bigger than a single night: it is Seoul, one of the capitals of the global beauty industry, choosing an American medical esthetician as a face of how Korean beauty travels.
With millions of followers and more than 500 million content views, Cassandra brings Korean beauty to a Western audience that trusts her word, a reach Korean brands cannot easily buy.
She has consulted with and championed Korean beauty brands, including her SeoulCon K-Beauty Boost keynote and the "self-care with gratitude" campaign with PURE'AM, helping connect Korean innovation to the United States market.
As a medical esthetician, she does not just promote products. She explains the formulation and the why, which is exactly the kind of trusted translation that grows an export market.
Why the Korean press embraced her
Korea welcomed Cassandra not as a visiting celebrity, but as an American who has genuinely helped grow its beauty economy. For years she has researched and championed Korean products and treatments for a Western audience, always with attention to cultural nuance and humility rather than appropriation. She also co-created a best selling Korean-made sunscreen with the brand Isntree, the Onion Newpair Sunscreen SPF40, known to her audience as the Purple Protector, which sold out soon after it launched. Real contribution to Korean brands, and real respect for the culture, is what made her a natural choice to represent the world in Seoul.
Seoul's first global creator festival drew tens of thousands of visitors and hundreds of millions of views, connecting the world's influencers with Korean commerce. Cassandra's award recognized her as one of the people making that connection real.
YTN's coverage of SeoulCon and its global K-beauty creators.
The SeoulCon APAN Star Awards recognized a group of the world's most influential international creators. Alongside Cassandra Bankson, honorees and headline global influencers included:
Keynotes, fireside chats, panels, and workshops on the beauty industry, the creator economy, and technology, in person or virtual, worldwide.
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