Why Lightweight Puffer Jackets Are the Must-Have Fashion Item of 2026

Choi Jun-young | 2025.12.03

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■ From 'dad padding' to must-have: the lightweight puffer boom

Park Bo-gum's jacket sold out and was restocked
Shoppers stage 'open-runs'; items sell out in 40 minutes
Some jackets resell for premiums up to 580,000 KRW (about $435)
Demand rises, sales remain steady year-round

 The North Face
 The North Face
“Can I still get the lightweight puffer Park Bo-gum wore?”

 The North Face
 The North Face
On the 26th of last month, shoppers at The North Face White Label Seongsu store in Seoul’s Seongdong District kept asking staff that exact question. The Wave Light On jacket Park Bo-gum wore became a sensation: its initial run sold out when it launched in September and the brand immediately placed a reorder. When the new stock hit the official online store late last month, the most popular colors and sizes were already gone. One customer said, “Lightweight puffers used to get mocked as 'dad padding' or old-school quilted coats, but now they’re a must-have—some styles are nearly impossible to find.” Lately, fans have been lining up the night before or at dawn for open-runs—rushing the moment doors open to snag the pieces they want.

Outdoor brands are feeling the heat of competition. A mix of unusual weather, a sluggish economy and fast-moving trends has nudged style-conscious younger shoppers toward lightweight puffers as versatile, all-season staples. With winter looks shifting from vests to long parkas to cropped puffers, major brands are rolling out distinct strategies to win customers over.

Industry insiders say lightweight puffers traditionally sell from late summer into early winter, before thicker down jumpers arrive, but lately sales have been steady year-round. Brands are investing more in new releases. Their affordable price point, decent warmth, packability, easy wearability and sleek designs have made them far more popular than in the past.

 The North Face
 The North Face
Fashion platform Musinsa reported that searches for lightweight puffers jumped 240% year-over-year from Oct. 1 to Nov. 25, while transaction value rose 42% in the same period. From Aug. 1 to Nov. 25, Musinsa Standard’s City Leisure Hooded Light Down Jacket recorded cumulative sales of 55,000 units. A Musinsa spokesperson said, “Lightweight puffers work for outdoor activities and everyday street style, so demand has surged, especially among younger shoppers. Their slim profile also makes them easy to layer under other coats, which customers love.” Platforms ZigZag and Ably saw transaction values and search volumes for lightweight puffers climb roughly 125% and 150%, respectively.

Youngone Outdoor doubled The North Face’s lightweight puffer allocations this year to meet demand, yet some items still sparked a sellout frenzy. Even with a one-per-customer limit, the Ventus On jacket sold out online 40 minutes after launch, and the Wave Light On jacket sold out the same day. Reordered stock that recently arrived on the official site has also moved fast, especially the hottest items. Resale platform KREAM showed The North Face occupying half of the top 10 fashion transaction listings, most of them lightweight puffers.

Shoppers are even paying premiums to score these jackets. The North Face Wave Light On jacket traded at prices ranging from 218,000 KRW (about $164) up to 550,000 KRW (about $413); the Ventus On jacket climbed from 218,000 KRW to as high as 800,000 KRW (about $600); and the Matier EX Down Hoodie went from 249,000 KRW (about $187) to 545,000 KRW (about $409)—all well above retail. The Arc'teryx Cerium Hoody in Black Sapphire—popularized as the jacket favored by Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong—lists at 650,000 KRW (about $488) but fetched up to 950,000 KRW (about $713) on resale.

An industry insider noted, “Compared with premium down parkas that easily top 1,000,000 KRW (about $750) or popular short puffers in the 300,000–400,000 KRW range (about $225–$300), lightweight puffers’ biggest advantage is price competitiveness.” They added that the blend of practicality and function means the trend is likely to stick around for the foreseeable future.