You might have few assumptions and idea when you hear the word “South Korea” or “Seoul,” but as a Korean who lived in this city for twenty years, let me tell you about what Seoul is really like. To understand even better, let me briefly tell you a history of this country.
Originally North Korea and South Korea constituted the same country, but after the end of the World War II, North Korea and South Korea got divided by outer forces which were Soviet Union and United States of America and since then we gradually became this totally different nations. At first, South Korea suffered from deprivation of technology and nutritional sources to fed the nation but slowly gained the infrastructures, technologies and power via development in IT technology and most importantly due to the hard-working characteristic of the nation.
Now, Seoul is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, and today, Seoul is considered a leading global city, ranking eighth in the Global cities index of 2012 and seventh in the Global power city index of 2011. We grew technologically and culturally and gave birth to the many great things: Samsung, LG, Hyundai-Kia, and K-Pop etc….
Now, that you had glimpse on what has happened in this small eastern country, I am going to present Seoul as the upcoming trendy city.
First, let’s look at some of the fashion hotspots in Seoul and the reason these places became such a fashion-oriented spots.
Fashion Hotspot #1: Hongdae
Hongdae is actually an acronym in Korean for Hong-ik University.
This university is best known for its strong art major and its students. Due to the university’s artistic characteristic, many of the young people who are very much into art and fashion spend their time around this area enjoying food, coffee, and numerous entertaining places such as dancing club or karaoke. At night, you can easily find musicians and artists performing at the most random places. In that sense, one might say that Hongdae gave birth to many of the musicians and artists who represent young South Korea at this moment.
Hongdae has its own fashion style, which can be described with the adjectives such as artsy, laid-back, nonchalant, easy-going, and even bohemian. Here are some of the fashion people of Hongdae.
*all of the above images are from: http://swagmyshoes.blogspot.kr/
*all of the above pictures are taken from the owner of this weblog: http://streetper.co.kr/
Fashion Hotspot #2: Garosoo-Gill
Garosoo-gill is Colonnade road if you translate it literally. It is located in Gangnam, which is a posh district in Seoul. It has its reputation for possessing many fashionistas and a place where many Korean celebrities enjoy their downtime. There are huge luxury department store called Galleria fairly close to this location, well-known brands such as Kate Spade, Zara, 8 Seconds, and Forever 21, but also a new brands with upcoming designers as well. This area is also known for having so many plastic surgery clinics. But apart from all that it has its own style as well. Fashion in this area could be described as polished, avant-garde, high-end oriented, celebrity-inspired, and sophisticated. Let’s have a look.
*all of the above images are from: http://swagmyshoes.blogspot.kr/
*all of the above pictures are taken from the owner of this weblog: http://streetper.co.kr/
Fashion Hotspot #3: Myungdong
Myungdong is most widely known as a hottest shopping spot in Korea, so you can find so many Japanese and Chinese tourists when you get here. But you can also find many fashionistas of course because there are so many places to get a fashion items and there are many places to go sight-seeing near this area, such as Namsan- tower, Chungye-river, Gwanghwa-moon, and many palaces. Here are some of the fashions you can encounter in Myungdong. How would you describe these fashions?
*all of the above pictures are taken from the owner of this weblog: http://streetper.co.kr/
Now let’s have a look at some trend-setters and leaders of Korea who are basically setting the trends and giving the ideas and inspirations for the most of the young people in Korea.
#1. G-dragon (권지용 of Big Bang)
#2. Girls’ Generation
#3. 2NE1
#4. Yoonju Jang
There are other contributors who made Koreans so fascinated and interested into fashion. A cable Television programmes such as Project Runway Korea, Korea’s Next Top Model, and many other fashion and style-oriented programmes.
#1. Project Runway Korea
#2. Korea’s Next Top Model
Apart from these things, Korean culture is going viral upon the globe these days. K-pop is now a common term to describe Korean songs and they’re being loved by Europeans, Americans, and Asians as well. Most well-known K-pop star at the moment is Psy from Gangnam Style who ranked 1st in Billboard, UK chart and many other charts of numerous countries.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&feature=related
Above all these information are the reason for my belief that Seoul is the best up-coming trendy city of the world.
Thank you for reading and hope you got some good understandings of this incredible city.
* for more information on the incredible city of Seoul, go to:
audrey in wonderland 