Counterfeit Culture - Seoul: A Look Inside Korea’s Fake Fashion World

[mattemate.livejournal.com]

source: highsnobiety

i thought the whole "there is no defined korean street style" comment was interesting...just because it does seem like there is a lack of specific subcultures in street fashion there compared to other countries! was also surprised by some of the lack of availability of name brands that are popular in korean media

Comments

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

I saw this a few days ago, it was so well done.

[callherblondie.livejournal.com]

Alec Leach is such a white douche.

I guess the designer of 99%IS was being ironically anarchist when he said that people don't like or care about his stuff because his brand's Sid Vicious jeans have been on every male kpop idol in the past year.

The fake fashion situation in China makes SK's look like child's play.

[mattemate.livejournal.com]

who is he? i dont follow highsnobierty but randomly came across this on youtube :0

[callherblondie.livejournal.com]

I don't really know him either, he's a fashion editor at highsnobiety. He came across to me as pretty snide & douchey (also his outfit was...lol). I also don't follow highsnobiety bc I'm not interested in streetwear. I mean, there's a few streetwear designers I like but mostly bc their stuff is really comfy. Most streetwear is not very flattering or attractive on.

[mattemate.livejournal.com]

ahh gotcha. i was just wondering because i've never heard of him before and didnt know if he had a past. he does seem a little pretentious though but i honestly just assume most ~fashion editors~ are like that lmao

[dantethetaco.livejournal.com]

Oh, so that's were those pants are from. Since I first saw them I have wanted to buy one of those, too bad they're so expensive xD

[callherblondie.livejournal.com]

You can DIY a pair pretty easily I'm sure.

[dantethetaco.livejournal.com]

Yeah. But I've been looking for some black pants (I like the black version of those) like that for a while. They just don't make them for girls :( (or I cannot find them where I live)

[callherblondie.livejournal.com]

Tbh I don't think the pants are constructed with girls in mind? They're weirdly cut & fitted, def designed for men with very narrow hips and long skinny legs.

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

"The fake fashion situation in China makes SK's look like child's play."
Super accurate!
My friend works in purchasing and every time she goes to Shanghai she has an eye-opening experience.

[callherblondie.livejournal.com]

I have seen knockoff designer handbags in China where there is literally 0.00000001% difference btwn them and the real thing. Ofc those knockoffs were somewhat pricey too, but nowhere near what the real ones cost. China's ability to copy is unreal.

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

It also helps that most of these knock-offs are actually the rejects from the same sweatshops a lot of these fashion brands use.

[callherblondie.livejournal.com]

Bingo...when I got one of my handbags I wanted to get one that was certified Made In France but tbh I feel like there's no way to be sure these days...unless maybe with Hermes.

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

My friend got me an LV wallet once that had the lining, the box, and the cloth cover accurate af. Only thing that was off was the logo on the wallet. She got it because I was working on a project for a class that detailed the insidious ties between the fashion industry, child labour and consumerism. When I passed it around in class everybody wanted to know if she could get them some too. And this wasn't one of LV's usual classic wallets but from their latest collection at the time.

Its why I don't necessarily have a problem with knock-offs because a lot of times what the quality control department at these fashion houses deem as unacceptable are burnt rather than recycled. Its so much waste.

[existingisfunny.livejournal.com]

this couldn't be more accurate... it irritates me seeing ppl hype korean streetwear (when rly they just like the aesthetic of east asian ppl wearing anything cuz it's like fetishy) when all that streetwear is just western/japanese/high fashion toned down mixed together

maybe compared to mainstream korean fashion, it's different but rly an olive green bomber jacket and timberlands is as basic as you can get

it does interest me the way ppl pull fashion trends from their subcultures esp in music when you can dress "hiphop style" or "grunge style" but don't have to be invested in the culture, listen to the music, know any of the ppl, etc. on one hand i wonder if it's silly to irritated about it. on the other hand, i always crave authenticity

[mattemate.livejournal.com]

tbh i thought bomber jackets and timberlands were mainstream so when they showed them on this i was kinda surprised. there's definitely some unique brands and fashion designers in korea, but theyre so incredibly niche that they'll never make it even in the supposed subculture of street fashion.

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

Your last point kinda reminds me of this tweet:

K-Pop stars and rappers in Korea know about every Supreme drop but don't know what Black Lives Matter is 🤔 SMH

— DUMMY (@dumbfoundead) September 13, 2017 (https://twitter.com/dumbfoundead/status/907803318738501633)

[mattemate.livejournal.com]

LMAO there is no lie

[msgrottesca.livejournal.com]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm there it is lmao

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

the accuracy

[staaan.livejournal.com]

i mean... i follow some k-fashion blogs and a korean person could literally be wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt and there will be +20k notes. it really does feel fetishy as fuck, especially paired together with blogs that post photos of random korean ppl just sitting there reading a book or smth

[a-cheshire-grin.livejournal.com]

So true! I've a tumblr and follow a few Japanese and Korean fashion blogs, but occasionally I've to unfollow them again, because the stuff they post is so...creepy and fetishy, especially because most of the time, these blogs are run by white girls, who really want to be a "kawaii East Asian girl" themselves. x.x Doesn't help that I myself are Japanese, so I don't really need that stuff online, when I get enough of it in real life already.

[existingisfunny.livejournal.com]

Yeah those "blogs" that just post Korean Instagram pics like all that work saving and reuploading strangers just for your creepy pastel pale blog where no one sees your face bc you know you'd lose followers for not being Korean bc your followers are as fetishy as you

[garnetstar38.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the post OP. Really interesting and kind of gives you a wider view on the trends that happen in the Kpop world and why they seem to cycle through all groups. It's not about being unique but following the trends.

[hellicoptajuuce.livejournal.com]

Would this also explain why a lot of kpop music is a carbon copy of whatever is popular in america? Eg. How 'tropical house' is in right now even though its dead in the rest of the world

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

Also explains why Jungkook covers such dated songs too.

[365daysafter.livejournal.com]

I've noticed most idols cover dated songs tbh

[black-swan87.livejournal.com]

Will never understand how South Korea is so late to all the trends when they have the best internet in the world

[hellicoptajuuce.livejournal.com]

it could be that they wait to see how successful the genre is before getting in on it.

[krissasaur]

I feel like its more along the lines of nugus test it out closer to when it's a western trend and flop, but then someone like SHINee or BTS or whoever is big name at the time tries it (and obviously all kills with it) and then every group and to-debut-in-the-future group does it and it over saturates the market.

[existingisfunny.livejournal.com]

Thank god the brass ariana trend finally stopped

[sunlight-kisses.livejournal.com]

kpop is definitely not a carbon copy of whatever is popular in america lmao, that's a really western-centric line of thought

[hellicoptajuuce.livejournal.com]

there is a tread tho if u look back. the autotune era in america produced the autotune era in kpop. Gags came and wore weird ass clothes and big sunglasses and suddenly everyone is doing it. im not saying everyone is like that but u can see a clear pattern

[cherrypop.livejournal.com]

This is so true~

The culture of fashion in Korea is really more that Koreans wear fashion well. Like they dress well in public. But the clothes they're wearing are just mix and match from non-Korean brands and trends that are actually the ones responsible for spearheading fashion.

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I know people are free to dress whatever they want but when people wear mask or holding a teddy bear just for the sake of fashion/showing off to people, I cant help but to side eye them. OTL

[helcaxe.livejournal.com]

The white guy is obnoxious as fuck but the topic is really interesting.

There is a lot of talk about how China has assimilated capitalism into their communist system but the way a country like Korea whose society and especially relationships are so based on traditional confucian values has adopted such a ferocious capitalism is just as interesting. All this trend culture comes from the clash between that sense of community and "being one" Korea is supposedly based on and the unavoidable pursue of individuality that comes from a capitalist system I think.

...or maybe I'm going to deep during my lunch break meh.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

yes I remember reading somewhere about the trends being related to the importance of group identity

[mattemate.livejournal.com]

you arent wrong! not that the USA is any better, but China and Korea have some really interesting "late state capitalism" qualities that are kinda of scary at some points. hell, you can obviously see it in the kpop market alone due to the intense competition.