G-Dragon featured in France's L'Express

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

G-Dragon, Kpop has its Idol

At Boulevardier, we are fascinated with the Kpop phenomenon that is starting to radiate on large Europeans communities. We asked Claire Solery, passionate follower of Korean culture, to tell us about current star G-Dragon. Claire is the author of Out of Korea, where she shares visual and artistic observations from Korea, especially if they have a link with France. Contemporary art, photos, cinema and Kpop are her main interests. She currently is in Seoul and you can follow her tumblr “One month in Seoul” and on Twitter (Out_Of_Korea).

On June 28th during the men's fashion week in Paris, a mini hunt happened on Twitter. Photos of G-Dragon (aka GD), leader of South Korean boy band Big Bang, attending fashion shows of Rick Owens, J. Juun and Yohji Yamamoto were posted on social networks. These attracted a handful of young girls and very young women, motivated to get a glimpse of his pink hair in Paris.

G-Dragon, whose real name Kwon Jiyong, 23, is not known to 'people' authorities and fashion experts but he has attracted the attention of a few online publications with his style. In Asia, he is one of the most famous male personalities, one of the headliners in Kpop or Korean Pop, the current worldwide purveyor of boy and girl bands that is slowly but surely penetrating the tweens market. An idol for teens who are in search of a stature in haute couture. Paris is a trophy for any respectable fashionista. Music will wait, make way for fashion.

G-Dragon is a fashionista, which is more likely to be approached as a diva in the Korean pop world. Kpop systematically establishes in each group an “idol”, backed with a concept, hair color, looks, and fits them into predetermined boxes [stereotypes]. A narrow world, where the body no longer belongs to the owner.

G-Dragon was only 8 years old when he became a "trainee" at SM Entertainment, the largest idol agency in the kingdom of Kpop. He left at 13 to join YG Entertainment whose image promotes its artists' individualities. He was made leader of a team of 5 boys "with strong personalities," among which he is the most flamboyant. He logically becomes the group’s dynamo. He composes, writes and even released a solo album.

G-Dragon also rolls in style: partnerships between YG and creators, who have well understood the importance of positioning in an environment where idols are overexposed to the media and imitated by their fans, have granted him an opened closet to Givenchy, Balmain or Comme des Garçons. He's a brand with his own trademark. He controls his aesthetics as much as possible and refines his connections in the West.

G-Dragon was also involved in some troubles that may seem trivial to us: marijuana, controversy over his compositions, picture of a flower made with a 50,000 won bill. His sexual ambiguity can trouble us, Europeans, for we are not accustomed to the homoerotism climate of Kpop, in a society where the stigma over homosexual celebrities is quite irreversible.

G-Dragon is not a drag, not a second Lady Gaga or a Daphne Guiness. Other idols can fall under this label, but he is the perfect embodiment of the triumphant androgyne. His cat’s eyes, his slender silhouette which naturally fits women’s clothes, and his brat voice effortlessly places him at the gender crossroads.

G-Dragon has been able to navigate in a world of restrictions to build himself an image of an icon. An idol is a work on which everything can be projected, and that sends you its light back; the perfect recipe to overheat the sexuality of young debutants. On the eve of the release of his next album on August 20, G-Dragon truly is the Kpop icon for he is full of potentials: man-woman, blond, brown, pink, individual, group member. He is at the image of Kpop, very aggressive in his visual impact, all the more forthright, protean and experimental, like Kpop itself, in a sort of glorious and eccentric adolescence.


The translation is not always accurate, especially in the title where it should day "icon" and not "idol"

Source: L'express
Translation: @Ouley_Soleil

Comments

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I think it's "lèche-bottes" (noun) or "lèche-cul" but that's more vulgar
And the verb would be "lécher les bottes/cul"

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I was pretty sure you had this in mind XD

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

XD
You have to write in french though

[schticklet.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of G-Dragon, but I enjoyed the article.

[miwa201.livejournal.com]

Love him. There's just something about him that embodies kpop to me.
Although if he really has dreadlocks now I'm done.

[hisjulliet.livejournal.com]

Didn't he leave SM at 12? But whatever, not really a big difference.

"G-Dragon is not a drag, not a second Lady Gaga or a Daphne Guiness. Other idols can fall under this label, but he is the perfect embodiment of the triumphant androgyne. His cat’s eyes, his slender silhouette which naturally fits women’s clothes, and his brat voice effortlessly places him at the gender crossroads."

BEAUTIFUL

[hisjulliet.livejournal.com]

and the ~ controversy ~ of the bill is so fucking stupid. He didn't burn it or ruin it. And people don't even know that the bill is his or not. My mom makes origami out of money for birthday gifts. It's an art, and is cute, not something to flaunt.

[a-perfect-shade.livejournal.com]

apparently it was fake anyway

[hisjulliet.livejournal.com]

Great. Now idiots will calm themselves because the bill wasn't even real in the first place.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Yep, now they can move on to animal cruelty, poor tiger, not sure they realised it's a backpack

[hisjulliet.livejournal.com]

LMAO

WTF

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

He is at the image of Kpop, very aggressive in his visual impact, all the more forthright, protean and experimental, like Kpop itself, in a sort of glorious. While GD himself might be, since when kpop in general has been forthright, protean and experimental?

Also I don't like how this makes it seem like GD is some sort of factory product (GD wasn't really influenced by SM that much as he barely trained there), and at YG he trained to be an actual hip hop artist instead of idol for majority of time. And when Big Bang debuted he wasn't that flamboyant and I doubt YG never had plans for him to become the type character he now is, but that's mostly his own doing.

Re: WTF

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I don't see where the author say that GD is a factory product... I understand it as K-pop in general not GD in particular.
Or are you talking about the " He's a brand with his own trademark."?

Re: WTF

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

"G-Dragon was only 8 years old when he became a "trainee" at SM Entertainment, the largest idol agency in the kingdom of Kpop. He left at 13 to join YG Entertainment whose image promotes its artists' individualities. He was made leader of a team of 5 boys "with strong personalities," among which he is the most flamboyant."

Re: WTF

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

How is that making him look like a factory product?

Translation is a bit off though. They don't say "made leader" in the french article

Re: WTF

[kingalexarnold.livejournal.com]

at YG he trained to be an actual hip hop artist instead of idol for majority of time

mte him and tae were being trained to be a hip hop duo instead of an idol group lol.

Re: WTF

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

As for "idol" in the title, the transltion is a bit off
The title should be translated as "K-pop has its icon" not idol

[deeinanutshell.livejournal.com]

I like this article~
When pictures of GD at the Paris Fashion week surfaced, it occurred to me that GD could potentially be something new/different to the Western world fashion-wise. Men's fashion expression in the west is so much more restricted compared to Asia (Japan in particular). I remember when people FREAKED when Kanye wore that exact same skirt that GD wore for Tonight. And Kanye wore it in the most ~macho~ way possible tbh. The West only seems to have 2 extremes where there are truly ~eccentric~ male fashion personalities (Marc Jacobs, Galliano) and then the more reserved type of male fashion (Kanye West, Marc Ronson). But for Gdragon who can wear a pleather skirt with heels and glitter makeup one second and switch to 'hip hop' snapbacks and skinnies in the next, what will the west make of him? He'll either be a hero or a zero. //end fasHiUn rant

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

When it comes to fashion (and pretty much everything tbh) there's west and west.
GD could be a hero in Europe AND a zero in the US or the other way around.
I think his androgynous style fits the european market very well, while I think TOP (for instance) is perfect for the US market imo and brand like Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss which are more masculine.

EDIT: sorry I'm having lots of LJ problem half the last sentence was missing

[deeinanutshell.livejournal.com]

yeah true that. TOP is very U.S. ideal: tall dark and handsome. He'll have no issue here. TBH I'm not very familiar with the European market~ But I guess it would be different since boy/girl groups are more popular there and they do have riske performers like Bjork. Idk. >.<

[izabera.livejournal.com]

Fangirls shouldn't be allowed to write articles

I don't understand this part Kpop systematically establishes in each group an “idol"
Something lost in translation?

[izabera.livejournal.com]

I think I understand it now, thanks. It is still a little weird to me since BB members all have strong individual following and GD is not even the most popular member. It would make more sense to say this about someone like Hyuna.

[aleexnews.livejournal.com]

this is a pretty good article, my only problem is the title. it really should be "icon" and not idol imo.

the french article isn't using the word idol in the same way k-pop uses it either (every other kpop boy/girl group), they're using it with more meaning like with the literal definition, a figure or a leader people follow.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

It is icon in the original title, I don't know why he translator change it to idol while it could cause so many misunderstanding since, as you said, idol in this context is not to be understand as it is in k-pop

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

I usually don't really read L'Express. But I definitively was NOT expecting any of that.
The "journalist" seems to be a lot of a fan. That's some really weird article, it doesn't describe that well his singer-life, or his fashion-style. But I get that the writer is asking about his "iconic figure", that's more interesting than other articles about K-Pop.

The article's comments, about "no but GD is not gay" are just SO funny.

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

I love the answers the writer is giving in the comments. Even tho there's some weird part about her article, she definitively knows what she's talking about!