Introduction to K-Pop

Fashion Souvenir Key-ring, Nagoya, Japan


Wonder Girls, K-Pop Album


A new edition to my collection of Fashion Souvenirs: a key-ring from Nagoya, courtesy of my sister who lives in Japan, and who was recently back home on a visit. The little paper bag it came in, too, was rather intriguing, being perfectly ‘’key-ring sized’’. The bag also features the same fish motif that appears on the back of the key-ring itself, so being both co-ordinated and stylish, something the Japanese appear to know quite a bit about! One of the other elements of my interests in both fashion tourism and also the Fashion City, is the influence and inclusion of localised cultural elements, from design, food, architecture, customs and music. My sister also brought along her latest CD purchase by a group called the Wonder Girls, from South Korea, an interesting exemplar of K-Pop, the Korean version of J-Pop (Japan) or Canto-Pop (Hong Kong). I have listened to some J-Pop before, mixing Japanese with English lyrics, usually on a relationship theme (falling in love/breaking up etc.), sung over a hyper-speedy pop/electronic rhythm. I’ve not much experience of K-Pop as such, although the syrupy-style love songs are perhaps similar, and according to my sister K-Pop is actually a more sophisticated, and indeed trendy, offering. Listening to the Wonder Girls certainly proved a good introduction to the world of K-Pop, and certainly in terms of musicology seemed a little more solidly put together than some J-Pop tunes I have heard (perhaps this is also a case of learning the best of the elements of J-Pop, and selling back a more glamorous, larger-than-life version, as with Ralph Lauren’s take on English aristocratic living in the creation of his Polo brand).

Living in such a globalised world where it seems everyone is wearing identikit outfits gleaned from H&M, Zara, Mango, Top Shop, Abercrombie & Fitch or Urban Outfitters, it is intriguing to note how localised notions of style continue to permeate and influence cultural customs in specific locales. This appears to be especially true in the form of local ‘’slang’’, TV shows, magazines, pop music, and the dress and lifestyles of B-list celebrities. Often these exemplars of a specific style genre are too ‘’localised’’ to actually transcend their home market to be promoted and taken up overseas, yet sometimes, particularly in terms of music and TV shows, formats and styles have to be ‘’exported’’ to attain success, before they gain full recognition ‘’back home’’. Alexa Chung had to move to the USA before being taken up as ‘’style icon’’ to rival Sienna Miller by the British fashion media, for example, while musicians like the Scissor Sisters appeared ‘’too eccentric’’ in New York, yet their idiosyncratic style slotted perfectly into London’s Shoreditch-Hoxton scene, with barely anyone realising they were not actually European to begin with. (As an aside, in London it’s quite difficult to ‘’stand out’’, since there’s almost no exotic get-up that no-one has not seen before. The locals here are actually quite blasé, and any really outré outfit is just taken as part of the rich-mix of cultures that London contains). Western fashion brands operating in Asia often seem to forget that ‘’European-ness’’ or ‘’American-ness’’ is only of limited appeal, to a certain extent, as local trends and influences on style are often much more important, and indeed relevant, on a day-to-day basis. For instance, the Japanese notion of ‘’kawaii’’ or ‘’cuteness’’, and which continues to be an important indicator of style there, is actually quite alien to European tastes. Although many European men are very happy to wear toddler-like baggy jeans and slogan T-shirts well into their late 30s or 40s, European women generally favour a slightly smarter, more grown-up take on such casual style, teaming their jeans (usually more ‘’fitted’’) with an array of different tops, and boots or ballet flats, rather than trainers. In my own continuing research I aim to explore these nuances further. For anyone keen for an entry into the world of K-Pop, the website of the Wonder Girls, including their latest video, is perhaps as fine an introduction as any.

Resources:

Wonder Girls: http://www.wondergirlsworld.com/


Wonder Girls at New York Fashion Week, February 2010

Souvenirs from Romania

As part of my continuing curatorial project into Fashion Souvenirs (visit www.fashion-souvenirs.com for more or click the link on the left) I have been asking various friends and relatives to collect anything interesting or typical of the places they visit. My youngest sister recently returned from a trip to Bucharest in Romania, where despite the countries recent entry to the EU and its intriguing history, it has yet to fully take off as a tourist destination. According to her observations the main thing seemed to be to take a visit to Transylvania, and Dracula's Castle, with many a gothic/dracula themed gift to be found. Overall, though, it was intriguing to hear there is a distinct dearth of souvenir shops or opportunities for souvenir hunters in general in Bucharest, which the examples my sister brought back probably attest to. The first is hand-woven book-mark in the Romanian colours, while the second a key-ring featuring landmarks from the open-air museum. Strangely, while abroad it is often the familiar, just as much as the exotic or strange that we seek out on our travels. My sister, for instance, cannot seem to get through the week without her Starbucks fix. Although it appears even that behemoth has already reached Bucharest, she was flummoxed as how to find a branch there, despite the evidence of seeing passers-by clutching Starbucks carrier bags. Instead, she found the local option to be just as satisfactory in stemming her desire for a cappuccino, which goes by the excellent name of Coffee Attack (here above are some souvenir sugar sachets). It is often intriguing to see how as native-English speaker, the global lingua franca is interpreted abroad, often to unintentional comical effect. In the case of the name Coffee Attack, they seem to have hit on an intriguing combination, implying how the need for a caffeine fix is also an attack both on the body (in an unhealthy sense) and on our desires (in a pleasurable sense).


Research is often a solitary occupation, yet in some instances it is necessary to seek the help of others in collating aspects of a research project. In seeking out such help, however, it poses interesting questions regarding how reliable others viewpoint or skills are in collating research. It sometimes also raises questions about ownership. In the case of the Fashion Souvenirs project many of my collaborators have been happy to help out, as a fun diversion to their main activity in visiting a place, and then it is up to me how I interpret or make use of the artefacts I bring back, so ultimately the decisions regarding the process and outcome of the research are down to me. Yet, as I now consider how it may be necessary to collaborate with others on my main research project here at the RCA, it brings about the continuing question of how 'wise' it is to collaborate with others on aspects of the research, and whether, ultimately, this is even strictly necessary. I am guessing only time will tell...