Account (+ Photos) By Harmony Han @ thehansiblings
This week at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Seoul Fashion Week S/S 2015 is being held from Friday 17th to Wednesday 22nd of October 2014, and so I decided to pay the Korea’s biggest major fashion event a visit.
This was my first time ever going to a fashion event of this scale so I honestly had no idea what to expect when I got up this morning and started getting ready. I’d had my outfit planned for a couple of weeks now, though all my preparation was being threatened by the sudden drop in temperature over the last week, but fortunately the weather held up!
Furthermore, on the train ride over (I live only a few stops from the event location) I was disappointed by how small the number of people clearly going to the event was: was it possible that no one was going to be dressed up and this would just be a wasted trip? Fortunately, when I stepped out of the train station, my fears were washed away.
A street snap I took by sneaking in behind another photographer; not bad for an amateur, right?
The station faces the back of the event, but even from that early into my arrival, I was flooded with people whose pictures I wanted to take and who wanted to take my picture. Likewise, when I headed around to the front of the event I was taken aback at just how many amazing outfits and enthusiastic photographers were dotted around the venue!
Actually, being a first timer, at first I was very shy, both with asking to take pictures and with others wanting my picture. I’m not one to run from a camera and quite like having my picture taken, but I was shocked and slightly confused by the number of photographers who wanted to shoot me in my full camera gear. (NB: I had my camera, two lenses, tripod and a backpack for all of my stuff which were not supposed to be part of my outfit.) Well, maybe they thought it was artsy?
One of my favourite coordis (if not my favourite) from the entire day, you can almost see the MODE-kei dripping off her and you can see everything she has on works so well together!
Another thing it took me time to get used to was just how many people wanted my photo! One person would ask and I would stop and pose for them, but before they even had a chance to take three pictures, 20 more photographers would line up next to them and start snapping me too. (There were actually a couple of hotspots where photographers just stood lined up waiting, so walking down there would be like asking to be photographed.)
I even had a few photographers ask me to do things like pose against walls and railings or walk down paths towards the camera for them; I actually got a few business cards from bloggers, photographers, magazine editors and even designers alike, and I gave my details out to quite a few people too. I don’t actually have any of my own pictures of my outfit from the day, but if someone puts it up, I’ll be more than happy to share it with you guys! Fingers crossed I’ll be featured on a blog or in a magazine somewhere!
There were also a lot of couple sporting couple outfits today, these two were absolutely adorable! I must admit I’m jealous, it would be wonderful to have a partner into the same styles as us~
Having my picture taken a bunch (included when I was vlogging) was a lot of fun, and slightly daunting too, but once all the nerves had worn off, it meant that I felt a lot more confident setting off with my own camera to snap others. I’d learnt some photography etiquette, like waiting your turn to ask for the model’s attention and not walking through others’ photos, so I felt confident about not coming off as a total noob. Also, I discovered that taking candid shots was totally acceptable too, which made getting a lot of photographs in a thousand times easier!
Oh, before I forget, during my time there I saw a number of famous models (unfortunately none I was familiar with) but I did manage to stand a mere 2 feet away from the notorious Hong Seok Cheon as he left one of the fashion events! He was one of the many Korean celebrities that attended during this week, and he lived up to his bubbly character in person too, stopping to take a couple of selcas with the fans who’d made it past his bodyguards. He’s also someone I truly respect for fighting to stay true to himself so I’m very glad I was able to see him in the flesh.
One of my biggest regrets from this event is not having any business cards, so many people asked me for my (blog’s) details… I’ll make sure I have some made for the next fashion week in March!
Attending this day at fashion week was a wonderful experience for me, I got to learn so much about other people and the unique styles out there and it generally felt amazing to be surrounded by so many like-minded people. But the thing that fashion week opened my eyes to most, is that Korean street fashion is a lot more diverse than people think!
When people think of Korean fashion, they think either of Ulzzang or the very clean, neat (almost high fashion) look that is popular in contemporary Korea, and maybe a little hip hop mixed in there, but it’s actually so much more than that. It may not be as prevalent/popular as say, Japanese street fashion is, but there are people out there with styles to match (if not out-do) any of the popular Japanese street styles. I also saw lots of people in outfits that were very similar to styles like VK, Ouji-kei, MODE-kei (of course) and even Harajuku-kei, but with a Korean twist.
There were so many dapper men and women today, it got hard to keep my eyes— I mean, the camera off them…
I took a bunch of pictures (though mostly of people who specifically caught my attention) and I’ll be uploading them bit by bit throughout the week as well as putting a video together with the photos that Hanzel will take when he goes, but I really wish I could have given you all the full experience that I had. The atmosphere was amazing, the coordis were inspiring and it’s honestly a day I’ll never forget.
If I took away just one thing from going to this event, it’s that Korean street fashion is so much more than what people think, it’s just as exciting and eccentric as anywhere else, even Japan. If there is one thing I think Japan still has over Korea it’s the use of colour, most of the outfits I saw today were focused around black (not that I’m complaining) but that may also be too match the current season, so we’ll have to see.
Saw these two adorable girls on the train to the event but didn’t have the guts to ask them for a picture; so glad I managed to snap them before I headed home.
But, to think I got to experience all this without so much as a ticket is the part that shocks me more than anything; I didn’t see a single fashion show organised by the event managers, but the fashion show going on outside thrown by the public was more than enough. That said, I’m still looking forward to seeing pictures from the S/S 2015 fashion that was presented during the main show. But for now? I need to figure out what I’m going to wear in March for Seoul Fashion Week A/W 2015!
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