Seoul's street fashion changes with Korea's dynamic modern history

Photographer Shin Sang-woo's picture, taken sometime in the 1950s or 1960s, depicts two Korean women clad in Western-style, patterned dresses. Courtesy of Seoul Urban Life Museum

By Park Han-sol

Fashion has long been more than just an eye-catching means of self-expression.

Its role as a critical mirror of societal change has perhaps been witnessed most evidently in Korea's modern history, which has been nothing short of tumultuous ― extending through 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule and national liberation, the 1950-53 Korean War, multiple authoritarian regimes and rapid economic development.

The exhibition "Fashion and Seoul," at the Seoul Urban Life Museum in northern Seoul's Nowon District, brings to the fore the fashion trends of Seoulites from 1945 to 2020, while weaving in the history of war, poverty, urbanization and industrialization.

Birth of Seoul's post-war fashion

Following Korea's liberation from Japan in 1945, the everyday attire worn by Seoul's population hovered somewhere between the traditional dress of hanbok and Western-style clothing. But poverty in the aftermath of the Korean War led to fundamental fashion changes.

On the one hand, hanbok grew to be something more difficult to produce for ordinary Seoulites due to the shortage of proper fabrics. Used military uniforms and war relief clothing emerged as affordable alternatives. In some cases, army blankets turned into winter clothes for children.

In the aftermath of the Korean War, children and other people dressed in military uniforms were a common sight on the streets of Seoul. Courtesy of University of Seoul Museum

But on the other hand, well-to-do members of society strutted the streets, decked out in attire made with high-quality fabrics smuggled in from overseas. While the so-called "Macau gentlemen" donned tailor-made suits produced with coveted textiles from Macau, women filled their closets with film-inspired outfits, such as velvet hanbok skirts as shown in the provocative "Madame Freedom" (1956) and Audrey Hepburn's flared skirt featured in "Roman Holiday" (1953).

Against this backdrop, Myeong-dong in central Seoul became a mecca for boutiques and couture houses offering Western-style clothes, giving birth to Korea's iconic first-generation fashion designers including Nora Noh and Choi Kyung-ja.

Founder of Kookje Boutique, Choi also established the Kookje Fashion Design Academy that turned out famed graduates such as Andre Kim, Lie Sang-bong and Troa Cho, to name a few.

Youth culture-led fashion amid rapid economic development

Led by its textile and apparel industries, Korea saw its exports surpass an unprecedented $10 billion in 1977 for the first time, as the country had reached just $40 million in exports in 1961.

This meteoric economic growth during the 1970s naturally led to a higher material standard of living and contributed to the expansion of the country's ready-made garment industry.

The younger generation in their 20s and 30s at the time, who were born after the Korean War, grew up as the country industrialized and urbanized, and were exposed to increasingly more influences from abroad, particularly from the U.S. This background meant that they were more open to overseas fashion trends, soon popularizing long hair for men, jeans, miniskirts and go-go clubs.

Youth culture flourished in the central Seoul neighborhood of Mugyo-dong, which housed the iconic music lounge C'est Si Bon, as well as bars in Sinchon.

A young man is forced to get a haircut in the street. In 1973, the Park Chung-hee administration introduced a revision of the Minor Offenses Act that mandated a limit on the length of men's hair. Korea Times file

However, after deeming youth culture to be "decadent," the Park Chung-hee administration began shutting down go-go clubs and censoring pop music, even going as far as mandating limits on the length of men's hair and women's miniskirts.

The revisions made in the Minor Offenses Act in 1973 stipulated punishment for "men who have hair long enough to make their gender indiscernible" and those "who overexpose themselves in public."

Although these governmental measures brought a brief halt to the flourishing youth culture of the 1970s, new fashion trends spread like wildfire among the younger generation during the 1980s.

A Jordache denim jacket and Cal Men jeans, a popular style in the 1980s / Courtesy of National Folk Museum of Korea

The introduction of color televisions in 1981 brought in a flood of flashy, vivid clothing commercials, tapping into the public's growing appetite for fashion. This technological advancement, coupled with the abolition of mandatory school uniforms in 1983 and Seoul's hosting of the Summer Olympics in 1988, meant there was a new gateway for youth to express themselves through different styles of clothes.

It created a boom for popular overseas licensed and athleisure brands ― Levi's, Nike and Adidas, for example ― as people rocked denim jackets and Nike sneakers.

Rise of 1st-gen K-pop and Generation X

The 1990s saw the rise of Generation X, referring to those born between 1965 and 1980, whose identities were shaped by individualistic styles.

The pioneering trio Seo Taiji and Boys, who created a sensation in Korea's popular music industry, and other first-generation K-pop bands, popularized hip-hop fashion.

The boy band Seo Taiji and Boys became an icon of the 1990s both for their pioneering music that paved the way for the K-pop industry, and for their hip-hop fashion. Korea Times file

Other styles that grew into trends included the so-called "orange clan" in Apgujeong neighborhood, characterized by the indiscriminate consumption of high-end luxury brands. "Women would be dressed in wool jackets, miniskirts and leather boots, while men would wear black jeans and sharp dress shoes, with mousse or gel in their hair," writes a 1992 article in the Korean-language Chosun Ilbo daily newspaper.

As the "orange clan" mostly consisted of young, wealthy individuals who were able to study abroad, some speculate that the term "orange" was coined due to the expensive price of imported fruit at the time or the fact that oranges represented Los Angeles, where many Korean students were sent.

Targeting different personalities and consumption patterns, various forms of fashion shopping malls, luxury department stores and wholesale markets emerged in the areas of Myeong-dong, Apgujeong, Cheongdam, Dongdaemun and the university districts of Ewha Womans University and Hongik University ― transforming these areas into fashion hubs for the younger generation.

The "Fashion and Seoul" exhibition runs until March 27 at the Seoul Urban Life Museum.