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| Models wearing the new medal ceremony uniforms for the 2022 Beijing Olympics were introduced on the Winter Games organizing committee's Twitter. Capture from Twitter |
By Ko Dong-hwan
With just one month remaining until the opening of the Beijing Winter Games, the Olympics' official Twitter has revealed newly designed medal ceremony uniforms. But the outfits have aroused questions in Korea: Aren't they a little too close to what we saw at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics?
Images of the controversial clothing surfaced on the Twitter account for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Jan. 1. "We are excited to release our Victory Ceremony Costumes for Beijing 2022," the post read. It explained the costumes consist of three sets of clothing: "Lucky Snow and Cloud," "Great Landscape" and "Flying Snow in Tang Dynasty."
The colorful jackets, hats and gloves, according to reports, were designed by the Central Academy of Fine Arts, which is managed by the Ministry of Education of China, and the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. The organizers were cited saying the costumes were designed to "reflect the integration of Chinese culture and international culture, and embodying China's mind of open, friendship, peace and toleration."
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| Medal ceremony costumes were showcased prior to the opening of PyeongChang Olympics in 2018. Yonhap |
The showcase has drawn attention from some Koreans who were quick to respond about possible plagiarism. They criticized the Beijing Olympics uniforms' design for lacking in creativity by copying the designs of Korea's traditional hanbok, and pointed out that the use of blue had no relevance to China's national identity ― with references to Chinese national flags and traditional outfits that are almost washed with red. Some even suggested that China, governed under communism, isn't fit to use blue, a symbol of liberalism and conservatism.
Such criticism wasn't being fired off from Korean side alone ― some was from inside on Weibo, a Chinese online social network platform where the Beijing Olympics costumes were introduced. "This is not China," one comment reportedly read.
The costumes introduced during the PyeongChang Olympic Games in 2018 drew positive reviews for their design that artfully combined red and blue from the Korean national flag together with the country's traditional overcoat, gloves and scarf.
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