As you know NewJeans recently performed in front of Gyeongbok Palace wearing hanbok which is our traditional Korean dress.
The designer who worked with them for the latest performance and during their hanbok photo shoot last fall(?), wrote a long heartfelt post about working with New Jeans, and I thought I would translate it for you all.
I am not a professional translator and I will change some words to convey the correct message, and I will take some irrelevant parts out.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7B-2nXJaDb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
"Since I've been in the hanbok business for a long time, I sometimes receive requests from idol groups. Usually, they have a specific and long list of requests, like "they should be designed so it's easier for them to move, we want it trendy, we want the shoulders to be exposed with shorter designs, but still look like hanbok", and I couldn't do it because I cannot imagine how a hanbok will still look like a hanbok with all these requests."
"Then I got a request for a pictorial hanbok concept with NewJeans and they're request were very strange. They had only one request and that request was "please design us a Seodamhwa hanbok with colors that will look beautiful with our members." And of course, I said, "Yes!" I was already a big fan of NewJeans and I excited to make Seodamhwa hanbok for these beautiful members. But, I was more excited with the way the team communicated with me. They asked me about every little thing, "what kind of hanbok is this? What is this knot of this jewelry for? Do you have some traditional materials?" I have never worked with an idol group that cared so much about their members, making sure everything was perfect for NewJeans and at the same time gave us complete trust in making them without interfering with our work. When I met them during the shoot, the members were so kind, gentle and beautiful and I felt they were really loved and cherished."
"Then, I got a call for the OnStage performance and I was devastated. Like I said before I have never been able to hanbok for choreography and movement and I also did not have hanbok left. I only had 4 left and I tried to make them as best as I could and sent them."
"One thing I wanted to hear from the performance was not "NewJeans wore hanbok for their performance", but wanted to hear "NewJeans wore hanbok just the way they were without changing it" and that's exactly what they did. Not only NewJeans kept the dress as traditional as possible, but they also learned what the purpose of each of the pieces were or knew how to wear certain parts correctly. I have never met a girl group like that… Today's beautiful teaser video was made possible because the team behind NewJeans understood traditional hanbok, how they were suppose to be worn and they tried to make it beautiful keeping it it's traditional form as much as possible."
"It's really difficult to stay traditional these days. There is always a controversy regarding what's hanbok and what's fusion, etc. But there are still people today (like NewJeans) who try their best not to undermine the true image of hanbok."
As a Korean, I can't help but to be a bit emotional seeing them perform with hanbok looking as traditional as possible. It's so easy to sell out tradition to make it look cooler, but I have so much respect for ADOR and NewJeans for deciding to respect our tradition, our culture and our history instead. This is why NewJeans is so loved in Korea. They are truly different from other groups and I sincerely wish they would continue to create art for all of us for a long time.
Here's the vod, in case you missed it.
by COWDevilsAdvocate