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CHARLET DUBOC: Welcome to
"Fashion Week International,"
the show that reports on the
most fabulous fashion weeks in
the world and the culture and
politics behind them.
This time we're in North Korea's
fun Southern cousin
for Seoul fashion week.
It's 3:00 AM on a Monday night
and I'm shopping and so is
everybody else.
Everything you can see
around here is open.
Nobody's drunk, nothing's
weird.
It's the same as during the
day, it's just dark.
This is an underground station,
but as you can see it
also takes you to the
underground shopping center.
It doesn't feel real.
It's like a weird,
post-apocalyptic underground world.
Why is it open?
Why aren't people in bed?
We're definitely going to come
back at a more civil hour.
I was in Seoul for
fashion week.
Seoul is a megatropolis.
A sprawling mass of perfect
order, and the most
technologically advanced
city in the world.
The curious antics of South
Korea's Northern neighbor has
demanded much of the
world's attention
over the last 40 years.
But during that time, South
Korea has quietly been getting
on with becoming the center
of Asian pop culture.
To the point where K-pop is
poised to explode over the
face of the world in a blitz
of highly choreographed
titillation.
The look here it is all about
flawless perfection, whilst
the subtext seems to
be *** filth.
And I was here to find out
just how far people were
willing or expected to go in
pursuit of perfection.
Fashion week is being held at
the 1988 Olympic Village,
across town from the
now well-known
Gangnam area of Seoul.
This gave me a chance to try
and navigate my way there
through the super-techie
metro system.
You're just bombarded
with advertising
and interactive stuff.
So while you're waiting for the
train, you can engage with
this thing--
a virtual fitting room.
Everyone would agree that I'm
already unique and casual, so
I'm going to try chic
and modern.
I'm going to choose this
sexy office lady here.
And then I take the picture.
Wow.
It was just like the scene in
"Clueless." The end result is
a bit disappointing, I'm
going to be honest.
The train is coming.
At some of the other places we
visited on this show, the
actual fashion seemed to
be an afterthought
to the event itself.
Here, the fashion was everything
and was to be taken
very seriously--
on the catwalk, and
in the queue.
Outside the fashion week, I felt
positively underdressed.
In this series, I'd not yet been
to a place where the kids
took their outfits
so seriously.
Or indeed, seen so many
scrupulously crafted
looks in one place.
How would you describe your
own personal style?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: And it
didn't end there.
I spotted luminous pixies,
hipster [INAUDIBLE], fay time
travelers, and even a punk.
This is my new friend.
You're the first person we've
seen in Seoul that has a
vaguely punk look.
Do you dress this way because
you listen to punk music, or
do you dress this way because
you like punk fashion?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Where I come
from, if people dress like
you, it means that they follow
a punk rock lifestyle.
And they believe in a kind of
anti-establishment way of life.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: It's been
lovely talking to you.
You're the most polite
punk I've every met.
You're a gentleman.
The array of well-honed looks
may give the impression of
alternative lifestyles.
But the punk himself admitted
that his look
was only skin deep.
To find out more, I went to see
a guy called Donald King,
aka, "the loneliest rockabilly
punk in the world." I found
him at his secret barber
shop, hidden in the
back streets of Seoul.
He looks like a terrifying
butcher--
"Sweeney Todd."
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
DONALD KING: Thank you.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: OK.
Would you say it's difficult
to be a punk and maintain a
punk scene?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: What do you think
of the mainstream Korean
fashion industry in general?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: K-pop, that's
what Korea's best known for
culturally at the moment.
How does that make you feel?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: I left Don, the
lonely punk, with his heart
hurting from the sound
of unstoppable K-pop.
Hanryu, or Korean wave, refers
to all South Korean popular
entertainment.
The term was coined by Chinese
journalists taking note of the
fast-growing popularity of
Korean pop culture in China.
Thanks mainly to the internet,
which South
Korea pretty much rules.
K-pop accounts for around 3.8
billion dollars worth of the
country's economy.
So whilst the girls and boys
might look like they're at it
like rabbits, they're very
much investments to be
protected from the wrong
kind of attention.
We went to meet Ha Sang Beg,
celebrity designer and boy
band stylist.
He's somewhat of a controversial
figure on the
Korean fashion scene, which
he seems to revel in.
You need only go to his
website to see why.
Ha Sang has dabbled in
many fashion taboos.
HA SANG BEG: I'm inspired by
the fetish, tie-up bondage.
The helmet thing is breath
control inspired.
CHARLET DUBOC: But it was after
his attempt to bring
some androgyny into the world
of K-pop that ***
really hit the fan.
HA SANG BEG: This is SHINee's
new album called "Sherlock."
This is sort of ethnic
multicultural.
CHARLET DUBOC: Yeah, it's
not what I would
associate with K-pop.
It's obviously like
an evolution.
HA SANG BEG: OK, thank you.
Is it--
CHARLET DUBOC: It's
cool, yeah.
HA SANG BEG: Good?
CHARLET DUBOC: It's classy.
HA SANG BEG: I'm glad.
This a member called
[INAUDIBLE].
A lot of fans, in their
minds he's still like
a good little boy.
CHARLET DUBOC: And this
is quite ***.
HA SANG BEG: Yeah.
After this, the fan from
Turkey said I really
want to kill you.
CHARLET DUBOC: You've ruined
his innocence.
HA SANG BEG: How dare
you do this?
Nasty, nasty.
It was so shocking to me.
It was a very radical
reaction.
CHARLET DUBOC: Do the fans
email you personally?
HA SANG BEG: Yes.
Oh, please, make them
wear the suit.
One of those stage acts was a
very back revealing racerback.
And then, what?
CHARLET DUBOC: They thought
it was rude?
HA SANG BEG: I don't know.
The girls having fantasy,
I guess.
CHARLET DUBOC: How do they know
that it's not the boys
who have the control?
I mean, how much control
do the boys have?
I was keen to find out just how
sheltered these boys were.
So we took up the chance to
partake in a press junket for
an upcoming boy band.
We've come up to the North of
Seoul, because we've been
given this rare opportunity to
*** five minutes with one
of the hottest K-pop bands
in Korea at the moment.
They're called Infinite,
they're a seven-piece.
They're all babes about
half my age.
And hopefully they can explain
some of their K-pop
phenomenon.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: I've never done
one of these, and was
immediately intimidated by the
strange interview format.
I felt like I was about to
interview a school photo.
So I'm basically
an alien here.
What is K-pop?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Do any of you
have lucky girlfriends?
CHARLET DUBOC: Are you looking
for girlfriends?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: How would your
ideal girlfriend dress?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Not too sexy,
not too much flesh?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Who gets
the most girls?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: What was that?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Suddenly, one of
their team silently stepped
in and ended the interview and
we were politely ushered out.
As K-pop makes a grab for
the world, will it
like what it finds?
The West loves success, but also
failure and scandal in
equal measure.
And it's hard to tell whether
these perfect boys and girls
have what it takes underneath
to survive the scrutiny.
It seemed curious that even the
very mention of girls was
enough to end the interview
with Infinite.
Sex in Seoul is a
tricky subject.
Basically, until now, if you're
young you either find a
dark alley or check yourselves
into a sex motel.
Don't even think about taking
your boyfriend home unless you
want to watch your father
tearfully impale
himself on a chopstick.
Here's where fashion comes
to the rescue again.
Slowly, social ***
conventions are being softened.
How?
Through a rising trend
for couples to
wear matching underwear.
Matching couples has been big
on the scene for some time,
but now these couples want to
match all the way down.
This shop sells matching
guy and girl underwear.
Spirit of adventure.
It's really weird.
I mean, if my boyfriend and I
wore matching underwear in
England, we'd be a
laughingstock.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Why do you
think it became a trend?
What do people like about it?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: We decided to
test this new trend by
grabbing a couple for a spot
of market research.
So I've cornered this poor,
really cute couple.
Where were you heading before
we so rudely accosted you?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: What
is that, exactly?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Cool.
So what we're going to do is
like a kind of silly game.
I'm going to get you each to
pick your favorite thing that
you'd like to match with each
other and you're not going to
show each other.
And then we're going to see if
you pick the same thing.
Have a look.
How long have you guys
been together?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: So do you think
it's nearly time to get some
matching underwear?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: What's his
personality like, your boyfriend?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Make sure
he's not looking.
Now, on three--
one, two, three.
I can't believe you picked
the same things.
You're going to think
we set this up, but
I promise we didn't.
Are you surprised?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Walking down the
street together knowing
that you both have this matching
set on, how would
that make you feel?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: That's so
charming, I'm going to cry.
I think you'd better
get married, guys.
That's pretty much as good as
it gets, let's face it.
Off into the sunset to
*** like rabbits.
Just call me cupid.
Hi!
Are you a band?
FEMALE SPEAKER: No.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
CHARLET DUBOC: What was that?
That was a mega communication
fail, but they thought it was
hysterical.
Back at fashion week, and I
was cutting somewhat of a
lonely figure.
Maybe the cool kids were put-off
by the fact that I
only wore one jacket, that on
reflection looks slightly too
homeless for their tastes.
That was until a rather demure
girl next to me started to
speak to me.
She was a fashion student, but
one with a very different
background to most of
the other kids here.
It turns out she was born in
North Korea and smuggled into
the South as a child.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: But because you
came here so young, do you
feel South Korean or North
Korean, or a mixture?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Do you ever think
about how things might
be different if your family
hadn't moved?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: So here in South
Korea, girls really can
do whatever they want to
look a certain way.
And there's a big trend at the
moment for people having
facial surgery.
What do you think about the
trend for plastic surgery?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: A lot of the
girls here are having plastic
surgery to change the
way they look.
How do you feel about that?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Double eyelid
surgery is the practice of
creating a crease in the eyelid,
that many South Korean
women don't naturally
have, to make the
eyes rounder and wider.
Having it done here is
as commonplace as
going to the dentist.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Have you been
able to have anything done?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: If the fashion
scene was making moves away
from this trend, I wanted to see
what the new generation of
teenyboppers thought about it.
FEMALE SPEAKER: One,
two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, three, four, five.
CHARLET DUBOC: They're a very
well-behaved hip-hop band.
Do you have very distinctive
personalities?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: How do you feel
about being given that label?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: So it's more
about empowering women than
attracting men?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: How would you
girls define Korean beauty?
What are the beauty ideals that
Korean girls aspire to?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: And what do you
girls think about that?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: I hadn't expected
to hear such concrete
confirmation that the ideal look
is that of Westerners.
Or at the very least, a
stereotypical vision of a
Western face.
South Korea has overtaken Brazil
as the plastic surgery
capital of the world, with the
highest number of surgeries
performed per capita.
About one in five women have
undergone some sort of
cosmetic procedure, which have
become popular graduation
gifts for young South Korean
girls from their parents.
There was only one last
place to go in
pursuit of this story.
So as we know, plastic
surgery is insanely
popular in South Korea.
So we've come to a district
of Seoul where there are
literally hundreds of clinics.
We've been invited by these two
lovely doctors to come and
witness some procedures today
that sort of come under this
blanket term "Westernization."
It's really chill.
It's very clean.
Quite sort of holistic,
almost.
And the two main surgeons, they
kind of remind you of
"Nip/Tuck" guys, they're
like cool cats.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: So doctor--
DR. SEO: Yes?
CHARLET DUBOC: What's
wrong with me?
DR. SEO: Your problem?
CHARLET DUBOC: Yeah.
DR. SEO: Oh, there
is no problem.
You are very beautiful.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
HUANG SA: My name is Huang Sa,
I like the foreigners'
characteristics, such
like yours.
CHARLET DUBOC: Like me?
HUANG SA: Yeah.
It is very, very beautiful.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: And are you
happy with the results?
HUANG SA: Really, really
happy and exciting.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: What about your
parents or your grandparents?
Do they feel the same?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: How much of
it is important for you
personally to feel beautiful,
and how much of it is
important to how the rest of
Chinese society sees you and
treats you?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: You look
beautiful, I think.
Because it's different.
HUANG SA: Oh, different?
CHARLET DUBOC: You don't look
like me or my friends, so
that's exciting for me.
You know?
HUANG SA: Yeah, I know.
CHARLET DUBOC: So you should
be very happy.
HUANG SA: Thank you.
CHARLET DUBOC: She
was like, what?
I look different from you.
Because the whole idea is that
she wants my sort of look.
And I didn't realize at the
time until someone told me
afterwards that me saying that
to her actually really
disappointed her.
I just feel a bit bad.
I feel like I need to go and
tell her, yeah, yeah, you look
exactly like me.
But that's not how
I feel, because I
like her unique look.
But that's just interesting
that
that's how it came across.
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: One of the girls
at the fashion week said
that having surgery done was no
different to choosing what
dress to wear that day, or what
makeup to wear that day.
But makeup and a change of
clothes aren't quite as
invasive as this.
If this work is so prolific in
Korea, do you think that it
could possibly say something
about the state of Korean
society or the psyche
of the women here?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Even though
it's not real, they still
believe they can create fortune
by having surgery?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
[CRYING]
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Is there a right
age, psychologically,
that a girl should be to
be ready to make a
decision like that?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: Do women ever
come asking you for surgery
for the wrong reasons?
[SPEAKING KOREAN]
CHARLET DUBOC: I still think
it's a little bit more extreme
than just your choice
of lipstick or how
much mascara you wear.
Because, I mean, well, you
can see for yourself.
Fashion week has distanced
himself from K-pop culture,
staying very much in
the international
high fashion vein.
During our time backstage,
we've met many people who
wanted to reverse the trend of
enhanced perfection, and the
seeds of dissent are
starting to grow.
Those who champion natural
beauty have presented an
argument that is
hard to ignore.
Think about it.
A girl changes her face and
meets the boy of her dreams.
Maybe he's had some
work done, too.
They fall in love, get married,
succeed at work, and
then settle down to
have a family.
But on the day their first child
is born, the secrets of
their past come flooding back.