In the vast landscape of Korean entertainment, sometimes it’s the little things that bring us joy (or disappointment) and make our fan girl/boy/folk hearts beat a little faster.
Each month, we ask our writers to share: Among the many Hallyu things vying for your attention, what’s caught your eye, is on your mind, or has made your heart skip a beat?
September Style Highlights from Hwasa, Hyoyeon, Riize, BoyNextDoor, & More
— Siena
As the traditional home of fashion weeks across the world, September is always a big month for style. As K-pop idols continue to be swept up by labels across the style spectrum as brand ambassadors, for better and for worse, many idols made appearances at Seoul, Milan, and Paris fashion week (the latter of which, as-of me writing this, is still ongoing). The creativity of looks varied, though this is more of a reflection of the strength of individual brands and particular idols’ relationships to them as opposed to a diss of anyone’s personal style; most brand ambassadors will be assigned an outfit they have little say in choosing. Still, a few looks that stood out to me from idols’ well-documented appearances in Milan came from BTS‘s Jin for Gucci, Twice‘s Momo for Onitsuka Tiger, and Seventeen‘s Hoshi for Diesel.
Back in the thick of the K-pop release schedule, several MV and performance looks really caught my eye. First, soloists Hwasa and Hyoyeon both made comebacks that featured superbly flattering and fun styling. Hwasa has possibly never looked better than in the Paris-shot MV for “Na” (and that’s saying something for K-pop’s resident confident bombshell), which is full of classic styles with a twist. I especially love the black dress she wore in her first music show stage on Music Bank which is chic, sexy, and performance-friendly all at once. Meanwhile, Hyoyeon sports a series of fantastic 80s influenced and slightly tomboyish outfits in the Los Angeles-set MV for “Retro Romance.” In both cases, the styling really suits the artist, and helps fun, but far from groundbreaking comebacks, make a greater impact.
Last but not least, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t indulge in my magpie tendencies and praise some sparkle! While watching a stage video of “Combo” from Riize’s recent Seoul Fan-Con Tour finale, I enjoyed the music, but was delightfully distracted by their bedazzled stage outfits. As an ardent fan of all things glitter, let me tell you: it is very, very hard to make sparkles look not-cheap against a black fabric background. When you can make it work though (thank you, SM Entertainment‘s coffers!), it’s a great look, and this set of Riize performance outfits is truly stellar. Finally, BoyNextDoor gave me major pants envy with some fabulous sparkling blue jeans that put in multiple appearances in dance challenge videos, but which I have yet to locate in a full stage. It is no small feat to make me like light wash jeans, but apparently six billion sparkles will do the trick!
The Bittersweet Nostalgia of a Long-time Exo Fan
— Chelsea
September was a nostalgic month for me. It started with the back to back Exo member’s solo comebacks/tours throughout the year from Suho, Xiumin, D.O., Baekhyun and Chen, leading to Chanyeol‘s solo debut “Black Out” in late August and Baekhyun quickly following with “Pineapple Slice” in early September. Seeing each member make their music in their own way is refreshing. Baekhyun perhaps stays closest to the familiarity of Exo-style R&B, but Suho and Chanyeol are trying rock and city pop while D.O. is off shooting some of the cutest MVs and having his cafe music moment. Chen also is set on his ballads, and I cannot hate him for that; he has the vocals to back it up. Don’t even get me started on Kai, because he was my biggest solo surprise as an Exo stan ahead of his enlistment. I don’t necessarily have to love each release, but I can appreciate them in the way they sound true to the members as solo artists.
All these building feelings of watching members of the group I love so much carve their own solo paths culminated when I attended the first night of Chanyeol’s “Cityscape” concert in Seoul this month. His live vocals were great and gave me a new appreciation for his mini album—of him as a solo act. However, the moment that got me was when he broke into an interlude of all his rap parts and choruses of Exo’s title tracks through the years, and the crowd went absolutely wild. It was in that moment that I remembered how each of those comebacks made me feel as an Exo-L: how familiar each refrain was, how much I loved stanning Exo at their peak. How much we, everyone in the crowd, loved those songs and cheered. It took me back to my first, second, and third Exo concert—remembering who I was then, and who I am now, still getting all wound up by the rap in “Monster” and regarding “Lotto” as my grocery shopping song.
It’s not that the songs are gone, or that I love Exo any less. It’s just that bittersweet moment that comes when you realize how much happiness a group has brought you—how much they’ve been part of your life—and that that era of the group is gone. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It isn’t. It just means I’m fortunate enough to have grown up with a group as a soundtrack to my late teens and twenties, and now they’re each opening new, solo, chapters in my thirties.
So… if I teared up a bit at a Chanyeol concert, sue me.
(Hollywood Reporter, YouTube [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Images via YouTube and SM Entertainment.)
