BALANCE of CULTURE

Designers Rise Above Ongoing Territorial Disputes

Fashion icons Junko Koshino (Japan), Zhang Zhifeng (China) and Chang Kwang-hyo (S. Korea) put on a lavish fashion show at the Beijing Hotel yesterday, intent on proving that their respective governments' territorial tensions shouldn't affect the integrity of their industry, unlike the recent auto industry issues in the region.

The event was sponsored by China's Ministry of Culture. It's always comforting to see how ordinary citizens can come together on an issue even when their governments can't. 

Camo-Fail: US Army Uniforms

Yikes! The US Army has a $5 billion camo-print "fiasco" on their hands: for the past eight years, soldiers' uniforms have been made in a camouflage pattern that apparently stands out in every environment they've encountered so far. Army researchers blame higher authorities who got involved in the design process, "letting looks and politics get in the way of science." 

Of course, this isn't the first time the Army has opted for some uniform design changes. I'm sure the fashion industry will follow suit with the new test pattern once they get wind of it. 

Bikini History

It's kind of crazy to think that some women were wearing bikinis as early as 1,700 years ago in Europe, while some women in parts of the world today aren't even allowed to show their faces or knees in public. 

Although most people (including myself from last year) believed that today marks the 66th birthday of the bikini, apparently this timeline doesn't include an even deeper history that reveals the bikini concept alive and well in 4th century Roman society. 

More on the history of women's swimwear. 

Korean Tourism Officially Links to Hallyu Soft Power

South Korea's tourism industry is now being partially molded by the country's pop culture soft power (otherwise known as hallyu), which includes a wide array of music, films, tv dramas, fashion, food, etc.

Later this year a 85,400 sq ft Hallyu museum will open up at world famous Incheon Airport in Seoul, in the International Business Complex, tracking the works of Korean pop groups, musicians, and actors along with showcasing Korean cuisine and fashion.

Now SM Entertainment, one of Korea's largest entertainment companies (this is where Girls Generation comes from), has acquired BT&I, perhaps the biggest travel agency in the country. Travel and entertainment may seem like an unlikely combination, but since Korea's pop culture has been driving tourism to the country even more than the Olympics did, it's obviously a choice that was pretty easy to make for SM.

If you've been to the upscale Apgujeong neighborhood of Seoul, chances are you've seen the SM Entertainment headquarters. They've renamed BT&I travel agency to SMTown Travel, and will offer a private lounge for clients located just upstairs from their popular norebang (karaoke studio) called EverySing.

Soft power is so intrinsically connected to cultural tourism now that global travel is at its most streamlined. While the Hallyu museum may not be targeted to Koreans themselves, the main point will continue to be to spread this pop culture to foreigners, many of whom are already interested in the genre. Korea has seen a spike of foreign tourists in recent years, many of whom attribute Korean pop culture as the catalyst for visiting the country.

SM's acquisition of Korea's largest travel agency also signifies the nation's serious investment in hallyu, as Korea's Tourism Organization (KTO) has clearly embraced this method of reaching out to the tastes of younger generations across the globe.

This super-capitalist, pop culture driven explosion is one of the Korea's most interesting attributes right now. Decades ago, during the country's more humble times, it was probably unfathomable to hear about an American midwest girl moving to Korea because of her love of Korean pop culture, but times have changed--and young people are clearly looking to experience their tastes and fantasies in any way possible.

None of this comes as a surprise--see my Huffington Post piece on the Kpop wave.

Dangerous to be Emo in Iraq

It's a bit difficult for me to accept this, coming from the land of Hot Topic and all, but apparently young "emo" Iraqis are being targeted and killed at an "alarming rate" by local militias who believe the subculture represents homosexuality. So far all the targets have been male except for one female.

Below is what a typical "emo" style person looks like, and at this point you will find this style literally all over the world. From Asian pop stars to Justin Bieber fans, this kind of hairstyle and dark, "emotional" attire is basically the mainstream version of what being "goth" once was. It's huge and ubiquitous.

The murders are beyond horrible, especially since they are fueled by the anti-homosexuality texts from the Quran. But the irony here lies in that the focus on young emos is somehow conflated with a gay correlation. In other words, the Iraqi government is not only killing potentially innocent youth because of a tunnel-visioned reading of the Quran, but also because of a gross ignorance of the style that they think they understand!

It's easy to assume that much of the world is somehow on the same track of experience, education, and understanding, but then one comes across problems like this and realizes how backwards so many people in power truly are.

How scary it must be for young people growing up in such dangerously ignorant environments like this right now. Clearly the clash between the older and younger generations in this context is only getting uglier.

Thailand's Nazi Craze--Again

Ronald McDonald, Teletubbies, and cartoon pandas -- all inspired by an extremely bizarre and ignorant "Hitler" trend in Thailand: these are just some of the characters that have been offending tourists as well as the Israeli ambassador lately on the streets of Bangkok. I'm pretty sure we can chalk this up to a lack of proper historical education...

Apparently the McHitler shirt is one of the most popular items in Bangkok's trendy shops, along with tees depicting Michael Jackson, Che Guevara, and Kim Jong-il.

This is not the first time a Hitler-themed spectacle in Thailand has made the news; last year a Chiang-Mai school sparked international outrage with its "nazi parade" during the school's Sports Day events.

The Dictator on the Red Carpet

[Update: He's been banned!…or perhaps not!]

With all the dramatic developments of the Arab Spring that has occurred in over a year, it's not a surprise that Hollywood is coming out with a movie that uses some of the subject as inspiration. Whether categorized as insensitive material or mere entertainment, Paramount has big hopes for Sacha Baron Cohen's latest comedy titled The Dictator.

Cohen is already known for pushing the envelope with daring characters that border on the racially- and culturally-risqué, such as Borat. This time, the high profile actor-comedian is rumored to be planning on attending this year's Academy Awards red carpet dressed up as The Dictator's title character, to the dismay of the Oscars' organization.

A spokesperson for the Oscars even went so far as to say, "We would hope that every studio knows that this is a bad idea. The Red Carpet is not about stunting." I am not sure how this person can claim with a straight face that there is a lack of "stunting" on any red carpet, let alone the Academy Awards, but this is the stance that most "purists" are taking in their chagrin towards a costumed Cohen.

Seems to me they're being not only rather uptight about the industry they work in but also pretty hypocritical. If this costume offends people in any way, they should probably recall the concept of storytelling as well as reevaluate some Hollywood issues that actually deserve some ethical critique -- Woody Allen and Roman Polanski come to mind right away. If Hollywood can stomach looking the other way from the decisions of those two glorified filmmakers, who seriously cares about a silly costume on the red carpet? If anything it might keep things interesting!

The trailer is pretty awesome though, especially with the Panjabi MC tunes in the background:

Known Pleasure: Disney Rips Joy Division

Looks like Disney's Mickey Mouse shirt "inspired" by Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album cover (1979) has been pulled once it was revealed the mega-company may not have had all their permissions in order after all.

Even Joy Division's bass player Peter Hook had some stinging words -- albeit gift wrapped in sugarcoat -- for Disney:

"...in a funny way, it's quite a compliment for a huge conglomerate like Disney to pick up on a poor little Manchester band that only existed for a couple of years, it's quite startling. I'm amazed they're that hard up that they need to prey on little indie bands, but I get the feeling that someone may have done it as a tongue in cheek compliment."

Well, Mr. Hook, obviously they are that "hard up"…aren't all predators these days?

Faux Bling: fox fur headphones

Not being ignorant is the true luxury in life. I can't believe how many first world citizens are so pathetically blind when it comes to something so heinous like wearing fur in 2012. While one may think that worldwide success, experience, and millions of dollars would afford some folks the knowledge that animal fur goods are hardly something to brag about, obviously this is not the case.

Take a look at what these parochial heads (fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and music mogul Dr. Dre) came up with for their collaborative project for the Beats by Dre headphone line:

The "limited edition" (no, really?) design is covered in a plum-colored layer of fox fur and retails for $695 USD. (Of course, a letter from PETA to Dr. Dre has been unanswered.)

Geez, is this straight from the annals of illbred.com or what?! Maybe this is the perfect tacky gift for those poor, provincial souls who also think that covering their waxed bikini areas with fox fur will help them feel more sexy, no?

What's really ironic about all this fox fur nonsense (remember J.Lo's famous fox fur eyelashes?) is that its ubiquity is based upon its relative "cheapness" (above rabbit fur), yet is marketed as some sort of "luxury" product to those who don't know nor care about the gross reality behind the scenes.

I understand some people are still stuck in the increasingly embarrassing "bling-bling" (note the quotation marks) era of the late 90s/early 2000s -- abusing and killing animals in order to make these kinds of junky products will still make sense to them, sadly enough. A small price to pay to maintain the $30k-millionaire lifestyle, right?

What a lighting-fast way for older segments of the fashion and music industries to look utterly stupid. Please educate those around you and #GoFaux!

Louboutin Art on Sunset Blvd.

Neiman Marcus' billboard on the side of a Sunset Blvd. building, a homage to Christian Louboutin's 20 year anniversary in women's fashion: designed with street artist Galo Make Canote, just in time for Mr. Louboutin's visit to the Beverly Hills NM on February 3, 2012.