Soul of Seoul. Styling by Anna Getty.
On my last visit in Soul I got inspired by the city of contemporary buildings and old temples. It made me think about yesterday and today. What were we doing in the past for the world pollution prevention without even realizing it. How the meat industry and plastic and fast fashion provoked the world pollution. And where those things came from.
I noticed that in the touristy locations of temples and old houses people were wearing traditional Old school Korean clothes. And I thought why not to try and mix it with the new runway designer clothes and some upcoming Korean designers who where featured in multiple magazines. If we know how to recycle good quality clothes from old times or even vintage and style it with our favorite piece from a new collection from Paris Fashion week, maybe we can save the money and planet from shopping too much unnecessary clothes. Maybe our grandma skirt or grandad jacket or pants can look stylish and have a story a memory to them. I think the connection of the clothes that we have can have as much emotional value as a pricey piece from a big brand. Is just different value. And it can be a personal style.
Plus when I was working for the biggest brands as a fashion model and I saw creation of Paris, Milan and London high fashion brands, I observed how very often the designs would come from traditional clothing of different countries restyled with some new prints or slightly different form. But very often design comes from tradition and history.
The meat market on the locations also rap-present the cruelty of the industry. The tale of the models being treated cruelly or “Like Meat” is been going one for a while now. And many things finally changed in the last couple years thankfully from different companies.
But I wanted to show an image of a beautiful girls standing next to something cruel and raw like the reality of a meat market.
But now let’s get back to Seoul and this story.
What else do we have a part K-Pop to get inspired from since there is so much phantasy there with clothing line and photographers and stylists. And also stunning models.
The K – Dramas. Korea has a big movie and series industry and there are many shootings of movies and photoshoots every day.
The plot of many Korean K-dramas start in a modern day than the main character falls down to a lake and comes up in another era in Korea.
And there we have traditional clothes and romantic stories.
So I wanted to create something in BTW like “lost in translation” but in Seoul and about fashion and people.
How to rap-present the time element true the locations and mixed clothes, like the traditional hats the models are wearing and how incredible a male (or female) traditional head ornament can look on a modern woman and give her a strong touch, since male colours are darker and black what people prefer to wear now-days and female ornaments are with beautiful colours and flowers.
The models holding the plastic bag is the rap-presentation of fast consumption and a provocation to over buying and a temptation that the surrounding gives us. And the temples rap-present the calm of the nature and soulful things that warm up our heart.
History of Traditional Korean Pieces used in this shooting.Jeonmo female hat:The hat was worn by the gisaeng or the courtesans. It also rappresenrs a symbol of preseverance and unified spirit.  Heungnip male hat:Marked the wearer’s social status, cultural identity and more. Samo male hat:Silk hat worn by civil and military officials as a part of uniform. It was a everyday hat. Baji pants:Man would wear it as the outside wear while women as undergarments. Hanbok shoes:Symbolizes age, gender, merital status and social class.  Hanbok bag:They were made out of scraps left from the other clothes and often contained coins therefor they were called “ lucky bag” Hanbok skirt:Reversible pleated wrap skirt. Clothes: Givenchy, Missoni, Celine, Charles Jourdan, Balenciaga, Vintage Valentino, Armani, Villain, Alexander McQueen. |
Models: Katya Plotnikova @katya__plotnikova, Yejin Sung @sungyjin.
Styling & Creative Direction: Anna Getty @annagettyy
Photo: Mark Beak and Sanct @saenktsueri
Production : Robert Getty – Getty Productions @getty_productions
MUA: Daegon Park
Retouch: Nelly Botnaru @nelly.retouch
Styling Assistant: Hyejin Yun
PR: Say Media @say__media
Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam
