After four whirlwind weeks on the road that took editors from Soho to the Tuileries, the Spring 2016 collections have finally come to an end. And while we take reflect on the bold hair and makeup ideas that were put forth on the runway, one peek at the streets outside the shows reveals which beauty prescriptions have already made a major impact in the real world.

This month, designers sounded the call for a new optimism, and bright pops of color kept showgoers in equally sunny spirits. Fernanda Ly opened Louis Vuitton with her signature pastel pink lengths, and continued turning heads during a postshow jaunt through the Bois de Boulogne’s Jardin d’Acclimatation. Elsewhere, blue quickly emerged as the season’s color of choice, and whether that meant a slick of teal shadow on Tami Williams in Paris or Sky Ferreira’s aquatic dye job in New York, the surprisingly versatile shade provided a much-needed jolt of whimsy to the mix.

A handful of winning ideas, like Céline’s sleek braid and Versace’s power ponytail, led to some inevitable model twinning—proof that when it comes to high-impact hair,  two may actually be better than one. But perhaps above all, it was the broad range of unique curls and wave patterns that inspired off the runway. From Julia Sarr-Jamois’s voluminous Afro and Lineisy Montero’s close-cropped fuzz to Mica Arganaraz’s tangle of shaggy waves, it has never been more clear that embracing your natural texture is the ultimate style statement.

The post The Best Street Style Beauty From the Spring 2016 Shows appeared first on Vogue.

Today, Lisa Eldridge, the London-based makeup artist and YouTube sensation, is releasing her first book, Face Paint: The Story of Makeup (Abrams Image), a meditation on the history of cosmetics and the women who wore it best. Beginning with caches of red ochre found in South African caves, which were used as prehistoric makeup, Face Paint takes us through the ancient origins of modern trends—a bold red lip, a slick of black liner—and connects them back to beauty’s present landscape. From the invention of the world’s first mascara to the backstory behind Lauren Hutton’s famous gap-toothed grin, here are six surprising things we learned from the book that have us feeling inspired to dive into our beauty kits.

1. In Ancient Greece, around 800 B.C., Athenian women mixed burned cork, antimony, and soot to concoct a simple brow powder, used to thicken their arches and create the appearance of a unibrow. (The Romans also favored the singular style.) Centuries later, around 1917, New Yorker T. L. Williams purportedly caught his sister Mabel mixing burned cork with petroleum jelly to darken her lashes, which inspired him to launch Lash-Brow-Ine—one of the first mascaras—and his iconic beauty company, Maybelline. Rumor has it that the mascara helped Mabel win her boyfriend back.

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Photo: Alamy

2. From the 1500s, French women began carrying gilded tins filled with mouches, small black patches used to ornament their faces and conceal blemishes—think Marie Antoinette and the 18th-century court of Versailles. Made from silk, velvet, satin, or taffeta in heart or circle shapes, their placement was coded: Right cheek meant married; left, engaged. Mistresses wore one by the corner of the eye, while a mouche near the mouth showed you were single.

3. Around 1902, Helena Rubinstein launched her famous Crème Valaze in Australia with the claim that one Dr. Lykusky had concocted the cream with herbs grown in the Carpathian mountains. Years later, she revealed the true recipe to her secretary: mineral oil, vegetable oil, and lanolin, which she scented with pine bark, water lilies, and lavender. Ten pennies procured all the ingredients, but Helena charged 7 shillings and 7 pence because, in her own words, “Women won’t buy anything that cheap!”

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Photo: Alamy

4. Though Ancient Egyptian murals had depicted men and women in thick black liner—and archaeologists had found carved ivory cases with burned almond kohl in burial tombs—it was the 1912 discovery of Nefertiti’s bust that brought the exaggerated cat-eye back to life. With the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1923 and the first public exhibition of the limestone-and-stucco head a year later, Egyptomania gripped the world. Elizabeth Taylor’s iconic portrayal of Cleopatra in 1963 only sealed the deal, and dark eye makeup has stayed in style ever since.

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Photo: Getty Images

5. Discovered by Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, a young Lauren Hutton started modeling for Richard Avedon and Irving Penn in the mid-’60s. Hutton would do her own makeup for shoots, and initially tried to hide the gap in her teeth with mortician’s wax and a cap, which kept falling out. Quickly, she learned to embrace her crooked smile, which helped her secure a record 27 Vogue covers, a landmark modeling contract with Revlon, and paved the way for many winning gap-toothed girls—Lara Stone, Georgia May Jagger—to come.

6. Fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki’s Biba label began selling Technicolor makeup in 1970, revolutionizing the decade’s look with blush, shadows, and face glosses in a staggering range of trippy colors, from acid blue to mustard yellow to shimmering copper. Not surprisingly, David Bowie and his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, were reportedly fans. At the time, the factory couldn’t believe Hulanicki’s requested colors—but then her first brown lipstick sold out in 30 minutes. Two years later, Hulanicki further broadened the beauty boundaries when she debuted the first makeup range designed for women with darker skin. Needless to say, the rest is beauty history.

The post 6 Surprising Lessons From Makeup Artist Lisa Eldridge’s New Beauty Book appeared first on Vogue.

“11:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m.” Those were the opening words to the opening show of Seoul Fashion Week, in a city whose design scene is playing a growing part in the global fashion conversation—remember Chanel’s Paris-Seoul extravaganza last May?—and whose galactic Zaha Hadid–designed venue, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, can barely contain all the models, K-pop idols, and fans who turn up for the fun.

And fun it was at Fleamadonna, the Opening Ceremony– and Colette-stocked label whose designer, Jei Kim, conjures up a winsome creature each season. See model Hyoni Kang, striding down the runway after that late-morning alarm, in a green silk robe, culottes, and matching kerchief, as though she’d overslept and dashed out the door. Hair came slicked back and wet above faces bare but for a roughly drawn-on, bold red lip; the slapdash look paired well with irreverent clothes like a black ruffled Windbreaker and tulle miniskirt, and imaginative takes on flares. Here was the Fleamadonna Girls’ Club, as one powder-pink logo sweatshirt put it. Only septum ring–wearing, throwing-caution-to-the-wind wannabe Rihannas need apply.

Over at Cres. E Dim., designer Hongbum Kim set up a more conceptual affair with three ringmasters’ stands on the catwalk. “Cirque,” as he called the show, was inspired by an installation of the same name by Korean artists Bang & Lee that explored the splendor and sadness of circus life. Nearly all the models wore short black wigs with blunt bangs frayed at the ends and thick brown freckles drawn across the bridge of their nose. Many teetered on tall, stilt-like white flatforms. The opening looks were clownish in their proportions, and they only got stranger from there; slashed-and-tied tees and slip dresses with arm restraints felt vaguely institutional. The show culminated in an absurdist fantasy, with models carrying shopping baskets and toaster ovens with wheels. The spectacle of it all aside, there were really good clothes, most notably the bubblegum pink moto jacket that closed the show.

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The circus atmosphere at Cres. E Dim.

Photos: Str / Indigitalimages.com

In the neighboring show space, Kim Seo Ryeong’s menswear collection was a palate cleanser. Ahn Seung Joon opened the show in an exquisitely tailored suit, covered in a vibrant pink, abstract origami-style print, and Kim Won Jung closed it wearing a white linen flight suit and long black wool coat. All the men wore luxe lambskin pool slides—simple, butter soft, and oh-so-covetable.

The day ended on the rooftop deck of an electronics store in the crowded neighborhood of Euljiro. Designers Steve Jung and Yoni Pai wanted to hold their SJYP show in downtown Seoul, where the past and future come together. The collection’s cheeky starting point, Pai explained after the show, was the “naughty princess.” There were the SJYP denim pieces so beloved by fans, from a fit-and-flare skirt, slit in the front, to an oversize duster with a zip-front jean skirt. Then came the mischief: an off-the-shoulder denim dress with sheer red gloves past the elbow, a work shirt worn with a black satin bra top and bloomers, white sequined hot pants, leggings, and tops. A gray sweater with shoulder cutouts read “Feels Like Flying.” It felt like Seoul Fashion Week was off to a flying start, too.

The post Seoul Fashion Week, Day One: From Rihanna Wannabes at Fleamadonna to SJYP’s Denim Princesses appeared first on Vogue.

Seoul has changed, the story goes—transformed from an odd, outdated city to a pop-cultural mecca on the edge of the digital frontier. Globalization is the hero here, as locals will tell you: It was a younger generation of Seoulites, educated abroad, who absorbed wayguk techniques and brought them home, elevating the country’s tech, beauty, and now, fashion scenes. In turn, foreign interest in Seoul has renewed—and so the wheel turns.

This weekend’s shows highlighted that cultural exchange. Designer Jinwon Woo kicked things off Saturday morning at his streetwear label, Rocket X Lunch, by riffing on ’80s American co-ed style with colorful varsity jackets, plaid prep-school blazers, heavy blue eyeshadow, and shoulder-grazing hoops. At night, everyone headed to Mirarero Bridge for Jae Hyun Kim’s Lucky Chouette, where the number of international bloggers and buyers in the front row was telling. Airport runway lights turned on to signal the start of Kim’s Bon Voyage! collection, which took showgoers on a freewheeling trip around the world in bucket hats and satin jogger pants. Lessons in layering came via plunging rib-knit slip dresses with boho peasant blouses, and floral baby-doll skaters with silver Lurex tops—a fun, flirty outing.

Five years ago, designers Jinwoo Choi and Yeonjoo Koo launched J Koo in London, just after graduating from Central Saint Martins. Their Sunday morning show was highly polished: Some pieces, like a ruched white dress and black board shorts, came embellished with embroidered tape details; athletic silhouettes, like sports jerseys and hoodies, were rendered in delicate lace. A color-blocked black and white lace jacket on one male model spurred a well-deserved flurry of iPhone snaps.

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A pair of looks from J Koo

Photo: str / Indigitalimages.com

Charm’s is one of Seoul’s success stories; designer Yohan Kang makes simple, cheeky streetwear that has exploded on Instagram. For his Seoul Fashion Week debut, he crafted an ode to sports: Models carried Charm’s branded catcher’s mitts and baseball bats, football laces ran up and down skirts and sweatpants, and varsity letters dotted sweatshirts and bombers. Kang included a handful of non-Korean models in his show, and closed with a freestyle rap verse by Giriboy—that cultural interplay, again.

Past and future fused at Pushbutton, where designer Seunggun Park shifted easily from classic travel clothes—straw panama hats with textured white dresses, pool slides and socks—to more conceptual ideas, like a passage of yellow houndstooth terry cloth pieces. A sci-fi/anime influence came into play on the pink-haired Ahreum, who wore a strappy Fifth Element–style top with a languid silk flight suit. The closing look, worn by a fantastic model with a golden buzz cut, celebrated a more open-minded approach to beauty—a welcome statement here.

Sanghyuk Han turned out another round of perfectly tailored suits at Heich Es Heich, but they were almost forgotten in the aftermath of what followed. Halfway through the show, Darth Vader marched his way down the runway, followed by two Stormtroopers. Then came a meditation on stars of all sorts: From Star Wars, with Yoda brandishing a light saber on a jersey or a mini Darth embroidered on a hoodie sleeve, to “basketball star” jerseys to a large pointed star unfolding over a billowing minidress.

The post Seoul Fashion Week Weekend Recap: Darth Vader at Heich Es Heich and Pushbutton’s Anime Girl appeared first on Vogue.

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Photographed by Alex Finch

If the frenzied crowd around two rocker tee–wearing Chow Chows was any indication, some of the finest street style at Seoul Fashion Week could be found in truly unexpected places. So it was that the most charming looks came in pint-size proportions: on kids who came dressed to kill in baby Dr. Martens and Chicago Bulls bombers. Here in Seoul, parents ensure that their fashion roots run deep by finding miniature versions of street style staples—and who could argue with the impossibly adorable results? From a family dressed in matching tweed coats and felt caps to a tiny biker jacket and bitsy Adidas, these babies are living proof that good style can come at any age.

The post Meet the Tiny Street Style Stars at Seoul Fashion Week appeared first on Vogue.

As Seoul Fashion Week comes to a close tomorrow, international buyers and editors will soon leave the Korean fashion capital, surely inspired by the slick streetwear and striking street style spotted during the Spring 2016 shows. For those hoping to take a piece of the city’s fashion scene back home, there are countless department stores, concept shops, and boutiques to peruse—quite an undertaking for one day. Never fear: We’ve asked Soo Joo Park to share her insider’s guide to shopping in the city. Here, her seven go-to spots and tips on how to do Korean retail therapy like a top model—gonbae!

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A Land

Photo: Courtesy of A Land

A Land in Garosu-gil
A Land embodies Seoul’s trendy concept of a “select-shop.” There are many locations including one in Myeong-dong (an older shopping area north of the river), but my favorite is located in Garosu-gil, a long avenue in Gangnam filled with cafés and small local boutiques that has become beyond popular. Besides its central location, the shop itself is great—they carry mostly young and new, emerging designers, such as Low Classic, SJYP, and Fleamadonna. The price point is varied as well, from cute socks and cups starting around $7 to coats or handbags that hit mid-$500. I feel like I always end up walking out of this shop with a shopping bag and a receipt.

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Boon the Shop

Photo: Courtesy of Boon the Shop

Boon the Shop in Cheongdam
Nestled in the posh shopping district in Seoul, strolling through Boon the Shop feels more like a walk through a museum than a department store. It opened just last year and has floor upon floor of well-selected pieces from internationally renowned designers. I usually hop around this area, going from Boon to 10 Corso Como, which is just a few steps away and has a great café on the ground floor to rest your tired feet.

Pyeong Hwa Fashion Town in Dongdaemun
Pyeong Hwa is part of a large street market district directly across the street from Dongdaemun Design Plaza, where most of the Seoul Fashion Week shows are held. Along with the large snazzy, colorful signage, there’s a certain sense of Old World nostalgia mixed into this area. Here they have lots of little kiosks and shops that have hats, scarves, army uniforms, and silk bomber jackets—I got mine here last year.

Doota in Dongdaemun
Doota, short for Doosan Tower, is open 24 hours. It’s a high-rise building filled with trendy clothes and accessories for men, women, children—and pets! I hardly step foot into this place, because once you walk in, it’s like a maze that keeps going, and you lose track of time . . . like Vegas. But it’s an experience I recommend for first-timers, who can get a glimpse of the hype and fast-paced life in today’s Korean culture.

Gwangjang Market in Namdaemun
Gwangjang Market has heaps of vintage clothing, as well as miscellaneous handcrafts and traditional silk and textiles. It’s more of a flea market, but with patience and an acute thrifting radar, you can score some cool things for hardly any money.

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Maison des Bougies

Photo: Courtesy of Kitae Kang / @kitae_kang

Maison des Bougies in Itaewon
Maison des Bougies is a small candle boutique nestled inside a cool area called Itaewon. I love their candles, which are made from soy and and shea. Each fragrance takes its name from cities or neighborhoods, such as Daikanyama, Marais in Paris, and Brooklyn, New York, and of course, I love the nice packaging. From here, take a walk toward MoMo, a cool bar and café where you can hang out with unlimited drinks—they charge by the hour—and stop and check out the Steve J & Yoni P boutique, as well as cute miscellaneous ceramics and flower shops along the way.

SSG Food Market around Seoul
This gourmet market has restaurants and sells domestic and seasonal health-conscious food—for when you get tired of shopping for clothes and bags.

The post Inside Seoul’s Top 7 Shopping Haunts With Model Soo Joo Park appeared first on Vogue.

The final days of Seoul Fashion Week tend to lack some punch, as the heavy weekend crowds must return to work and school. This season, designers made up for any lack of buzz by doubling down on themes. The results? A day filled with sometimes curious, often compelling clothes—good fun, all in all.

Big Park is a family venture: Veteran designer Park Youn Soo launched the label three years ago with his daughters, Sooy and Jay Park, who both studied at universities in London. They began with the idea of a Lost Garden, or the slow destruction of untrammeled nature by urban development. Exaggerated branches and Surrealist plants—misshapen, as though they’d mutated from pollution—were appliquéd, patchworked, and printed on silk chiffon blouses and midi skirts; folkloric florals came embroidered on ruffles, and running up flares. There was velvet—black ribbons worn as chokers and hairbands—and dazzling emerald green prairie boots that resembled forest moss crossed with nuclear waste, in the best way.

Nature took a different tack at R.Shemiste, where denimhead designers Jiyeun Won and Jooho Lee were inspired by Katsushika Hokusai, the Edo-era ukiyo-e painter. Hair was left wet and stringy, as though models had emerged from the sea after being hit by The Great Wave Off Kanagawa; one even walked barefoot. White dragons embroidered on sleeves had threads left dangling, which clung to the garments like strands of seaweed, and there were keyholes on the backs of shirts that mimicked submarine windows. Blue and white tops with exaggerated cuffs had sleeves dripping in pearls—perhaps a subtle allusion to Hokusai’s infamous Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife? Whatever the reference, the result was striking.

Over at Jarret, Ji Youn Lee went all in on apples. There were bright red ones perched on chairs for snacking, and the letter A was stamped on basketweave slingback flats. Abstract hand drawings of apple halves, melting like Dalí clocks, covered sheer tops and crisp white blazers, while the word Apple was embroidered in funky script on sweatshirts and scrawled on ribbon tags that sprung from shoulders and hips. The standout interpretation, however, was the simplest: a two-piece set in candy-apple red.

Designer Bonnie Lee is best known for the inventive footwear she turns out at Suecomma Bonnie; the sophomore Fashion Week outing of Supercomma B, her unisex streetwear line, felt a great deal like Kanye West’s turn at Adidas, at least at first. To start, muted materials were punctuated by shocks of color in retro ’80s style. Halfway through the show, hip-hop power couple Tiger JK and Yoon Mirae took a turn down the runway, signaling a move toward oil-slick sequin skirts and shorts, and a dramatic blue sequin gown. A finale walk filled with Gundam and Transformers-style mecha shirts made for a surreal end to the day.

The post Seoul Fashion Week, Day Four: Drowned Dragons at R.Shemiste and a Kanye-Style Show at Supercomma B appeared first on Vogue.

From the specks of gold glitter on lids at Kye to clusters of freckles dotted on darkly at Cres. E Dim., the imaginative beauty proposals at Seoul Fashion Week have put us in a playful mood. A more compelling statement, however, has woven its way through the shows, one that points to a larger, high-impact trend: the rise of the rainbow hair girl, which has previously been slow to take hold in the Korean capital.

It’s a noteworthy shift in a city that has a traditionally gravitated toward collective beauty trends—a particular shade of widely embraced reddish-brown hair color, for instance—over individualistic, out-of-the-box hair and makeup ideas. The phenomenon first took root about two years ago, when, on a whim, It-girl Irene Kim decided to dye her bleached ends blue. “It was right before Seoul Fashion Week, and my agency was like, ‘Oh, my God, now you’re going to have no jobs, no one’s going to want you to walk,’ ” she recalls of the moment. That season, she was cast in about 18 shows—the most of any model.

Kim’s buoyant hair sparked a small revolution, and the Technicolor girls taking over the runways this season indicate a more open-minded and personal approach to beauty here, one that celebrates a unique spirit of self-expression. At Sunday’s Pushbutton show, dropped in among the lineup of dark-haired girls, there was Ahreum Ahn with her perpetually tousled dirty pink lengths and Suim Jang, who dipped her bleach blonde locks in the palest blue dye. When new model Lee Ji Hye appeared with a bright orange buzz, closing the show in a flowing lilac gown, guests in the front row (this writer included) were visibly moved.

For Kim, it has been a thrilling change of pace. “It really shows that the designers want to book the girls for their personality, not just to be a mannequin on the runway,” she said. And this cultural shift can be seen on the streets, as well, with pastel streaks and neon fringe spotted on smiling girls outside the shows.

“I like that the models get to have more of an identity by changing their hair color. It makes it more fun,” Kim adds. Or, put another way: “Rainbows make everyone happy—so why not!”

The post Behind the Rainbow Hair Takeover at Seoul Fashion Week appeared first on Vogue.

There are two sides to Seoul’s fashion scene today: one dominated by streetwear, the other belonging to impeccably tailored suits and separates that elevate the industry’s global standing. On Tuesday, designers worked hard to combine the two, a clever tactic that just might spell the future of Korean fashion.

Kathleen Kye is a hometown hero—the Central Saint Martins grad shows regularly in New York and counts Rihanna as a fan. For Spring, Kye examined hate—Internet hate, hate between friends—and whether it’s grown more powerful than love in modern society. Arrow charms pierced knit hats, and a twisting mass of cobras writhed on printed separates. A floor-length long-sleeved gown, color-blocked in silver, teal, pink, and gold Lurex, was exceptional.

Seoul-born Parsons grad Kang Dong Jun presented two collections at his Spring show: DBYD, his more casual streetwear label, and D.Gnak, the conceptual menswear line he launched nearly 10 years ago. DBYD went first with a live rap performance that riffed on Jay Z’s “Encore,” and a series of Public School–style unisex separates like white cotton culottes, split on the inner seams to create a wrap-skirt effect, and black collared jumpsuits hacked off at the knees. Then the room went dark, and a lone drummer struck a timpani twice. To the sound of Buddhist chanting, D.Gnak’s models walked out slowly, as though they were caught in a trance. Inspired by traditional Korean dress, the collection featured a modern jeogori and loose cropped pants with black phoenix and purple dragon embroideries. A silk robe coat in violet—a color once reserved for Korean royalty—flowed like water.

Low Classic was another of the week’s standouts. Here, designer Lee Myeong Sin offered a reflection on women’s bodies, with crisp white suits and slip dresses all covered in abstract ink sketches of female forms, and, on the flip side, cheeky tees printed with photos of women in bras and the word Boobs. Other whimsical touches like bolo ties enhanced the elegant clothes, proof that Seoul’s designers are finding ways to be both playful and polished.

The post Seoul Fashion Week: Haters at Kye and Freeing the Nipple at Low Classic appeared first on Vogue.

Walking around the streets of Seoul, you might notice a peculiar fashion phenomenon: couples, walking hand in hand, wearing matching outfits. Now, we’re not just talking about coordinating colors or wearing simple jeans and tees—couples fashion is a full-on thing here in Seoul, and only twin Air Jordans, identical camel coats, and his-and-hers Huf caps will do. The trend first appeared a few years ago—most notably on popular K-dramas like Secret Garden—but has truly taken off in the past year or so. Some say it has its roots in Korea’s selca-loving, street style–savvy culture, while others say it’s merely a playful way to show off your deep and loving bond (cue the aww’s). Just think of it as a more fashion-forward version of putting a ring on it, and with international designers like Jonathan Anderson and Alessandro Michele blurring the lines between their men’s and women’s lines, we see a lot of potential for this trend to hit stateside—fingers crossed.

The post Couples Street Style at Seoul Fashion Week: First Comes Love, Then Comes Twinning appeared first on Vogue.

The final day of Seoul Fashion Week did a fine job of distilling the week’s central themes. First came S=YZ from YZ Song, a London College of Fashion grad who cut her teeth at Jonathan Saunders and Alexander McQueen. The sequins that ruled the collections materialized here on sweatshirts, jogger pants, and sweaters emblazoned with the words “Vie” and “Live,” a certain joie de vivre built right in. Three sheer black collared separates, embroidered with abstract yellow shapes, were the line’s standouts.

At Kaal E.Suktae, designer Lee Suk Tae expanded upon the capsule collection he showed in New York this season through Concept Korea. The title was Dust to Dust, inspired by the Daniel 2 Bible verse on King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. So came a series of intricately layered skirts and tops sprouting tiered pleats and ruffles in funereal blacks. Gradually, the collection shifted to pure white—the Korean mourning color—with a few colorful pieces mixed in, including a turquoise silk trench. But it was the final series of dust-colored jackets and blazers laser-cut with Korean writing—small vertical characters that one might find on an old tombstone—that made the biggest impact.

It was a stellar week for menswear, not least of all at Ordinary People, where cream-color jackets were paired with shorts or loose trousers and platform pool slides. The clothes looked equally good on women—for proof, one need only see the female model channeling Katharine Hepburn in a billowing pin-striped twinset.

The post Seoul Fashion Week: S=YZ, Kaal E.Suktae, and More appeared first on Vogue.

The hanbok is a curious dress. Perhaps better known as Korean traditional costume, it consists of a chima—an empire-waist skirt with billowing ball gown proportions—and a jeogori, or cropped cross-collar jacket, made from sheer chiffonlike silk and tied shut with a single bow. Unlike the kimono or cheongsam, the hanbok has remained relatively obscure—you don’t see many in the West. You don’t see many in Seoul either, for that matter: It fell out of favor as the city rapidly modernized, or so the story goes.

But these things change. In May, when Karl Lagerfeld chose to present Chanel’s Resort collection in Seoul, model Ji Hye Park closed the show in a breathtaking peach and pale pink dress with an airy skirt—the hanbok, translated lovingly into a red carpet–worthy gown. At the recent Paris Fashion Week, Phil Oh trained his lens on two girls in violet hanboks, carrying mini Céline totes along the Champs-Élysées. On the streets from Gangbok to Gangnam, you’ll see them now, and at Seoul Fashion Week, packs of girls in hanboks caused a photographic frenzy each time they appeared. It’s official: The hanbok is back, and making a major impact on the city’s fashion scene. But what exactly sparked this sudden revival?

“In 2014, there was this boom, and it just became a trend,” explains Lee Jiyeon at Dongdaemun Design Plaza with her friend, Kim Garyung. The two met at a hanbok party at Duksung, a private women’s university in northern Seoul. “There are so many hanbok parties at universities,” Jiyeon says. “Many university students these days want to wear hanbok and increase hanbok culture—if you search the hashtag ‘hanbok’ on Instagram, you will see so many people wearing it.”

Garyung, 16, who joined the club last year, wears a hanbok three times a week; today, she’s wearing a galactic skirt, printed with pale blue moons and milky white stars. “I bought the fabric at Dongdaemun Market, and then I took it to Gwangjang Market to customize it,” she says. “A lot of people do that now.” Meanwhile, Jiyeon, 26, who first dove into the scene two years ago, wears a burgundy jacket and sheer gray chiffon skirt that skims the ground as she walks. “I wear a hanbok every day,” she says. “It’s pretty, and you can wear it so fashionably.” On other days, Jiyeon wears modern hanboks—fetching wrap dresses and skirts—which she says have played a large part in boosting the garment’s renewed presence.

We head to Jeonju, an ancient city south of Seoul, where designer Hwang Yi-seul, 28, crafts neo-hanboks at Leesle: A navy blue coatdress with a Y-shaped white collar and slight side knot, paired with skinny jeans, and denim and white wrap shirts, cut simply to hug the shoulders. “I focus on designing clothes that blend in,” Yi-seul says. “I don’t want to put the traditional elements up front, but rather keep them subtle.”

Though she first started making hanboks nine years ago, the self-taught designer launched Leesle just last August, after seeing demand rise. “Korea has more than 5,000 years of its own history and clothing traditions, but people treat hanbok like clothes reserved only for formal occasions,” Yi-seul explains. According to her, the traditional dress now makes up only 1 percent of the country’s fashion industry. “I thought that if it continues this way, then our unique traditions will disappear,” she says. “That’s why I started to make modern hanboks, so that more people could see their beauty and value.”

Initially inspired by Goong, a popular manhwa or graphic novel from the early aughts, classic motifs become wearable in Yi-seul’s hands, rendered in simple cottons and linens, and leather and lace. “The number of clothes we are selling is proof of how many people are wearing hanboks again,” she says—1,000 pieces each month to 20-something women and teens, like Jiyeon and Garyung. Back in Seoul, Jiyeon sums it up: “Today people want to dress to impress themselves,” she says, smiling, “and hanboks are good for that.”

The post The Story Behind Seoul’s Latest Street Style Staple appeared first on Vogue.

How do you describe a model like Hoyeon Jung? Take Hanne Gaby Odiele’s flair for street style, add the goofy selfie antics of Cara Delevingne, and you have one of Seoul’s top modeling talents, a redheaded stunner who—we’re calling it now—will be the next Korean girl to make a splash stateside.

On the runway at Charm’s last Sunday—one of 19 shows she walked this Seoul Fashion Week—you could see the difference. Where other models plodded on with a serious stare, Jung stopped, gave a cheeky smile and head flip, before turning smoothly to saunter back down the catwalk. On the street, it’s the same: Whether she’s wearing a simple black tank and corduroy mini or dressed in a colorful, statement-making Fendi fur top, she stops photographers and fans—more than 221,000 on Instagram—in their tracks with a wry grin or canny leap through the air.

Born and raised in Myeonmok-dong, a small neighborhood on the outskirts of Seoul, Jung, 22, started modeling nearly six years ago. “I thought to myself, What should I do for a living so that I can keep feeding myself?’” she says, “and I thought, Oh, I’m tall, so why not give modeling a try?” After years of working hard on her own, interviewing at castings and agencies, she cold-called ESteem Models in 2012, came in for a meeting, and was signed on the spot. Not long after that, she competed in Korea’s Next Top Model and placed second that season.

As we chat over iced Americanos and tea, Jung gestures wildly and laughs loudly—this is a girl with magnetic charm, and it’s clear why Seoul’s street style photographers all clamor to shoot her. “If I happily smile and play around and laugh ‘ha-ha, hoo-hoo, yay,’ laughing like that, I think the photo looks cooler,” she says, smiling. “If I just stand there like this”—she poses seriously—“like ‘Oh, I’m a model,’ well, I don’t think that’s what it means to be a model at all. If I show some of my personality in the photos, it looks better, don’t you think?”

As for her personal style, it’s a well-edited mix of pieces that exemplifies Seoul’s current yen for youthful street fashion: A purple patterned LovLov slip dress over black cropped flares and Dr. Marten’s loafers; a shredded SJYP jean jacket with Tod’s boots. Today she’s wearing a LovLov striped robe coat and black turtleneck with wide-leg pants and Reeboks. “My signature is denim, boxy denim jackets,” she says. “I love wide and long pieces, but my agency hates it when I wear wide pants because they drown me.” And where does a Seoul street style star go shopping? Garosu-gil, of course, the tree-lined street fashion mecca, where designers like Low Classic and SJYP have stand-alone boutiques, and where Jung visits twice a month to find new rings and bangles from Monday Edition and boot-cut flares. “Ooh,” she says, sighing, “I love Lemaire, too, you know from the Uniqlo collaboration? It’s so, so my style”—she claps loudly—“bravo!”

Up next, a trip to New York in November, followed by meetings with casting agents in her first big push to go global. “Next year I want to go to New York, whether I’m modeling there or not,” Jung says. “These days, it’s not enough for models to just do shows and photo shoots anyway, you have to be making videos and finding ways to create other content—that’s what I think.” We’d say she has the right idea, and New Yorkers should certainly take note—this is one face you’ll be seeing around town soon.

The post Meet Hoyeon Jung, Seoul Street Style Star and Korea’s Next Top Model appeared first on Vogue.

On a small, crooked side street in Seoul, just off of Cheongdam’s main drag, there is a sleek black jewel box of a salon, where, as the frenzy of Seoul Fashion Week finally begins to ebb, the city’s top nail artist remains hard at work. Park Eun Kyung, the 33-year old maverick whose Unistella by E.K. Lab is home base for boundary-breaking manicures, has taken Instagram by storm of late.

Those shattered glass nails that went viral last week? That was Park. And those experimental designs were only the beginning. “The nails I do are uniquely designed, but simple and minimalist,” says Park, seated on a velvet couch inside her one-year-old space on a recent Friday as she speaks about her impactful but wearable approach to nail art.

While Keith Ape’s K-rap booms in the background, she walks over to the salon’s front table, where a selection of her acrylic and gel designs are proudly displayed: Snoopy and Woodstock throwing their heads back in laughter, a set of golden arches and a Big Mac. “I draw them all myself,” she says of doodling a handful of different ideas each week, while experimenting with new mediums (look for Haribo jellies next).

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Photographed by Alex Finch

That’s right: Those shattered glass nails are a special effect done with stickers, now sold at Aritaum, layered one over the other to create a textured glass effect so hyperrealistic that Internet rumors have swirled about the potential dangers of breaking them. Worn by Park’s famous fans—models like Irene Kim and Song Kyung Ah, K-pop stars like Lee Hyori—they went viral online, and the rest is nail art history.

Twice a year, her most inventive work shines at Seoul Fashion Week, too: At Steve J & Yoni P’s Spring show last week, she created a half-cut nail with a clear top and cherry red base. “Here,” she says, pointing at the cuticle rim, “you could put a bright color or a fun design, like a little pocketball drawing. That’s what I’ve been thinking about.” Another favorite of Park’s is her negative-space nail: bold pops of color with clear negative space at the tip or center, filled out in abstract shapes.

What’s up next for Park? “I think the idea of GIFs”—GIFs!—“are fun,” she says with a laugh of setting out in search of a special effect that would create a moving animation on the nail. “It sounds difficult, but whatever I want to try, I find a way.” Hello, Internet—prepare to be broken.

The post Meet the Korean Nail Artist Behind the Shattered Glass Manicure Trend appeared first on Vogue.

At Seoul Fashion Week, it’s not uncommon to see businessmen in three-piece suits craning over crowds to snap iPhone photos of models, or girls skipping school to catch a glimpse of—and beg for selfies with—their favorite idols. So when Seung Joon Ahn enters Dongdaemun Design Plaza’s Juan Valdez Café, the hushed, excited whispers are a welcome relief from what would otherwise be ear-shattering screams.

Ahn, 20, sits down to meet me, squeezing his 6-foot-2-inch frame into one of the coffee shop’s small chairs. He’s come straight from walking in a pinstriped shorts suit and Nikes at Ordinary People—his last show of 16—but has changed into his typical streetwear uniform: a slick navy Supreme bomber, American Apparel short-sleeved turtleneck, A.P.C. pants, and Wtaps loafers. “I like to wear them a little big,” Ahn says sheepishly, showing me the wiggle room left by the heels, “so that they’re easy to slip on and off.” No surprise, with all the fittings and changes he’s had to squeeze in for Fashion Week’s Spring 2016 season.

And what a season it was. Whether in a bright berry blue suit at SJYP or an abstract pink origami one at Kim Seo Ryong, Ahn was a total breakout star, one of the few male models asked to walk a number of women’s shows, too. His turn at Kim Seo Ryong was particularly special. “That was my first time opening a show, and it was Kim Seo Ryong,” he says, smiling. “That was a big moment for me.”

Discovered by ESteem Models a year and a half ago—one agent saw his photo and instantly snapped him up—Ahn now has three seasons under his belt. Each one keeps him racing between DDP and Seongdong, where he’s lived all his life—sleeping about five hours a day and catching micro-naps in the hair and makeup chair. At night, when he can, he’ll sneak off to Seoul Forest park to practice skateboarding—all that Supreme and Stüssy he wears isn’t just for show, you know. “I want to learn to do flips and techniques. I’m not quite good enough yet,” he says, “but I’m practicing a lot.” Surely, those new skater moves will only add to his boyish appeal—he has more than 40,000 Instagram fans and counting.

Now that Fashion Week has finally ended, what does Ahn have planned? “I’m moving!” he says. “It’s the first time I’ll have my own room, so I’ve been dreaming about how to decorate it, new furniture to buy, that sort of thing.” He also plans to travel to Europe soon, first to visit (paragliding in Switzerland is on his agenda) and later, ideally, to work (walking at Acne Studios is one of his dreams). “A lot of Korean male models here have been getting bigger and going to Milan, which is great,” he says. “I hope I can, too.” We have no doubt he will.

The post Why Model Seung Joon Ahn Was the Breakout Star of Seoul Fashion Week appeared first on Vogue.

For years, travelers to Jamaica largely fell into two categories: couples and honeymooners confined to their all-inclusive resorts or cruise-boat tourists, unloading at Montego Bay or Ocho Rios to spend a few hours browsing a coffee plantation or two. But now intrepid out-of-towners are looking past that artifice to find an island with an impossibly rich culture it is eager to share. Here, your guide to five distinct regions in the land of one love.

OCHO RIOS

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GoldenEye

Photo: Courtesy of Island Outpost

GoldenEye
Cruise 20 minutes east from Ocho Rios, along the island’s verdant north coast, to reach GoldenEye, a 52-acre inn on Oracabessa Bay. Of the 12 villas dotting the blue lagoon, the Fleming Villa, where Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels, remains the star: three spacious bedrooms shaded by banyan trees and perched over a white-sand cove, where a hand-dyed batik robe and emerald green claw-foot tub await on the stone deck.
Oracabessa Bay, St. Mary; 876.622.9007

Scotch on the Rocks
For a more secluded spot, Scotch on the Rocks is a five-bedroom villa on Sandy Bay, once owned by a Scottish lord (hence the name), now firmly in the hands of the Red Stripe family. In a sky blue colonial-style house, a local chef (one of your private staff of four) will personally devise a week’s worth of meals: lobster thermidor with fried plantains and pepperpot soup with homemade bread, served on a white pillared seaside veranda.
876.469.4828

Miss T’s Kitchen
Head to Miss T’s Kitchen just off Ocho’s main street for home-style Jamaican dishes, served to old-time reggae. Opened in 2009 by Anna-Kay Tomlinson, the restaurant and its three-person team takes locally sourced ingredients and gives them a twist: goat curry in a roti wrap, with plantain strips and Jamaican slaw, for one, or fresh fish cooked five ways. The dedicated vegan hut is a must for its excellent veggie burgers, made from ground vegetables with garlic and freshly picked basil.
65 Main Street; 876.795.0099

The Gazebo at GoldenEye
For a breezy night out, the Gazebo at GoldenEye provides the ideal setting, tucked into the branches of a large banyan tree. Take a seat indoors, beneath the white gable roof, or head to the rough-hewn tables and low wooden stools on deck for a dark rum and pineapple juice cocktail, garnished with lime. As the sun sets over Low Cay Beach, those alfresco seats become the best in the house.
Oracabessa Bay, St. Mary; 876.622.9007

NyamJam Festival
Next month, the two-day NyamJam Festival will celebrate Jamaica’s food and music scene with a series of events: a four-course feast, hosted by Island Outpost founder Chris Blackwell and chef Mario Batali at GoldenEye’s Fleming Villa, with a ska and reggae concert by Ernest Ranglin; an open-air market packed with booths from local chefs and artisans; and a five-course meal headlined by Batali and the Spotted Pig’s April Bloomfield, with ingredients sourced from Blackwell’s own 2,500-acre farm.

NEGRIL

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Rockhouse

Photo: Courtesy of Rockhouse

Rockhouse
Resting on top of Negril’s famous limestone cliffs, Rockhouse is one of the island’s few true boutique hotels. Though there are 34 timber and thatch-roofed cottages with wraparound terraces set across eight acres of tropical gardens, the premium villas are best for their westward-facing views of the Caribbean sunset. Tour the property’s organic farm, from where the juice bar sources its callaloo, pak choy, and Jamaican beet, then book a day at the bathing pavilion, where body scrubs with local brown sugar, honey, and Blue Mountain coffee are done cliffside.
West End Road; 876.957.4373

3 Dives 
For a taste of Negril’s local food scene, head to 3 Dives jerk center, a family-owned spot on the West End with canvas-topped tables covered by wooden roofs on stilts. Here the jerk chicken comes with a homemade granny sauce, while the grilled lobster comes doused in garlic butter, with callaloo and rice and peas on the side. There’s a bonfire each night, and live music every Tuesday.
876.782.9990

Floyd’s Pelican Bar
Floyd’s Pelican Bar is a driftwood bar on coconut trunk stilts, covered in palm fronds and kitschy decor—flags and license plates from around the world, brought by visitors. Sitting atop a sandbar in Parottee Bay, there is no easy way to reach it. Instead, local fisherman will tow you 20 minutes out for a few dollars. Once there, order a Red Stripe at the bar, or the house cocktail—rum, ginger beer, lime juice, sugar—and take it into the waist-deep water, as stingrays and pelicans float nearby.

The Caves
On cliffs overlooking Negril’s West End lies The Caves, whose 12 cozy A-frame cottages are hewn from natural wood and stone. There’s the Blackwell Rum Bar to visit, of course, but if you come for any reason, let it be the cliff jumping: With numerous platforms chipped into the edges, guests can leap into the crystal-blue waters from a range of heights, tumbling past the volcanic walls embedded with ancient marine fossils. After hitting the ocean, feel free to explore the vivid coral reef, where dwarf tube sponges and tropical fish abound.
144 One Love Drive; 876.957.0270

PORT ANTONIO

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Kanopi House

Photo: Douglas Lyle Thompson

Kanopi House
In a grove of banyan trees, some 100 feet tall, Kanopi House is the island’s first true eco-lodge, where magenta ginger lilies flower freely and fabrics are woven from Jamaican banana leaves. No trees were cut here—in fact, full trunks spring through the floorboards of some tree houses. Ask the kitchen to pack a picnic basket with grilled ackee, green bananas, and breadfruit, and take it to Blue Lagoon cove, where parrotfish and blue tangs swim along the nearby coral reef.
876.632.3213

Goblin Hill Villas
Nestled on 12 acres of San San Bay, Goblin Hill Villas offers an intimate experience defined by the locals who live there. There’s the Tree Bar, carved into an ancient ficus, where hanging lights dangle down like vines, and a hammock strung by an almond tree overlooks the water. Each villa comes staffed with a housekeeper, who will prepare a week’s worth of local fare: baked plantains, saltfish, and homemade coconut ice cream, for starters.
Fairfield Road, San San; 876.993.7443

Mille Fleurs
Dine fine and alfresco at Mille Fleurs at Hotel Mockingbird Hill, a Port Antonio resort overlooking Frenchman’s Cove beach. Modern Caribbean fusion is served here, and what produce is not sourced from the on-site vegetable garden comes from local community plots. The three-course dinner menu changes daily—brochettes of melon with smoked marlin, grilled fillet topped with bananas—and vegans, too, can eat well with dairy-free chocolate sauce and breadfruit flour pancakes.
876.993.7134

Woody’s Low Bridge Place
For good, cheap authentic eats, try Woody’s Low Bridge Place, a roadside shack run by Cherry Cousins and Papa Woody, a husband-and-wife team based on the north coast. Beneath a corrugated tin roof, surrounded by signs with Jamaican bon mots, you’ll find the island’s best veggie burgers, made with callaloo served on soft sesame seed buns with tomatoes and green pepper, plus a mug of homemade ginger beer.
876.993.7888

The Bar at Jamaica Palace Hotel
The Jamaica Palace Hotel is an old-school, colonial-style fixture with a Deco foyer and lobby. By contrast, the patio bar is a sleek modernist spot with graphic black-and-white marble checkerboard floors and a swimming pool kitschily shaped like the island of Jamaica. Grab a Jamaican rum cocktail, spiked with ginger, and take a seat at one of the black wrought-iron tables, beneath a white pool umbrella, with views of the sea.
Williamsfield, A4; 876.957.3838

Musgrave Market
Local flavors reign at Musgrave Market, an open-air flea on West Street between Port Antonio Square and Main Square, where fruits and vegetables grown nearby and spices are for sale by the pinch or pound. You’ll find farmers selling freshly halved pineapples and net bags of mangos in wooden shacks, as well as colorful dresses, shoes, and wooden trinkets, whittled by Port Antonio’s artisans.

Tiamo Spa Villas
Book the ultimate spacation at Tiamo, a nine-acre property recently purchased by Red Rooster restaurateur Andrew Chapman. Though renovations are forthcoming, the current layout is plenty lovely: four villas with ocean views, and a seaside spa, where you can lie on a marble slab table while hot-water jets pour down your back. After a long soak in the steam room, walk back through the hibiscus garden, surrounded by vibrant flowers in full bloom.
876.993.7745

TREASURE BEACH

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Floyd’s Pelican Bar

Photo: Courtesy of Pelican Bar

Jakes
Eclecticism is the order of the day at Jakes hotel in Treasure Beach. Each room is individually designed and filled with quirky details—bright blue stone villas dotted with coral mosaic octopuses, stained-glass cutouts, claw-foot bathtubs on stone patios. For the hotel’s best, book Itopia, a 17th-century great house set back in the woods with a mural by Joni Mitchell on one wall, a quiet reflecting pond out back, and silence all around.
Calabash Bay; 877.526.2428

Little Ochie
You’ll find only truly traditional Jamaican cuisine at Little Ochie in Alligator Pond, including roasted yams and boiled and pepper shrimp, thrown in an iron skillet and cooked over a pimento-wood fire. Chef Evrol Christian has been cooking from this lumber-and-thatched-roof bungalow since 1989. Start with a mug of warm fish tea—more of a broth, really—followed by a plate of steamed snapper, marinated with onions, hot scotch bonnet peppers, and vinegar.
Alligator Pond, Manchester; 876.852.6430

Jack Sprat
Back at Jakes, Jack Sprat is your nighttime spot, where reggae records and old Red Stripe ads line the walls. Order a local brew and head outdoors, where round lanterns hang from the trees and rocksteady music plays. Later, when hunger strikes, order a lobster-and-jerk-sausage-topped pizza or a slice of key lime pie to share.
Calabash Bay, Treasure Beach; 877.526.2428

Tour the Black River
A born and bred Treasure Beacher, Captain Dennis has been trawling the seas around his home village for more than 20 years. Book a day tour up the Black River, where crocodiles sleep beneath mangrove trees, followed by a stop at Floyd’s Pelican Bar. Dennis might grab a catch out at sea and, if you’re lucky, grill it over an open fire on a white-sand beach for a late lunch.

KINGSTON

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Strawberry Hill

Photo: Courtesy of Strawberry Hill

Strawberry Hill
High in the Blue Mountains above Kingston, Strawberry Hill’s 12 cottages are built into the basin’s dips and valleys and decorated post-plantation style: four-poster beds with hand-carved wood frames, sheer drapes hung from the canopies. Spend your days by the infinity pool with a rum punch from the wood-paneled bar and striking views of the mountains, followed by New Jamaican cuisine at the hotel’s restaurant: Cassava flatbread, and omelette aux fines herbs with callaloo and thyme à la minute.
New Castle Road B1, St. Andrew; 800.232.4972

The Courtleigh 
For closer proximity to Kingston’s burgeoning live reggae scene, die-hard reggae fans might opt for the no-frills but centrally located Courtleigh, which offers a pool, a poolside bar, a fruit-heavy morning buffet, and easy access to the new live venues popping up all over the city.
85 Knutsford Boulevard; 876.929.9000

Gloria’s
On the outer tip of Port Royal, Gloria’s is known among locals for having some of the island’s best seafood: brown stewed fish, plucked from the waters in sight, served with fried bammy and potato pudding for dessert. Indoors, the setting can get a bit crowded, thanks to the families who come for their weekly suppers, so take your food to go and eat it portside.
5 Queen Street; 876.967.8220

Scotchies Jerk Center
Food may take the forefront at Scotchies Jerk Center in Kingston—jerk chicken, of course, cooked over fresh pimento and sweetwood logs, then marinated with hot Scotch bonnet peppers and allspice berries—but this particular spot, with its thatched roof bar and wooden tables under tin tent tops, is a fantastic place to grab a Red Stripe and kick back by the water.
2 Chelsea Avenue; 876.906.0602

56 Hope Road
Many travelers come to Jamaica to meet its first son. 56 Hope Road is the 19th-century home where Bob Marley spent his last years, and was transformed into a museum by his wife, Rita. It offers a loving look back at Marley’s life and career: his 1977 Series III Land Rover, completely restored, a room lined with Marley’s gold records, a café that serves Marley coffee, and the shaded spot where he used to write songs.
56 Hope Roadinute; 876.630.1588

Tuff Gong
Tuff Gong, the legendary record label founded by the Marley family, offers a 50-minute, behind-the-scenes tour of its current recording space: from a walk through the rehearsal room, where one of Bob’s grand pianos still stands, to the recording space where artists like Shaggy, Popcaan, and Ziggy Marley have booked time. The highlight? A walk through the herbal garden, where Rastafarian plants are grown and ingestion suggestions offered.
220 Marcus Drive, Kingston 11; 876.630.1588

Roots of Roots Tour
Dive deep into the roots of Jamaica’s profound music scene with Island Outpost’s Root of Roots Tour. For more than four hours, a personal tour guide will take you through the country’s history, from the traditional music of the Taino Indians to ska to rocksteady to reggae to today’s dancehall scene. To go even further, add a trip to the Alpha Boys’ School, where Kingston’s next generation of musicians are honing their skills.
inside@islandoutpost.com

Find Out More About Reggae’s Revival

The post Vogue’s Guide to Jamaica: The Best of Ocho Rios, Negril, Port Antonio, Treasure Beach, and Kingston appeared first on Vogue.

As we sifted through the best collections and street style moments from last week’s Seoul shows, one final thought came back to us again and again: From the nattily dressed men hanging around Dongdaemun Design Plaza to the surprise appearance of Darth Vader on the Heich es Heich runway, it was menswear that ruled at Seoul Fashion Week and, of course, the stylish men who took over the city.

Look closely and you’ll see it all around Seoul: Two men in long black wool overcoats, their jeans double-cuffed; camel dusters layered over gray pinstripes; black speckled blazers with velveteen pants. Here, shoulders were structured, pants perfectly hemmed—the sartorial A game was brought, as it always is, by men throughout Gangbuk and Gangnam. Two of the week’s finest collections, too, came from menswear designers: First at Kim Seo Ryong, a soulful reflection resulted in pure, impeccably crafted clothes, like a baby blue starched gingham suit with dove gray slides. Then at D.Gnak, a moving union of traditional Korean costume and meticulous British tailoring was on offer, from a purple linen shrug embroidered with dragons to a cropped gray pantsuit slit at the kneecaps.

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Photographed by Alex Finch

Why is it, exactly, that Seoul’s menswear excels? According to Dong-Jun Kang, D.Gnak’s creative director and a Parsons School of Design grad, it started in the late ’90s and early aughts, when a sudden boom in the field pushed designers to work harder, honing their garment craftsmanship and pushing in a fashion-forward direction in order to compete with one another. “Compared to other countries, there are many more menswear designers in Korea, as many as there are in womenswear,” he explains. Consider the number of now-high-ranking designers who specifically studied men’s tailoring abroad—Steve Jung of SJYP and the J Koo duo acquired their degrees at Central Saint Martins. Though they went on to apply those skills to frothy dresses and skirts as well, it was menswear that was in high demand.

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From left: Kim Seo Ryong Spring 2016 ready-to-wear, D.Gnak Spring 2016 ready-to-wear, Heich Es Heich Spring 2016 ready-to-wear

Photo: Str / Indigitalimages.com; Courtesy of D.Gnak; Str / Indigitalimages.com

Model Donsung Lee, who spent the week walking such shows as R.Shemiste and Blindness, thinks it has to do with the blank slate Seoul’s designers are given. “Modern Korean menswear has no traditions or expectations to uphold,” he says, pointing to the classic country club prep of Ralph Lauren in the U.S., say, or the bespoke tailoring codes of London’s Savile Row. “That means it’s not held back, in a good way.” And it’s true that brands can be a bit more free to experiment, tending toward androgyny: On the unisex floor at the A Land concept shop in Garosu-gil, for example, you’ll find front- and back-slit corduroy skirts by 87MM that appeal to all genders. Over at Heich Es Heich, designer Sanghyuk Han tells me that this is the house that social media has wrought. “Through the rise of the Internet and social networks in Seoul, a young generation of Korean guys developed the need and desire to dress to impress,” he says. “Over time, their expectations for designs that can do that have been raised, so fashion has to be updated quickly, and the number of designers who cater to that is growing rapidly.”

It makes sense: Here in Seoul, men actually engage with fashion, so their style choices are given equal weight. Just look to the couples fashion trend that has swept the city’s street style scene: men and women in matching white logo lab coats, for instance, or coordinating HUF baseball caps and identical Air Jordans. Approaching the many twinning pairs around DDP last week, I asked them who had first proposed their well-studied ensembles: Eight times out of 10, it was the man. “It’s just fun,” one told me. “It makes a cool style statement.” Can you imagine those words coming from your average guy stateside? Not now, perhaps, but maybe soon, as Seoul fashion continues to go global—for now, we’ll be keeping an eye on what the men are wearing.

The post How Seoul Became a Mecca for Menswear appeared first on Vogue.

“Please hold still,” one woman tells me, lifting a still-smoking match to my eyes. Nearby, another begins sharpening a small pink-handled knife that will slice the tops and sides off my brows. To my left, a man with immaculate bleach-blond hair sits, looking bored, listlessly thumbing through his iPhone, as three attendants swab his face with no less than 10 serums, emulsions, and creams. But no matter—he’ll be back here tomorrow to do it all over again.

Welcome to the world of K-pop beauty, where it takes three hours to apply your everyday face. Yes, three hours—or so I’m told when I call up reception at Jennyhouse, which has quickly become the go-to salon for Korean celebs since it opened in 2002. These days, of course, it’s also a destination for fans who would love to look just like their idols—including Chinese couples who fly here to get K-styled for wedding photos. And so, out of curiosity, I, too, book an appointment for a complete hallyu star makeover on a recent trip to Seoul.

There are now three Jennyhouse locations in Cheongdam, the city’s most rarefied neighborhood, but I head to Olive, a two-story violet town house that’s said to draw the most stars (that’s no lie, by the way—on a recent Friday, I sat next to Jessi, the Lucky J rapper, and VIXX boy-band members Hyuk and Ravi). Though K-pop is known for its wild, over-the-top visuals, makeup artist Hee Jeong Lee tells me that these days her idol clients and their fans are requesting a more pared-down face.

“We used to do a heavier, more made-up aesthetic, but now when people come to our shop and ask for the Korean style, it’s more of a natural look,” she says, pointing to two of her clients, actresses Lee Min-jung and Song Ji-hyo, whose faces are most often requested by guests. Paging through hairstylist Jongsoo Lim’s portfolio, it’s clear that a more laid-back style is also the key to a K-pop mane. “Right now, it’s about a light wave instead of over-the-top glamour,” he says. “Over the past four or five years, we’ve moved toward the kind of look you could do yourself at home.”

So what does it take to get that not-quite-natural look? Anywhere from two to five hours—still. For hallyu stars, a flawless complexion comes first and foremost. So we begin with a thorough double cleansing with oil and cream face washes, followed by 20 minutes of layering moisturizers: first toner, then essence, then serum, then emulsion, then cream, then more emulsion, and so on, swept and dotted lightly across the face with plush sponges and cotton pads. Vaseline is smothered on my lips, then Lee takes a dollop of heavy sun cream and emulsion, mixed together on the back of the hand with a palette knife, and swabs it directly onto my cheeks. Three dots of highlighter go under each eye, then a base, more emulsion—“It helps create a smooth texture”—and a thick coat of foundation. During 10 minutes of vigorous concealing (of stray spots, freckles, dark circles, and lines I never knew I had), I remember how, the day before, a stranger told me I had great skin—apparently not, by K-pop standards.

The secret here, I learn, is extreme layering: Lashes are curled twice with that smoking match, then topped with individual falsies and curled again with mascara. Light dustings of contour are topped off with emulsion, then dusted a second and third time. The eyeliner alone takes about 15 minutes: pencil, liquid, and gel, painstakingly shaped into an angular black wing. But once I reach Lim’s hair station, things move faster. I spend only 40 minutes in the chair, moving through rapid curling, texturizing at the root with a round brush, and ample sprays of Elnett. Though I’d originally suggested a wild updo or crazy cut, this would, I learn, be antithetical to the idol way. “You want to look fresh and pretty,” Lim chides as he sweeps my hair into a long ponytail with a hint of volume.

After carefully placing and re-placing a single wavy curl that falls by my face, we’re done—et voilà! Though up close I look strange and too heavily made up, in the soft glow of the salon’s incandescent lights, I feel K-pop pretty. Plus, as my own family tells me later that day, “You’ve never looked more Korean.” As far as K-styling goes, I’d call that an unqualified success.

The post What’s the Secret to K-Pop Beauty? One Vogue Editor Gets a Hallyu Star Makeover in Seoul appeared first on Vogue.

From Bella Hadid and Soo Joo Park’s sheet mask selfies on Instagram to the apple-shaped TonyMoly hand cream that flies off shelves at the company’s newly opened New York flagship, the cult of Korean beauty keeps growing wherever you look. And though many of its cute and quirky products can now be found stateside, Seoul remains one step ahead, rapidly churning out the highly innovative creations we’ll be talking about six months from now.

So it was that on a recent trip to Seoul, we decided to scour the city’s best beauty haunts and unearth the current K-beauty trends—and what a scouring it was. “In Seoul, beauty stores are everywhere you turn,” explains Charlotte Cho of Soko Glam, an online shop dedicated to curating the best of Korean skincare, makeup, and more. “They’re underground in subways and on every street corner—sometimes the same brand’s shop is just a few feet away from another!” Thanks to a few tips from Cho, we headed off through the narrow alleys of Myeong-dong, chockablock with neon signage and boutiques, and on to the lovely ginkgo-lined street of Garosu-gil. From Korean drugstore beauty at Olive Young to the tri-level Skinfood concept shop, above, here are 20 of the most eye-catching products you’ll find on Seoul shelves right now.

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The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show returns to New York next week, with its legendary models getting into the spirit by taking the show’s signature bombshell hair to the street for an early test-drive. There’s first-timer Gigi Hadid, who wore her high-gloss strands curled away from the face in classic VS style, while veteran Angel Candice Swanepoel navigated Manhattan with smooth golden waves, not a hair out of place. Behati Prinsloo upped the glam factor, too, with voluminous center-parted locks tousled by the city breeze, but it was Jasmine Tookes who, pairing a second-day blowout with a prim tailored suit, proved that Angel-worthy hair has the potential to make just as much of an impact in the boardroom as it does in the bedroom.

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