Backstage at Seoul Fashion Week FW15
I was fortunate enough to attend Seoul Fashion Week’s Fall/Winter 2015 presentations as a member of the press through an internship with the World Association for Hallyu Studies. The press credentials granted me full access to the runway photo pit as well as backstage at select shows. I had six fun-filled days running from show to show. (Apparently I saw 35 shows!) Although there were copious amounts of documentation of the street style at Seoul Fashion Week, I can testify that the coolest and most exciting fashion moments were not seen outside of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, but on the runway and behind-the-scenes.
Words and Photos Torsten Ingvaldsen
On the sixth and final day, I happened to be the only foreigner backstage at the shows. This wasn’t necessarily intimidating, and my foreigner (외국인) snapback lent itself to the situation wonderfully. It actually helped me as the enthused models seemed more willing to give me a pose when I pointed my lens at them. Models like Park Hyeongseop, Stephanie Lee, and Han Seungsoo actually approached me with curiosity and gave me some of my favorite backstage photos.
It wasn’t just the ability to be in the same vicinity and within feet of these ridiculously good looking people that really got to me at the end of the day. The fact that I saw these people simply doing their jobs was truly awe-inspiring. It was clear that the models weren’t getting the easy end, but that they too, like all of the staff making Seoul Fashion Week happen, were working their asses off. As a student of both Anthropology and Global Studies this experience has adapted my view on fashion and the culture surrounding it.
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