As BLACKPINK captivated the world with their Coachella performance, foreign media paid attention the girl group’s Hanbok-inspired stage costumes
On April 19th, CNN Style published an article titled “Look of the Week: Blackpink headline Coachella in Korean hanboks”.
In particular, CNN Style reported in their article, “Bringing the second day of this year’s Coachella to a close, K-Pop girl group BLACKPINK made history Saturday night when they became the first Asian act to ever headline the festival. To a crowd of, reportedly, over 125,000 people, Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé used the ground-breaking moment to pay homage to Korean heritage by arriving onstage in hanboks: a traditional type of dress.”
CNN Style continued, “While the garments were shrugged off a few seconds into their opening track, ‘Pink Venom’, revealing each member’s custom black and pink Dolce and Gabbana outfit, fans across the world had already received the message. Screenshots of the moment quickly spread among BLACKPINK superfans, otherwise known as Blinks. ‘The way they stepped onto the biggest western stage in hanboks… literally proved their place at the top of the industry’, tweeted one Blink. ‘BLACKPINK really are in a league of their own.’“
The group’s four black hanboks were custom created by South Korean pattern design brand OUWR and traditional Korean dressmakers Kumdanje. Inspired by the silhoutte of the Cheol-lik (a garment worn by military officer during Korea’s Joseon Dynasty) silhouette, each garment was hand-embroidered with metallic traditional Korean motifs, including dan-cheong patterns and peonies (a symbol of royalty in Korea).
It is also known that BLACKPINK members wore traditional jewelry pieces and mother of pearl accessories.
The designers said, “It was our pleasure and such an honor to be able to show the beautiful values of Korea and Hanbok together. BLACKPINK showed the beauty of Korea and dazzled the world.“
Previously in 2020, BLACKPINK also wore modernized hanboks designed by Danha Kim in their “How You Like That” MV.
In addition, BLACKPINK set up their Coachella stage using various Korean traditional elements, such as a stage set using a tiled roof, a hanok style, and a fan dance using large feather fans in the group dance of dancers
Meanwhile, BLACKPINK, who wrote a new history of K-pop by becoming the first Asian act to ever headline the world’s largest music festival “Coachella” on April 15th, will once again perform on the stage of Coachella on April 22nd. In July, they will be the first K-pop artist to headline the UK’s top music festival “Hyde Park British Summer Time Festival”.
