Thoughts.

There’s something quite nice about listening to something relatively meaningless. I’m the kind of person who questions my existence, the meaning of life and society far too much, and ultimately am usually drawn to music with a deeper meaning than the majority of music played in the charts today. People who write stories about love, life struggles or who constantly question the world around them make me feel slightly less alone in my rather cynical outlook on life…

However, the last few years I have found myself drifting towards a genre that is quite the opposite. Without me really being aware of it, Kpop has come along and barged its way through my rather solid beliefs, and nestled itself firmly and indefinitely in the middle of my life. Korean pop can definitely be described as the complete antithesis to the usual music I enjoy- mostly written and produced by the companies that own the artists (with a few exceptions), it’s pretty much a combination of mass marketed music and beautiful people mushed together- just throw in a load of auto tune and some very well choreographed dance moves and that’s pretty much it.

Oh and I don’t think I mentioned that I don’t speak a word of Korean. In fact the only words I pick up are the odd English “baby”, or "dance", both of which make an appearance in pretty much every song. But perhaps that’s why I love it so much. Admittedly the reason I discovered Kpop was after coming across images of Shinee’s Key a few years back and finding myself absolutely smitten (not much has changed there)… But I have discovered with revelation that I don’t think of anything when I’m listening to it. No questioning my existence, no doubting humanity. Nothing, (Unless of course you count the urge to dance around my room singing into a hairbrush). I’m finding this drastic contrast quite hard to get my head around, being someone who is usually quite against meaningless music. (I draw the line though at anything written by Will.i.am). Just no.

However, I was pleased to read a couple of months ago in December’s Vogue that Canadian musician Grimes (Claire Boucher) openly admits to having set out to just make pop music.

“I feel like the term pop has a bad rap, or is considered lowbrow or something. I don’t know how much I care about authenticity in pop music, especially in mainstream pop, where you’ve got these teams of people doing the thing they’re best at.”

One of the things I respect Grimes for the most however is her refusal to comply with the industries typical (and rather boring) standards of beauty;

“One of the reasons I like playing specifically with pop music is that I want to be able to fit into it enough to challenge the image of the mainstream. At the moment, someone like Beyonce is the image of the mainstream. She’s defining what women are supposed to be. I think if you can flirt with that and change what people expect of you, if you can be empowering by presenting something different to the norm, then you’re doing something great”.

I think the same can be said for fashion. I know that throughout my career I want to aim to keep pushing the boundaries of what society sees as beautiful. In LCF’S recent issue of ‘Pigeons and Peacocks” Rob Phillips (creative director of the school of design technology) gives some really insightful advice to current fashion students;

“Some students arrive at LCF and they have already been seduced by bland fashion imagery that is so heavily one sided that it’s very hard for them to see past that. They think this whitewashed image is where you should be if you’re going to be in this industry, and that to me is rubbish. Society has invented what beauty is and society can challenge it, just as you would challenge politics. Fashion, art, design are no different, they’re there to challenge, to provoke and change the norm. “

As much as I love the fashion industry there are so many areas of it that I just don’t agree with and which I find repulsive, but I’m sure I’ll go into greater detail about that some other time.

I think another reason why I’m a fan of Korean pop is the strong feeling of fun and freedom I get in the way many of them dress, something I don’t see as often as I’d like. I’m not saying everyone should start trying to dress like their favourite idol- far from it, and there are many issues within that industry that I’m don’t agree with (hello plastic surgery), but I digress.

I just think it would be great to see more people experimenting more with the way they dress. It really saddens me to see less and less people being creative with their clothes, and the fact that I know barely anyone who takes pleasure in thrifting or customizing is a shame. I sometimes imagine how exciting it would be if we all tried to outdo each other in how creatively we could dress instead of sticking to the usual rules of fashion, and always too afraid to wear something that might be seen as ‘different’. I love being in a creative environment all day everyday- I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather work, but even here I’m surrounded by a lot of close-mindedness and fear of the ‘abnormal’.  I know there isn’t an awful lot I can do to change the way other people view the world, but I just hope to one day witness the moment we decide to stick by our own views and not feel the need to conform to what is generally seen as ‘normal’…

This probably doesn't make much sense and doesn't really have an awful lot of relevance, but I've experienced a lot of confusion and negativity recently and there's so much flying around my head and I've no idea where to start breaking it all down. I guess this is a start.