If you’re currently living on Earth, you would have heard the song Gangnam Style by PSY; the YouTube video has nearly a billion views…crazy huh? However, did you know that the song is actually referring to an uber-cool place in the Far East? Gangnam is famed for the fashionable people that inhabit it, the kind of people that like to live a life full of partying and clothes. This article takes an investigative look into the Gangnam district, and other cool places in the Far East, to see what’s hot right now!
Gangnam District
In the Gangnam district you will find that people are actually diverse about clothes. On one hand, some people adore western luxury brand suits; and others are quite wary of wearing anything ‘big brand’, but still love to dress up well. Clubbing, girls will wear one piece dresses or skinny jeans; but there also is quite a big ‘hip hop’ clothing fashion circulating currently. In Apgujeong, girls will wear long skirts – which are an informal trend on the rise. In Cheongdam & Daechi, the people who inhabit it are all about the premium brand names; Polo, Ralph, Armani, Gucci etc.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is known for its quirky taste in fashion. Recent styles that have emerged are:
- Ombre Tights – Ombre tights are well…tights. But tights which are works of art at the same time. The tights have a natural colour graduation from top to bottom which is pretty psychedelic.
- Man Bags – Men have taken to small leather satchel-like handbags as a way of transporting their stuff around. Big brand names are available, including LV and Gucci, which can all be purchased from the ‘Milan Station’ store.
- Trucker Caps – Boys and girls alike have taken to perching trucker caps on the top of their head.
If you’re looking for big brands, good places to shop are Joyce & Lane Crawford. If you’re looking for something a bit different; check out the flea market – ‘Me & George’.
Singapore
Singapore is known for being one of the world’s fashion capitals; it ranked number eight in the world, just above Tokyo. Many people disagree with Singapore being a ’fashion capital’ per se, for it is more of a shopping capital; full of shops with great clothes. Lots of Western brands, shoppers will find themselves lost for hours amongst the clothing racks.
Tokyo
Tokyo is always pushing the boundaries of Japanese fashion forward. Here is a selection of some of the emerging styles to come out of this crazy city:
- Gyaru – Gyaru means ‘gal’ in Japanese. ‘Gals’ are usually girls in their late teens or early twenties who take to the street to show off their elaborate and expressive fashion taste. This style can usually be seen on the street of Harajuku; excessive bronzer, make up, bright clothing.
- Decora – Decora style, or fruit style, is an interesting clothing combination. If dressing in decora style, the person will wear as many bright clothes as possible; complemented with many colourful accessories. Normally the accessories will completely draw attention away from the clothes.
- Onii-Kei – This fashion trend is popular with a lot of young Japanese guys, which combines American & Italian casual with Japanese glam.
As you can see, just from this handful of places, the Far East has a wealth of distinct styles. However, let’s hope we don’t get PSY singing a song about each of these cities; it could be quite frankly disastrous.
Why not journey to the fashion capital of the Far East – book a room through Hotelclub.com at the Cosmopolitan Hotel Hong Kong for easy access to popular shopping venues such as Pacific Place and The Landmark.
