North Korea’s death of skinny jeans
While you might have thought 2020 was full of surprises, 2021 seems to be dishing out its fair share. Gen Z wasn’t the only ones cancelling skinny jeans this year. While the debate of the death skinny jeans has been ongoing for a while now, Kim Jong-un has just put the nail in the coffin. Well, at least for North Korea.
Various reports started to circulate that the North Korean leader had banned the skinny jean style as well as the mullet hairstyle and some types of piercing. The reasoning behind this seems to be linked to these trends stemming from Westernized roots.
According to The Guardian, a South Korean broadcaster for Yonhap news agency stated that there was a need for action against “capitalistic culture” and its takeover of the country. Another North Koren based publication-Rodong Sinmum, released an article that voiced their concerns over the increase in North Korean youth taking part in Western trends. The article stated that “We must be wary of even the slightest sign of the capitalistic lifestyle and fight to get rid of them”, the article also states that they believe that the reason why socialist countries have failed in the past is due to the fact that they did not put an end to the takeover of the lifestyles that come with capitalism.
The ban now covers the most widely recognizable fashion trends that started in western countries such as the mullet haircut, shirts that contain slogans, lip piercings and nose piercings and lastly- skinny jeans. There are now only 15 hairstyles that are allowed within the bounds of the new law, and any form of dyed hair or hair that is spiky is no prohibited. It is believed that these fashion choices represent the notion of “Anti-socialism”
And while this news does sound funny when you look at it from an outside perspective, this does affect the individuals that live in this dictator regime. Where you fall in the debate against whether or not skinny jeans should be dead by now- you cannot deny that it is an individual’s right to choose what fashion trends they would like to partake in. Individualistic expression should be the backbone of the fashion world because without it, fashion would not have come as far as it has. Fashion choices around the world should be praised and looked at with admiration for the individuality that comes with what we decide to wear as humans. We often forget the privilege we have when we get to wake up in the morning and express ourselves with whatever clothing we want. Others are not as fortunate.
By : Megan Maritz