After making CL one of the faces of his Spring/Summer 2016 ad campaign, Alexander Wang as tapped fellow K Pop star G-Dragon for his Fall/Winter 2016 runway show soundtrack. Baauer, an American producer and another star of Wang’s impending S/S 2016 campaign, announced today that his song, Temple, which features G-Dragon and M.I.A., will premier during Wang’s F/W 2016 runway show this evening in New York. No word yet on whether G-Dragon, pictured above, will be in attendance. CL is confirmed to attend. .
In case you’re not familiar with him: K Pop star, Kwon Ji Yong, who is better known as G-Dragon, is not just one of the biggest names in Korea, thanks to his membership in boy band, Big Bang. The 28-year old, who has been described as embodying “Justin Timberlake’s boy bander-turned-credible musician pedigree and Kanye West’s genre-bending artistic daredevilry,” is something of a bona fide street style star; you’ll see him on websites like Vogue, Le-21eme, NY Magazine, and TFL. He’s a front row fixture at just about every Chanel show, and Saint Laurent, Lanvin, Rick Owens, and Hood by Air, too. And as you can likely discern from his music videos (think: head to toe Chanel, Thom Browne, etc.), he’s a major fashion fan. Not surprisingly, he has been gaining traction as a fashion industry insider for the past several years, with an increasing number of designers and publications taking notice.
The fashion industry has been increasingly relying on the enormous selling power of both G-Dragon and CL, amongst other K Pop stars, by way of front row seats at the biggest runway shows in Paris, collaborations and ambassadorships with established brands, and editorials in the likes of Vogue. As such, Wang’s recent choices are not terribly surprising, especially given his penchant for teaming up with musical stars. (You may recall that Wang has tapped Angel Haze, Die Antwoord, A$AP Rocky, and Grimes, amongst others, for past campaigns).
Far more than merely an arbitrary soundtrack choice, it is interesting to see how Wang, who relatively recently left his position as creative director at Paris-based design house Balenciaga is focusing all his energies on his eponymous label. He is clearly using the superstar status of both CL and G-Dragon to increase his own brand awareness in the Far East. Already in the past couple of years, Wang has launched a denim collection, followed by a jewelry line, and most recently, his legal team won a battle in the EU to regain the right to use the brand’s name in connection with fragrances and cosmetics, suggesting that Wang is slated to expand his brand into this category, as well. Adding millions of followers to his pool of consumers by way of tapping into the appeal of K Pop is nothing if not a business savvy move that will help him expand further.
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