The Business of Fashion is a magazine and organization that deals with high fashion and different fashion weeks around the globe. They report on the trends, different designers and so on. Each year they create the “BoF 500″, which “is a professional index of the people shaping the global fashion industry, based on hundreds of nominations received from current members of the BoF 500, data analysis and months of research to unearth names from all corners of the globe.” Once you are a chosen for the BoF 500, you are always part of the organization. G-Dragon was the only Korean selected for the BoF honor this year.
A K-Pop star and one of Asia’s most popular and paparazzi-hounded celebrities, G-Dragon’s inimitable, chameleon-like style has won him the admiration of Karl Lagerfeld and Jeremy Scott. The rapper has been a front row favourite for brands like Lanvin and Saint Laurent for a few years now, but it was his appearance at Chanel’s casino tables at the label’s haute couture Autumn/Winter 2015 show that secured his status at the top of the fashion pyramid.
G-Dragon (whose real name is Kwon Ji-yong) has been in show business since childhood, but it wasn’t until 2006 when he debuted as one of the five members of K-Pop band Big Bang that he shot into the spotlight. Almost overnight, the band had a monumental impact on the Korean music industry. Just as instantaneously, G-Dragon was hailed as the most fashionable of the fashion forward bunch. His eclectic outfits, which see him just as likely to dress in head-to-toe Dior or mesh luxury labels Givenchy and Balmain with street wear designers Ambush or KTZ, are routinely blogged and re-blogged across social media. His digital influence in Asia is impressive– designers have seen their sales rocket in the region after G-Dragon has posted photos to his Instagram of him wearing their brand.
At Paris Fashion Week in 2012, he caused a small storm amongst street-style photographers when he turned up at the Rick Owensshow with pink hair and black jeans entirely covered in gold studs. G-Dragon’s appearance is changing so constantly, he is sometimes impossible to recognise – a multitude of androgynous hairstyles and unisex outfits have made him a modern menswear muse. LVMH have just invested over $50 million in YG Entertainment, the music label that represents him.
