Park’s pins broach subject of fashion
Published: 17 Apr. 2013, 20:20
By wearing many brooches, the nation’s first female president revived a flagging interest in the pins, which are often considered stylish only for middle-aged women. A flower-shaped pin: Of her many brooches, a flower-shaped pin made of silver and pearl is the most popular. It’s created by Sariang, a small accessories maker. [JoongAng Photo]
Every item she wears has become an instant hit during the past few months. First, it was a gray tote bag, then a quilted purse. The latest is a brooch.
Before Park started making appearances wearing various brooches, it used to be considered a style only for middle-aged women in their 50s and 60s. But the nation’s first female president revived a flagging interest in brooches among women in their 30s and 40s, according to industry experts.
“President Park surely played a decisive role in increasing brooch sales [among younger women] and we’ll definitely launch more brooches in the near future,” says Kim Ji-hyun, who promotes the local jewelry brand, Goldendew.
An operator of Gem Beads who specializes in brooches at her online shop wrote on her blog, “I didn’t vote for Park, but she greatly boosted my sales and I appreciate her for wearing brooches.”
President Park Geun-hye has popularized pins and quilted purses. [JoongAng Photo]
Of Park’s brooches, the three most impressive ones include a rose of Sharon brooch that she wore during a press conference a day before the presidential election last year; a butterfly brooch made of amethyst that she wore during her inauguration in February; and a flower brooch made of silver and pearl that was Park’s choice two days after her inauguration.
The most popular seller is the flower brooch. Since silver and pearl go well with any type of outfit and their prices are competitively cheaper than other brooches made with gems and stones, the flower brooch has become an item that is hard to come by.
The wholesale price of the brooch is about 9,000 won ($8.08) but the price increases two- or threefold when it is put on display at retail shops. But it is hard to find and buy because demand far exceeds supply.
“We used to sell about 10 (flower brooches) per day, but the number went up to 200 after it was worn by Park. We had to increase sales by asking employees to do extra work,” says an official at Sariang, a manufacturer of the brooch.
Since Sariang is a wholesaler, it doesn’t sell products to individual customers but the jewelry maker receives inquiries from individual shoppers who wish to buy brooches at the company’s Namdaemun shop, located in Jung District, central Seoul.
Even counterfeits are selling well.
As brooches are surfacing as the latest “it” item, other makers of accessories are also seeing a windfall.
Swarovski Korea had a 25 percent sales increase between January and February compared to the same period a year ago. Another jewelry maker, Goldendew, saw a 10 percent increase in its January-February sales from a year ago.
Gmarket, the country’s largest online open market, achieved a whopping 130 percent sales increase of brooches between January and February over the same period a year ago.
Lee Yun-jeong, the author of “How to Wear Styles,” says, “Accessories are a good medium to deliver one’s message.”
This brooch worn by Park during a TV debate before the presidential election in December is made of homica. It’s also created by Sariang.
“Female leaders often choose solid-colored pantsuits in order to build up a strong image,” says Park Myung-hee, a professor of clothes design at Konkuk University. “But they might look way too plain and colorless. Thus, leaders resort to pins as a way to accent their looks. Brooches are also a great way of expressing oneself.”
Albright was probably the first female leader associated with pins. There is even a book entitled “Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box” detailing her brooch politics.
She wore a golden snake brooch when she had a meeting in Iraq in 1994 after being called an “unparalleled serpent” by the Iraqi media. She also wore a sunshine-shaped brooch when she visited Seoul, taking sides with then-President Kim Dae-jung’s sunshine policy toward North Korea.
Brooches are in high demand but there still are things to consider. When the wrong brooch is chosen, you may look older than your age.
“You can’t go wrong if you think of a balance between the color of your outfit and the color of your brooch,” says stylist Han Hye-yeon. “For example, if your decision for the day is a patterned blouse, pick a brooch of the color your blouse has.”
What Han meant was if the patterned blouse has the colors of orange, green and navy, you can pick either a navy or green brooch. Or orange.
“Unifying colors of your pants and brooch is another way not to fall into the trap of brooch,” Han adds.
Meanwhile, Park’s quilted purse is another popular fashion item that swept many retail shops last month.
The 4,000-won purse made Sosandang, a small company which produces modern goods from passport covers to purses in traditional Korean quilting, into a star overnight.
Sosandang said it will beef up its online mall after it got countless inquiries about the purse, which is no longer available.
By Yun Kyung-hee, Sung So-young [so@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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