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MEET TAEYONG
From the moment Taeyong slides out of a black van and into la Garde républicaine, it’s like the solar system shifts. For a few minutes absolutely everything revolves around him. A swarm of stylists, managers and other staff surround him, like bees to a summer flower. Fans – who have waited for hours outside – cheer as soon as they have a glimpse of his lavender hair, meticulously gelled and pushed back today. Phones and flashes follow his every move, as if the moment wouldn’t exist without documentation.
It could be an overwhelming affair, but Taeyong breezes through. The 28-year-old K-pop star and newest LOEWE Global Ambassador waves at everyone, calm, confident and comfortable, heading in to watch the Spring Summer 2024 menswear show. Even beyond the entrance gates, where fans no longer follow, but members of the press are still keen to talk, he threads everything with grace. ‘Hello, this is Taeyong!’ he repeats, with varying additional sentences, each for a different TikTok video or Instagram Reel, to be shared by the many outlets covering the event.
Taeyong is used to this kind of attention. Since debuting in 2016, he has become one of South Korea’s most notable trendsetters, but his appeal has always been global. He is a member of juggernaut boy group NCT (a project that holds multiple sub-groups and over twenty members), of supergroup SuperM (often called ‘The Avengers of K-pop’), and now a rising soloist – his first EP Shalala dropped just three weeks before this sweltering Saturday morning in late June.
‘Because I already work with NCT and there’s a lot of things I take charge of, being a LOEWE ambassador and representing the brand itself is another big responsibility, but I am excited,’ he tells us backstage after the show. He’s wearing a black knitted tank top, brown jeans with a buckle belt, and a chain necklace that, upon closer look, reveals gold, silver and bronze hues. The chain bracelets that adorned his wrists a few hours ago, though, are lying beside him – he occasionally grabs one to play with while talking as he waits to be shot by iconic photographer Juergen Teller for the LOEWE Spring Summer 2024 precollection campaign, something he describes as ‘such an honour’.
It’s Taeyong’s first appearance in a campaign for the house, but he has a longstanding affinity with LOEWE. ‘The first bag I bought for myself was by LOEWE,’ he says with a laugh, referring to the large light caramel Puzzle bag that he has often carried around since 2020. ‘I like everything about LOEWE – the leather craftsmanship, all the exciting collaborations, I’ve been a huge fan for so many years.’ It was, he notes, an inspiration to meet LOEWE’s creative director, Jonathan Anderson.
With a fondness for ‘learning another country’s culture’, his favourite Parisian sight is the Seine, made even better by how ‘the sun goes down so late in the evening’. Shifting between his native Korean and English throughout the interview, he mentions wanting to go to Versailles (‘if there’s time’) – a short trip he was indeed able to take, documented via a carousel of selfies on Instagram. Whether it’s travelling, performing or simply talking to other people, Taeyong takes it all in with wide-eyed curiosity. In the end, everything is fuel for his daring, multifaceted art.
He’s a commanding performer onstage, with a characteristic drawl to his raps and rigorous, angular dance moves. As one of the NCT elders, he often takes a leading role. His large eyes, dainty lips, and striking bone structure gained him an online reputation as a real life anime/manhwa character. But he’s also a known introvert, pensive and a little clumsy, who loves feeding his pet fish and shrimp, drinking beer with his close friends (his current favourite is Hoegaarden) and rewatching Studio Ghibli classics.
“I DON’T STAY IN THE STATUS QUO, THAT’S WHY I TRY NEW THINGS.” –TAEYONG
‘Nowadays, I don’t know why, but I feel really happy,’ he says. ‘In my mind I’m sometimes worried, nervous because I have a lot to do with SuperM, or NCT, or NCT 127, or other NCT units, as well as my solo projects. For so many years, my focus was theirs, but now I feel free. I feel comfortable. My album is going well, so I’m thankful for my fans, and I’m looking forward to my second album,’ He does mention that, for the rest of this year, NCT is his priority. ‘We are touring NCT Nation, which will be a huge thing, so please look out for us.’
But despite the exciting steps he’s been taking lately, the millions of albums sold, the worldwide tours, the chart-topping hits (like 2020’s ‘Kick It’) and a portfolio of self-produced songs, Taeyong still doesn’t picture himself as a fully-fledged artist. ‘Am I an artist? I don’t know,’ he says. ‘I don’t stay in the status quo, that’s why I try new things, move around genres, everything. I know that I need to develop a bit more, and that needs time.’
However, he does see something else – a glimpse of his true self perhaps, ‘Recently, I’ve been thinking I like to challenge things,’ he says. ‘I’m a challenger.’
The campaign sees the lavender-haired K-pop sensation Taeyong take cover under Lynda Benglis’ bronze Crescendo sculpture after LOEWE’s men’s runway presentation in Paris, and British multimedia artist Rachel Jones balanced on a readymade assemblage of mismatched furniture, Puzzle Fold tote in hand.
It unites the leading men from Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming film Challengers: global ambassador Josh O’Connor, pictured beside a tartan-upholstered rocking chair, and Mike Faist. Both have swapped their tennis whites for the soft knits, denims and sueded of the new Spring Summer 2024 precollection.
The collage continues with actor Greta Lee inside an all-blue nouveau-Versailles bedroom, perched atop a bedside table wearing a matching grass-green polo shirt and skirt and the new animal-print Bobine bootie. Outside, she gets to grips with the Squeeze bag on a garden sofa, curious as to tether FeiFei really is going to dive into the ‘very mouldy pool’, while Dakota Fanning, sporting a speckled banana-printed dress and an assortment of Fold Totes wonders, on the scale of things, what is normal anyway?
Source Link: https://x.com/thelongflight/status/1728261195831062743?s=20
