Tel Aviv and Seoul Fashion Weeks via Vice Magazine

Vice Magazine has a series of documentaries revealing culture, fashion, and beauty – the good, the bad, and the terrifying – in societies around the world. Take a peek into Tel Aviv and Seoul for an idea of some the physical appearance issues and ideals in each culture.

Above is the first of a fascinating 3 part documentary about Tel Aviv Fashion Week. Part one is about a new law requiring fashion models to have a healthy BMI. The highest cause of death for young women and teens in Israel is anorexia. Part two is about how the conflict in the middle east is reflected in fashion and creative industries amid a backdrop of escalating conflict. Part three would have been about the sexualization of the female soldiers in the I.D.F., but the heightened crisis which began the day after Tel Aviv fashion week made that impossible. I highly recommend watching, it’s really interesting and a little unsettling…not at ALL what I was expecting to see.

In a totally different world, is the first of the 3-part Seoul Fashion Week series. It’s really more about clothing, k-pop and sex than it is about fashion week, but so interesting! It is the plastic surgery capital of the world, and the interviews with women, nearly all of whom are “pro-surgery” to look more “western” are kind of upsetting. From the videos you really get a sense of South Korean culture and fashion, and the way it’s influenced by politics, the desire to appear perfect, music, androgyny, changing sexual norms, and technology.