Unpredictability is the name of the game. Right from day one, it’s something that has been ingrained into the very fabric of Sandara Park’s DNA. After all, there was a time when she and the rest of 2NE1 were notorious for breaking the status quo in a well-manicured K-pop industry. Beyond their wistful R&B and hip-hop sound and the quartet’s unrivalled stage presence, it’s really the quartet’s sartorial tune which revealed how conceptually ahead of its time 2NE1 was.
“Each member wore clothes that matched their individual concept. At that time, it was almost a rule for groups to wear identical outfits, but we broke that mould and wore outfits tailored to each of us,”explains Sandara, as our December digital cover star flips through a look book of nostalgia-inducing looks from her debut days with 2NE1. True enough, the group’s unprecedented style remains a large part of the zeitgeist’s consciousness at the time. Like the hip-hop inspired outfits for ‘Fire’, the cyberpunk bodysuits from ‘I Am The Best’, or their impeccable knack for colour-blocking in ‘Lollipop’ with BigBang.
Be it cutting up and patchworking tees for their ‘Fire’ music stages or altering clothes from Balmain for their MAMA stage in Singapore and hand-studding each outfit in their ‘I Am The Best’ music video, there’s no denying that her own personal sartorial preferences have been influenced by her bold, creative start when it comes to putting together looks. That experimental spirit is reflected in her own ventures, like when she takes on Paris during her fashion week circuits for houses like Vivienne Westwood, Ann Demeulemeester or Rick Owens. From severe dark coats to floor-sweeping garbs, she’s done it all. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy a smart suit-skirt look, even more so when it’s from Thom Browne.
With the sheer range of boundary-breaking styles she’s been spotted in over the years, we can’t help but wonder after the thought process that went into them. Watch on as Sandara Park goes down memory lane with us and revisits some of her most memorable looks, from her debut days to 2NE1’s recent Welcome Back tour.
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'Fire' MV in 2009
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'Lollipop' MV in 2009
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'Fire' era in 2009
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'I Am The Best' MV in 2011
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'Festival' MV in 2023
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In Thom Browne for Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2020
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In Rick Owens for Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2023
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