Seoul, August 29, 2010: Luxury fashion brand Gucci has canceled a fashion show planned to be held at Seoul’s royal palace after criticism of fashion magazine photos of the former Cheong Wa Dae presidential palace, officials said Monday.
Gucci plans to hold the Gucci Cosmogonie exhibition at Seoul’s Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), on November 1 in consultation with the South Korean Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA).
CHA sees the exhibition as an opportunity to promote the beauty of the palace to the world.
But the event was recently canceled after CHA allowed fashion magazine Vogue Korea to take photos of some of the models posing in sensual poses in glittery dresses, at various locations on campus, including the former government guesthouse Yongbingwan.
The photos have sparked criticism from the former Liberal government and some netizens for using the historic site for fashion magazine shoots.
A CHA official said of the Gucci fashion show, “We were preparing for the event by approving it before the fashion shoot controversy.” The official added, “Although we expect different results from the event, it is not easy to navigate in this situation.”
Cheong Wa Dae was the presidential office and residence for more than seven decades before President Yoon Suk-yeol moved his office to Seoul’s Yongsan area in May to be closer to the public. Since then, Cheong Wa Dae has been open to the public, attracting nearly 1.4 million visitors by the end of July.
According to the fashion show plans announced on Monday, Gucci applied to use the Gyeongbokgung Palace to present its constellation-inspired creative director Alessandro Michele’s latest summer collection.
The fashion collection, dubbed “Cosmogony,” was unveiled in May at the 13th-century Puglia countryside castle in Italy’s Castel del Monte, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The company has proposed a plan to promote the historical value of Gyeongbokgung Palace as a “world-class astronomical site” and the theme of the collection is the new show, which has approved the condition that the historical facts be verified by experts. .
“We are prepared to raise the cultural and academic value of Gyeongbokgung Palace to raise global awareness of the event, but we are discussing (cancelling it) with the consideration of public sentiment in South Korea, including the recent controversy,” said a Gucci Korea official.
