Trend Appropriation and the Bosae System

The history and cultural context of the Bosae system in Korea are important to understand its place and purpose in the fashion industry. First established in the Dongdaemun area of Seoul, the Bosae system has been in operation for a long time as a supplier of fast-fashion clothes to the ever-adapting market. The term “Bosae” means the bonded warehouse areas where raw materials were processed into value-added manufactured goods for export, a fast-moving, vertically integrated system that also enabled Korean producers to cope with the fashion changes and meet the needs of international clients like GAP and Nike. In the contemporary world, the term has extended to refer to all manner of fast fashion goods, from legally manufactured clothing to those that are borderline, or even outright fakes. This Bosae system has now largely formed the basis of the Korean fashion industry, which has been able to produce and distribute cheap fashion garments to cater to Korea and other fashion lovers around the world. This paper aims to link the trend to the study of visual sociology and see how its implications appear in today’s society.