Single's Inferno star Song Ji Ah and her rise and fall in fame
Risen to international fame from the reality TV show Single's Inferno, the star is now caught in flames for wearing fake luxury goods.
Female beauty blogger Song Ji Ah (@dear.zia) has long been known by many people due to her resemblance to Jennie (Blackpink) and Jang Wonyoung (IVE). Her participation in today's hottest reality show Single's Inferno has shown many attractive sides of her that captivated the audience.
Her career soared to the skies with various designer brands seeding her on social media and special campaigns came to a halt when netizens started to point out that her wardrobe on Single's Inferno has unclear origins. Specifically:
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The necklace that Ji Ah used to wear costs KRW 5.7 million but the design of the pendant she wore is a bit different from the real model sold on the website.
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The vintage Chanel crop top produced in the 1990s became famous after Jennie wore it. The Blackpink member said she bought it at a vintage store. The exact shirt appeared on Ji A in the show.
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The Dior logo strapless shirt has a design quite similar to the product sold at the online street style store for KRW 16,000.
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The Marine Serre dress that Ji Ah wore in Single's Inferno was also not found on the company's official websites. A netizen spotted a similar dress being sold on a second-hand website for KRW 28,900.
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The Chanel shirt that Ji Ah wears in Single's Inferno has a different imprinted logo than the original design.
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The pink cardigan that Ji Ah has in design is quite similar to the Chanel one that Jennie used to wear, but the details are different.
After the controversy, the beautiful Song Ji-ah officially spoke up. Specifically, on her personal page, she posted a photo of a handwritten apology letter in Korean.
Although only a few minutes have passed, the post has already attracted hundreds of thousands of comments. Most probably curious about the content of the letter.
[Translation]: "Hello, I'm Song Ji-ah. First of all, I sincerely apologise to everyone who has been hurt and disappointed because of me, and I also want to be honest with you about the article using fake brands that is causing the current controversy.
Currently there is some controversy about the clothes that I wear on the show Single's Inferno and on my SNS. That's partly true and I'm really sorry for that. I sincerely apologise once again for such ignorant behavior infringing on the creative copyrights of the designers. As someone who has a dream to launch their own brand, I would like to seriously reflect on myself.
In the future, I will try not to let this happen again. All images using fakes have now been removed from my profile. I'm very sorry for the brands that are hurt because of me. I also sincerely apologize to everyone including fans, subscribers, followers who supported me... I will live my life to the fullest and be more responsible in the future. Thank you for reading the long post."
Below her post, there are quite a few people leaving comments. Most of the fans accepted her apology and thought that she wrote a handwritten apology to show her sincerity. However, some other netizens are extremely disappointed by the use of fake goods by a famous person like her.
Pleasure becomes a burden
In the past, luxury brands were thought to be products only for the rich and elite. But now, Gen M & Z - those born from about 1981 to 2009 - are emerging as a "new" target audience in the luxury industry.
Right now, there are also young people who work part-time at convenience stores to earn money to buy designer sneakers, wallets and clothes. For adolescents aged 15 years and over, there is a common misconception of "If you can't buy branded goods, it's very difficult to be recognized by peer groups."
The mass media has a great influence on the rate of the youth's consumption of luxury goods. The mentality of wanting to be recognised by friends and influences from social media influencers and YouTubers has driven large demand among teens to procure designer goods.
On multiple YouTube channels, influencers in their teens and early 20s are posting things like "luxury bag haul." and "brand name unboxing" (video "unboxing" of purchased products).
The culture of "flex" (showing off wealth or precious luxury goods), are prominent among young Koreans, which are heavily influenced by reality shows, dramas and variety shows, where the main characters and leading personalities are often seen in luxury brands and are considered the norm
Pursuing fashion and beauty is the freedom of each person. It is important to pursue it in the right way. Fashion is also clearly stratified. When fashion houses create an item that is sought after in the world, it is the trend.
And it will be picked up by various brands (both high and low) to serve fashionistas. However, there are people who do not simply want to follow the trend, but they want to have exactly what is being sought by the whole world, but do not have the conditions or do not want to spend that much money to buy it.
Hence the market for copied designs and fake good arise. When social media became popular and led the market, the variation of dressing up and affirming self-worth through our outer image became even more misleading.
That's why fakes appear because they partly satisfy the feeling of owning a luxury brand name without hurting the wallet. But it is also because of this easy-to-satisfy desire that more and more people choose to buy fake goods, abetting this blatant act of stealing from sellers - one that we should not condone nor accept.
