The Shocking Cost Of Styling For A Single Stage, Revealed By A K-Pop Stylist
Fashion has been a super important part of the K-Pop industry ever since the first few K-Pop groups were created. This importance has only risen, with companies investing more and more money into choosing the right style for their artists, one that can not only capture the public’s attention but also that can encapsulate the concept of a comeback.
Among the many other ways fashion impacts a K-Pop artist’s identity, stage outfits definitely play a big part. Proof of this is the amount of attention idols have often received for wearing a piece that suits them or the concept perfectly: Red Velvet Joy‘s rainbow dress, BLACKPINK Lisa‘s sparkly pink outfit with green gloves, and TXT Yeonjun‘s crop tops for “Blue Hour” are just some examples.
But how much do these outfits really cost and what are the expenses companies are willing to face to ensure their artists get the best possible stage outfits? A stylist has recently revealed all this information and more during an interview with Dailian.
Before revealing the estimated figures, the stylist also talked about how many outfits they have to prepare for music shows during a promotional period for any comeback. For most idols, this period is around two weeks long with six different music shows to attend: KBS‘s Music Bank, MBC‘s Music Core, SBS‘s Inkigayo, Mnet‘s M Countdown, MBC M‘s Show Champion and SBS M‘s The Show. This means that for any group promoting for two weeks or more stylists would need to prepare 12 outfits per member.
Of course, preparing outfits that are made to show the best possible visuals during a three to four-minute performance isn’t cheap. The stylist revealed that the usual range for a K-Pop group made of five members is from ₩3.50 million KRW (about $2,680 USD) to ₩10.0 million KRW (about $7,650 USD) per music show.
Going by the standards of a 5 member group, the amount of money that goes into one performance is at least ₩3.50 million KRW (about $2,680 USD) and can go up to ₩10.0 million KRW (about $7,650 USD)or more in an instant.
— Industry Stylist
Through some more calculations, this would mean that on average one stage outfit for an idol can cost anywhere from ₩700,000 KRW (about $536 USD) to ₩2.00 million KRW (about $1,530 USD). If you multiply this range by the 12 outfits needed for the two weeks period, the result is ₩8.40 million KRW (about $6,430 USD) to ₩24.0 million KRW (about $18,400 USD) spent on one member.
The costs then add up depending on how many members a group has, for example, a five-member group could spend anywhere from ₩42.0 million KRW (about $32,100 USD) to ₩120 million KRW (about $91,900 USD) for one promotional cycle.
Of course, there are times that some parts of an outfit for popular members can be gifts by their sponsors or brands that they represent. Though, this is not the case for most music show stage outfits, as companies will want the stylists to carefully pick each piece to match the concept of the comeback.
