‘How could you wear such kind of clothing in a nobleman’s house?’

Guess what happened to the young Korean lady who heard that from her father. The story goes back to the 70s when she was a teenager. She bought a pair of jeans with the money her dad gave her to buy books. Her father was the eldest son of the family, and raised in such a noble family, he was just too conservative that he put that pair of his daughter’s new jeans into the firepot, making it into ashes. Seems like it was not too easy for jeans to settle down in Korea.

「你怎可以在貴族的家裡穿成這樣？」

你可以想像一下一個韓國女生在聽到爸爸這句話後會怎麼樣？ 時間要回到七十年代，當時她還是一個青少年，用了爸爸給她買書的錢去買了一條牛仔褲。她爸爸是家中的長子，從小生活在貴族家庭，對於保守的他來說，他無法接受女兒買牛仔褲，一下子把褲子掉進火爐裡燒成灰燼。看來要在韓國要穿上牛仔褲是十分困難的事。

Over the years, jeans have been a symbol of youth, rebellion and freedom to nowadays when it has become a universal clothing for modern people. Jeans are worn regardless of age, gender, race, season and even time, place and occasion. Jeans have two characteristics: a universal common item in life and a reflection of the specific area in each nation.

隨著時間過去，牛仔褲成為年輕叛逆與自由的象徵， 現在更是全世界普遍的服裝，無分年齡、性別、種族和季節，甚或是時間、地點和場合。牛仔褲有兩個特點， 一是，它是全球最普遍的物品，二是，它反映著每個國家特別的一面。

The National Folk Museum of Korea is now presenting a jeans exhibition in their special exhibition hall to look at jeans through their research and collection. The jeans exhibition shows 257 artifacts related to jeans and 390 stories from a wide range of people. Levi’s has provided their collections and insights to this exhibition. The exhibition is available in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese and is divided into two parts with one as the birth and development of jeans in the West, and the other as how jeans evolved in Korea.

韓國國立民族博物館正舉行一個牛仔褲展覽，介紹了257件有關牛仔的手工製品，以及390個來自不同地域的人的故事，著名品牌Levi’s亦為這次展覽提供一系列的作品。是次展覽提供中、英、日、韓四種不同語言，並分為兩部分，分別是介紹西方牛仔褲的誕生與發展和牛仔褲如何在韓國萌芽。

The exhibition starts with introducing the history of jeans over years. Jeans were created first in the U.S. as a need to create stronger clothing for miners in the Midwest. Then they later became a symbol of American ideals of equality and freedom.

展覽一開始看介紹了牛仔褲多年來的歷史，美國是創造牛仔褲的地方，起初是為中西部的礦工提供較為強而耐用的衣服而設，到後來發展成為美國平等與自由的標記。

Jeans later came to Korea during the Korean War. Brought to Korea by U.S. soldiers, jeans quickly spread among young Koreans and was widely available on the markets after the war. In the 1970s, jeans became the symbol of youth and rebellion as the younger generation expressed their ideas and values different from the older generation. This exhibition shows different tales and perspectives Koreans had on jeans at that time. Spokesmen ranging from jeans manufactures and models to jeans fans and haters will appear on a short clip during the exhibition.

韓戰時期，牛仔褲由美軍傳入韓國，迅即在韓國年輕人間流行開去，戰爭過後更是在市場上隨處可見。七十年代，牛仔褲成為年輕一代向老一輩展示他們年輕叛逆的一面的方法。展覽展示了牛仔褲在韓國的故事，以及韓國人對關於牛仔褲的觀點，發言人還會在展覽上播夜短片，由牛仔褲的製造和設計，到喜歡和討厭牛仔褲的人均會一一提及。

In Korea, a country where Confucianism was strong, jeans, a product of the west was not easily accepted until the late 70s. However, as Korea became more open to western culture, the late 70s and early 80s saw jeans as a symbol of youth. A popular culture back then was singing and playing the guitar with long hair and jeans on.

韓國是個對孔儒非常重視的國家，如牛仔褲這樣西方的產品在七十年代後期之前一直不被接受，直至七十年代未到八十年代初，韓國對西方文化開放的態度，使牛仔褲成為年輕人的象徵，而留著一頭長髮，穿著牛仔褲彈結他，更是當時的流行文化。

At the end of the exhibition, there is a photo booth where the staff members will take Polaroid photos of visitors. A gift shop displays varieties of products made from jeans. This exhibition aims to let the visitors feel that jeans are not just daily apparels, but a product of humanity’s diversity in culture, as in jeans as a ‘cultured product.’

來到展覽的尾聲，會有個自助照相亭，職員會為大家拍下寶麗萊相片予以紀念，另外還有贈品店售賣一系列的牛仔褲相關產品。是次展覽讓參觀者了解到牛仔褲不止是日常服裝，更是一件文化產物。

Jeans – Special Exhibition
2014 Oct 15 to 2015 Feb 23
The National Folk Museum of Korea
37 Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-820
Official exhibition website: nfm.go.kr

TEXT: JISU J
CHINESE TRANSLATION: CHRIS Y
GRAPHICS: TONY W / HOKK FABRICA