Even fashion is authoritarian in North Korea

Fashion on the streets, while showing more diversity, still takes its cues from above

Markus Bell | Markus Bell and Rosemary Listing March 12, 2015

Even fashion is authoritarian in North Korea

Image: Alek Sigley/Tongil Tours

It has been said that fashion in the reclusive DPRK is as insipid and stagnant as the leadership itself. Lately, however, from titillating short skirts at the Pyongyang fashion show to eye-catching “killer heels” strapped to the soles of the capital’s elites, new trends in authoritarian fashion are taking center stage in the reclusive DPRK.

About the Authors

Markus Bell

Dr. Markus Bell is a migration and social inclusion expert who has published broadly on politics and social change in East Asia. He has lectured at the Australian National University, Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Sheffield and is a Research Fellow at La Trobe University.

View more articles by Markus Bell

Markus Bell and Rosemary Listing

Markus Bell (pictured) is an anthropologist and Ph.D candidate at the Australian National University researching North Korean defectors in Japan. He has previously published extensively in Foreign Policy in Focus, the Diplomat and the Guardian. Rosemary Listing is an art historian and attorney working out of Australia.

View more articles by Markus Bell and Rosemary Listing