Return of the New Millennium: Retro Trend in Korea 2017

James Laver (1899-1975), an English author and critic pointed out the nature of the fashion in Laver's Law which was an attempt to compress the complex cycle of fashion change and the general attitude towards any certain style or period into a simple timeline, that "what was vulgar 10 years ago become shameless 5 years ago, becomes fashionable when it is in trend and it becomes vulgar again after 20 years.

New found appreciation of Korea’s past has made ‘Old’ the new ‘New’. It has become so popular that goods are being made to echo moments in Korean history. It is mostly evident in media (TV and films) and design (products and interior) industries.

A popular example is Heelys, a wheeled shoe that has recently become popular again.
It appeared in 2002 when singer Seven who was nineteen years old in 2003, advertised and it became mega popular at that time but then quickly forgotten. "It seems to be the influence of consumers who have memories of 'Heelys' in the 2000s,"Last year we sold 40,000 pairs and we expect to sell 100,000 pairs this year and plans to launch Heelys for adult by autumn." said Toy Box Korea's Won Yong Jae who imports and sells these shoes since last year.

In the case of fashion, the skinny jeans are going out of style and the age of bootcut jean is coming back.

StarCraft, which led the PC room culture of the 2000s comes back as the remastered version this summer.
Expectations are growing among 30s and 40s who were teenagers when StarCraft was mega popular back in 2000's.
Board games and doll-grabbing crane games which were popular in 2000's are gaining popularity again as well.

My sassy girl, movie which made Jeon Ji-hyeon and Cha Tae-hyun top stars in 2001 is coming back as new TV series.
The drama 'My sassy girl' will be aired on SBS in May.

Park Sung-hee, a researcher at the Korea Trend Research Institute said, "If the younger generation becomes an older generation with economic power and reveals the tendency to reminisce about the past, cultural elements are reproduced."