Client: Dazed Digital (2016).
When Red Velvet exploded into the public consciousness in 2014, they were embarking on an intriguing dual concept that was uncommon for a female K-Pop group, pitching a slower, R&B-based sound (‘velvet’) against catchy pop music (‘red’). But it wasn’t just their music that set them apart: with the exception of acts like 2NE1 and Girls’ Generation, the target audience for K-Pop girl groups is generally men, with a tendency to box artists into the categories of either ‘sexy’ or ‘innocent’, existing (like most women in pop) to serve a fantasy as much as to entertain. Red Velvet, on the other hand, have a fanbase of predominantly young women, and they’re neither sexy nor innocent, with music videos that are often dark, trippy, sinister, or haunting, even when they’re flooded in pastel colours.
Taylor Glasby 