When K-pop meets Hong Kong: 6 times Korean artists have celebrated the city’s culture and talent, from BTS to Meovv

Celine Kwan is a Hong Kong designer who blends style with humour. For example, in her colourful Spring-Summer 2022 collection, she wanted to celebrate the loving relationship between a woman and her pet dog. 

While dogs inspired her aesthetic that year, one could wonder if it’s time for the Hong Kong designer to start a cat collection. Anna Tanaka, a member of The Black Label’s latest K-pop girl group Meovv (pronounced “meow”, like the cat) was seen wearing Kwan’s denim star piece from the designer’s Spring-Summer 2024 collection in the band’s debut music video Meow.

Read more: Meovv: Meet the members of The Black Label’s highly anticipated K-pop girl group

In 2023, Hong Kong screen legend Tony Leung made a surprise appearance in NewJeans’s Cool With You music video, alongside Korean actress Jung Hoyeon. 

Leung revealed to a local Chinese media outlet that he had agreed to be a part of the music videos if NewJeans’s record company, Ador, met three conditions: they shoot the music video at his location, they wrap up the shoot in two hours and they give him full creative freedom for his character. Clearly, all conditions were met, which resulted in Leung’s electrifying presence in the video.

Read more: From Hong Kong to Hollywood: Celebrating the indomitable actor Tony Leung

Filmed on the streets of Hong Kong, Balming Tiger’s SOS music video pays homage to the city’s iconic filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai, with scenes inspired by his films, such as Fallen Angels (1995), Chungking Express (1994) and others. 

“We have a crush on Hong Kong,” Balming Tiger said to Tatler Hong Kong last year at Clockenflap. “It’s a very meaningful place for Koreans of our parents’ generation. The culture of the 80s and 90s—when Hong Kong’s [pop] culture blossomed—really impacted us. We’re also all big fans of Hong Kong movies.”

Read more: Jackson Wang on emerging from his ‘most terrifying breakdown’ with a colourful collaboration with designer Mobolaji Dawodu

Similarly, Korean band Got7’s Jackson Wang was exposed to Hong Kong movies from his childhood and has paid homage to the city’s 90s’ films through his music. In 2020, the Hong Kong native produced, directed and wrote the script of Pretty Please’s music video, which gave a nod to the movies he grew up watching.

“Growing up as a kid, I watched a lot of Hong Kong Chinese movies, which served as the visual inspiration for this music video,” the singer said in a press release. “I’ve admired many actors in those movies, and I thought it’d be interesting to present this love story through a 1990s Hong Kong vibe, mood and tone.” 

In the lead-up to the release of his second solo album, Right Place, Wrong Person (2024), BTS’s RM released a series of photos in collaboration with three different photographers, one of them being Hong Kong’s Wing Shya. Shya is known for his distinctive colour grading and off-focus style, as well as for his work in renowned film director Wong Kar-wai’s movies.

Shya’s agency said in a press release that the photographer “used unique light and contrast to maximise [RM’s music video’s] sensuous atmosphere and captured it in a unique [way].”

This is not the first time the two artists have collaborated: in November 2023, Shya shot the K-pop idol for the cover of culture magazine 032c. 

Read more: What do K-pop idols’ sun signs say about their leadership styles?

Hong Kong experimental designer Vicky Tsang has made a name for herself with her fantastical outfits, which explore the boundaries between fashion and art. The surrealist pieces that Tsang designs under her label Gnastiy.com have been worn by film star Julia Fox, Mirror’s Edan Lui, and also K-pop band New Jeans’s Danielle. 

She wore the Heart Flow customised corset at the 15th Melon Music Awards in December 2023, as well as the Black Butterfly corset for a photoshoot in March 2024. 

Hong Kong’s vibrant cityscape has been a long-time favourite music video destination for K-pop bands. For example, Mamamoo shot the music video of its song Wind Flower (2018) in the backdrop of Hong Kong’s stunning city lights at night, while Seventeen chose the colourful setting of Choi Hung Estate and the leaning pillars of Hong Kong Cultural Centre for its Check-In (2017) music video. Moreover, Got7 made use of multiple Hong Kong locations, from Causeway Bay’s skyline to Quarry Bay’s “Monster Building” in the music video of You are (2017).

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