“Escape the Corset”: How a Movement in South Korea Became a Fashion Statement through Social Media

Abstract

The “escape the corset” movement (ETC-M) is a declaration that actively reflects the voices of Korean women in fourth-wave feminism and spread through social media. This movement emerged as a fashion style against social prejudice and inequality through the lens of feminism and sparked the launch of the “escape the corset” fashion (ETC-F) brand. Feminism, which discusses the conditions of women in our society, is inevitably related to sustainability. It is time to examine the much-neglected social inclusion of sustainable development goals, by examining the declarations that women express through fashion. This study intends to lay down the foundation for in-depth research into ETC-M by understanding the historical background of Korean feminism, the basis of ETC-M. Furthermore, this study aims to analyze ETC-M as a phenomenon that has grown in social media and understand the characteristics and significance of the resulting fashion style. An analysis of the characteristics of ETC-F formed through social media engagement shows that it has developed a range of special items, styles, and looks. ETC-F marked an opportunity to raise awareness about the discriminatory practices in women’s fashion and formed an anti-fashion solidarity among non-mainstream women. In addition to the development of fashion products, ETC-F is leading the development of fashion content that competes with mainstream lifestyle, culture, and entertainment industries. This study offers not only an opportunity to examine the role and meaning of ETC-F from an industrial and cultural perspective, but also implications for the practical consideration of a sustainable society based on inclusion and diversity.

1. Introduction

The “escape the corset” (“tal-corset” in Korean, where the word “tal” means “escape”) movement (ETC-M) is one of the most widely discussed issues in South Korean society. After an illustration titled “Out of The Corset” was posted on a feminist group’s Facebook page in 2015, the ETC-M has been largely developed online by South Korea’s young feminists in their early teens and twenties since 2016 [1]. This movement led to the autonomy of women, allowing young women to attempt new styles. Young feminists worldwide rely heavily on social media platforms to form and perform modern feminism [2]. As part of this global trend, Korea’s young feminists also came together and started the ETC-M through social media. The movement considers all styles defined by the traditional idea of “womanliness” as antifeminist [3] and metaphorically refers to these styles collectively as a corset.

The corset is a commonly known historical fashion garment that is notorious for constricting the freedom of women. Nelson [4] examined American womenswear in the 19th century and showed how men acknowledged the slim waist tightened by the corset as admirable, noting that women willingly wore corsets to receive praise from men even if it constrained them physically and psychologically. Feminist critic Wolf [5] noted that the corset has now been replaced by plastic surgery, diets, and extreme workout routines as part of the patriarchy’s new means of controlling women. Researchers of the history of gender have pointed out the corset as an oppressive tool, and now in Korean society, a new style-based social movement called “escape the corset” is in full swing.

From 2018 to 2019, global press translated the term “tal-corset” to mean “escape the corset” (literal translation), and intensively publicized the movement. The Independent reported that Korean women began rebelling against Korea’s strict and unrealistic beauty standards by removing their makeup and cutting their hair [6]. CNN reported that Korean society stood up against modern beauty standards and had begun accepting change [7]. The New York Times described South Korea as the “world’s most beauty-obsessed” nation and noted that the global beauty industry powerhouse had undergone a change, and that the ETC-M was a response to the gender inequality that prevailed in Korean society [8]. ABC NEWS explained the unrealistic beauty standards that had formed in Korea as a result of the influence of K-pop and K-beauty and noted the significance of the ETC-M, especially because of how difficult it is for Korean women to participate in movements [9]. As several media outlets have mentioned, the ETC style has sparked massive discourse, mainly on social media. Social debates on this topic continue to take place and remain significant in public circles. In the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, a female archer from the Korean team who had won three gold medals was the target of cruel gossip as she had short hair that did not meet the Korean standards of “womanliness” [10].

The ETC-M has been a delicate issue in Korean society. It has been examined in several areas such as sociology, political science, philosophy, and economics. Most research has focused on the experiences of women participating in the ETC-M and choosing not to marry in a patriarchal society [11], as well as on the ETC-M from an economic perspective [12] and as mainstream feminism in the digital economy [13]. One study has focused on the effects of the spread of the ETC-M on Korean consumers’ interest in cosmetics [14]. Thus far, there have been no studies discussing ETC-M from the perspective of fashion design and style.

Researchers such as Perkins [15] have argued that feminist research helps to present new visions for social and ecological sustainability. This is because when discussing feminism, the recognition of democratic relations and equality cannot be omitted, and this is close to the fundamentals of sustainability. There is a strong relationship between sustainability and gender issues, and it is disappointing that the discovery and resolution of sustainability issues through women’s experiences has not been considered important by researchers [16].

The ETC-M is directly related to women’s fashion and experiences. The widespread social media use and the media attention it gained in the mid-2010s brought this style to light as a growing population began adapting to it, forming a market. The ETC-M was not temporary and did not stop with individuals with specific characteristics or small groups that agreed with its agenda. Rather, it expanded on social media and became a culture, and now “escape the corset” fashion (ETC-F) brands have been created. The ETC-M reflected the feminist tendencies of the early 21st century and created a kind of fashion style with a background of the social characteristics of Korea. Looking back on modern and contemporary fashion, it is not much different from the past, when young minds from that period created various fashion styles of a subculture that remained in history.

Considering these, this study answers the following research questions: RQ1. What are the characteristics of the ETC-F? RQ2. What steps did ETC-F brands take to establish themselves in the fashion industry? RQ3. What significance does the development of South Korea’s ETC-F have from a fashion design standpoint? What implications should be discussed from modern fashion culture and industry perspectives?

Based on the questions above, the purpose of this research is as follows. First, by understanding the historical background of South Korean feminism, which is the foundation for the ETC-M and the current trends, this study lays a foundation to study the ETC-M in depth. Second, it analyzes the ETC-M as a phenomenon that grew on social media and identifies the distinctive characteristics of the fashion styles that emerged as a result. Third, it identifies the significance of the emergence of South Korea’s ETC-F style. It presents an opportunity to examine the role and meaning of fashion from an industrial and cultural perspective, as well as to consider a society based on inclusion, diversity, and commendable sensitivity. An in-depth understanding of the issues of confrontation among members of society, such as gender issues, will be an important key to the sustainability of our society. Further, we derive the force of discussion points for a balanced and rational development of fashion, culture, and industry centered on these ETC issues. All of these are necessary to contribute to the sustainable development of the fashion industry and modern society as a whole. Among the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN General Assembly to be implemented by 2030, two items contain the will to solve the problem of inequality among members of the society [17]. One focuses on the issue of “Gender equality” and the other focuses on the topic of “Reduced inequality”. A sustainable society rejects discrimination, prejudice, and hostility. However, the issue of social inclusion as a broad concept that can still resolve these issues is a concept that is lagging far behind. In fact, when we look at whether all the detailed items of SDGs are selected and discussed as research topics in our research ecosystem, the items related to respect for individual human existence and experiences of social members are relatively neglected in almost all topics [18]. Thus, this study bridges that gap by allowing various reflections on the sustainability issues concerning ETC in society.

This study is significant in the following aspects. While focusing on fashion, this study attempts to analyze social sustainability with accompanying keywords such as feminism, gender, and social media. In particular, the gender issue has been treated as a research topic for a sustainable society in numerous varying aspects. In the 1990s, a study explored the similarities between sustainable and feminist ideal communities as successors to the utopian tradition [19]. More recently, a study discussed overcoming the social regime that subordinates women, as well as gender stereotypes and the gendered division of labor [20]. Another study pointed out how men’s voices predominate in shaping discourses and practices by examining the world of corporate social responsibility for sustainability [21]. Notably, a study argued that it is necessary to resolve misunderstandings about female leadership, seek effective reform measures to protect women’s rights, and create a fair, competitive environment in society [22]. By exposing the discriminatory power and prejudices of the existing society, feminism supports the construction of an inclusive future without discrimination and provides an alternative, holistic understanding of sustainability in various ways. In particular, this study deals with the fashion culture and fashion style of a minority of women, who do not have socially vested interests or fall under the majority. The ETC-F style was sometimes ignored as if it had no identity or acted as a judgment factor causing prejudice. Therefore, an academic approach and analysis will be a way for us to enable accurate understanding, recognition, and inclusion of this style that embodies feminist beliefs. Furthermore, this study can provide practical perspectives and insights into areas of the fashion industry and fashion culture fields that are not well-known in our society. This study can discuss concrete issues and potentials of the current fashion industry and sustainable society by analyzing the traces of a form of fashion declaration on ETC.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Feminism Reboot in South Korea

Feminism began in 1792 when British feminist advocate Mary Wollstonecraft demanded equal rights for women in her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Women [23]. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “feminism” is the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and receive the same treatment, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state [24]. Women’s studies in South Korea first appeared in 1977, and in ten years, it became an official undergraduate elective class [25]. However, as Korea is a patriarchal society, women’s studies are still often criticized in society [26].

Governmental support for feminism in Korea began in 2000 at the national level [27]. Since 2001, the Korean government collectively reorganized the dispersed departments that were in charge of handling tasks concerning women. The Ministry of Gender Equality was established and functioned as a national governmental department that adjusted policies concerning women, promoted the rights and interests of women, and elevated their status in society. After establishing this ministry, gender inequality came to be banned by law, and victims’ rights were protected. Bills were passed to guarantee women’s rights, and existing discriminatory laws were abolished [28]. The rearrangement of the legal system at the national level was possible because of feminism, which became an academic discipline in Korea at the end of the 20th century. After the 2000s, the feminist movement in Korea sought to lay out the institutional framework for gender equality but faced new challenges in the digital era in the 2010s. In other words, hate crimes against women, such as sexual exploitation and illegal filming, were more easily made in the digital online space, which resulted in a serious gender conflict in Korea [29].

With fourth-wave feminism, Korean feminists began following trends in global feminism to practice feminism actively online. Britannica categorizes feminism that actively uses social media platforms as fourth-wave feminism [30]. Not bound by a specific ideology, ETC-M women gather and disperse around trending topics that align with the feminist agenda; one of its characteristic features is its use of social media platforms to network [1]. South Korean feminism, categorized as fourth-wave feminism, is deeply related to the formation of online feminist communities known as “Megalia” in 2015 [31]. This distinctive name was made by combining letters from the virus name Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus or “MERS-COV” and the title of Norwegian feminist Gerd Brantenberg’s book, Egalia’s Daughters [32]. In relation to the virus epidemic in 2015, gender-hating posts appeared online. Many women judged this not as a personal issue but as a structural one in South Korean society [33]. They showed their strength by collecting 70,000 petition signatures while campaigning to shut down an illegal website that sexually exploited women [32]. “Megalia” is a radical feminist group which was unprecedented in South Korea. This online feminist community, which had a slogan of “Hate misogyny”, has been criticized for being sexist toward men, but it has also gained media coverage by relentlessly speaking out against rampant crimes targeting women. Additionally, it was also evaluated as a very outstanding public forum that advocates for changes in the patriarchal society and a place of feminist solidarity [34]. With a strong online network and presence, “Megalia” was at the forefront of South Korea’s fourth-wave feminism immediately after the murder of a woman in her twenties in 2016, which led to a rally commemorating innocent female victims [35]. This murder influenced women to label themselves as feminists and ultimately rebooted feminism in South Korea [36].

By the end of 2016, women protesting against the law criminalizing abortion gathered to demand the legalization of abortion and carried out the “Black Protest” [37]. In April 2019, the demonstration influenced the anti-abortion law in court, and this resulted in the “Decision Incompatible with the Constitution on Abortion” (The Decisions of 2017 Hun-Ba 127); with this, their demonstration achieved its purpose [38]. This was very meaningful in the history of South Korean feminism, where the influence of the fourth-wave feminists transcended the online realm, entered offline space, and influenced the course of interpreting and applying the law. In May 2018, there was a mass protest against the police department’s sexist approach toward investigating a criminal case related to illegal filming [39]. The protest continued for seven months and became one of the biggest feminist protests in the history of South Korea [40]. At the same time, as the ETC-M, which aims to break free from a rigorous beauty regimen as a form of labor imposed on women, unfolded on one side; the ripple effect of young feminists in their teens and twenties in Korea expanded beyond online platforms and into offline lives [41].

Hate crimes against women continued, with incidents such as “Burning Sun gate” and the “Nth Room case” unfolding [42] and protests by feminists accelerating in South Korea. Feminism vigorously resisted the hate targeting women. At the heart of the development of South Korean feminism was the resistance against the numerous misogynistic hate crimes targeting women, at the core of which was the notion of how a woman’s body can be mistreated as a sexual object. Young women in South Korea expressed their strong criticism of society through large public gatherings and continued to be active online by sharing their opinions and calling on others to participate. The unity among the ETC-M women led them to form their own unique style, and the movement gained relevance with how they sought to unite among themselves.

2.2. Feminism and Fashion in South Korea

Historically, feminism and fashion have been inseparable. Feminists have pointed out throughout history that wearing decorative, impractical, and cumbersome garments has made it difficult for women to participate socially and has confined them to the household [4,43]. Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, who were at the forefront of revolutionizing women’s fashion, were at the center of portraying participation in feminism through fashion, by trying on new garments instead of the uncomfortable ones imposed on women [44]. They revolted against gender-specific garments and emphasized that comfortable clothing could be provided for both genders [45]. The importance of fashion is not distinguishing gender but an individual’s personal taste and style [46].

In 2016, South Korean feminism underwent a significant sociocultural change. Feminism spread among women in their twenties who were sensitive about being in tune with the latest trends. It began in the fashion industry as well when it took the initiative to convey the message of feminists. Female celebrities wore clothing with feminist phrases printed on them that made feminism prominent in South Korea. In 2017, a famous Korean actor wore a t-shirt from Dior with the phrase “We should all be feminists” to a public event. Korean idols in their twenties appeared on TV wearing earrings that said “Girl Power” and posted photos of themselves wearing t-shirts with the text “Why have there been no great women artists?” printed on them on Instagram. This text is the title of feminist author Linda Nochlin’s dissertation [47].

A collection by a South Korean fashion designer also displayed feminist values. During the 2018 F/W Seoul Fashion Week at the Miss Gee Collection fashion show, models wearing t-shirts with feminist hashtags such as “#MeToo”, “#WithYou”, “#Speak”, “#Dignity” printed on them and power shoulder suits walked down the runway. Graphically printed phrases directly conveying feminist messages on apparel reminded the public of prominent events such as the MeToo movement. In an interview, the fashion designer expressed her support and desire to be part of the MeToo movement [48] and mentioned the possibility of fashion and feminism coexisting. The feminist theme continued in the 2019 S/S Seoul Fashion Week. Undeniably, feminism in the South Korean fashion industry is now hard to ignore. As South Korea’s ready-to-wear fashion market began to incorporate feminist slogans mainly on social media, the ETC-M made it possible for young South Korean feminists to participate online in a more radical form of feminism through fashion. Instead of merely printing slogans on t-shirts, greater attempts were made to change the conventional concept of how we dress and revolutionize the fashion industry. Amelia Jenks Bloomer emphasized that fashion should not be used to divide people based on gender, and this argument aligns with today’s young Korean feminists. They pursue rational reform and actively engage in changing the discriminatory ways of fashion. Opinions of young feminists have accumulated and formed a style that has culminated in the establishment of ETC-F brands.

2.3. The #EscapeTheCorset Movement

The expression “escape the corset” is a term coined by symbolically metaphorizing all of the strict beauty regimens unilaterally required of women in society to a corset [49]. In this term, a corset, a correctional undergarment only required to be worn by women, is used as a generic term, including things such as long hours spent on styling hair, perfecting one’s makeup, and wearing uncomfortable shoes constricting activity. The ETC-M rejects the standard of beauty imposed by society on women and aspires for women to regain control over their bodies by not engaging in laborious work in the form of rigorous beauty routines [50].

The movement started as the “Out of The Corset” project in August 2015 on Megalia’s Facebook page. This project was inspired and took a motif from Brazilian feminist illustrator Carol Rossetti’s “The Woman Project”, and Korean illustrator SSSinen created a series of illustrations for the “Out of The Corset” project [51]. The simple illustrations on a white background presented a woman standing in front of a window talking about how true beauty is not defined by others but by oneself. These illustrations were posted on Facebook and catalyzed the ETC-M in Korea, and later paved the way for the ETC-F and culture that are popular today [13].

ETC-M has been conducting an anonymity-based networking movement centered on online platforms, such as the tendency of fourth-wave feminism. However, to participate, one had to change their way of dressing and/or appearance. Thus, this cause involved an actionable component that women had to engage in offline. Women cut their hair short and/or stopped applying makeup and destroyed cosmetic products in their possession; they posted images of themselves on social media platforms and motivated others to participate in the movement with them [52]. A total of 18,000 posts were shared online with the hashtag “#EscapeTheCorset” in 2021. The ETC-M and Hyehwa Station protest in 2018 aligned with the feminist agenda at the time. At Hyehwa Station protests condemning the sexist bias investigation into illegal filming, the organizers of the protest shaved their heads [53,54], so women cutting their hair short—one of the ways of expressing ETC-M—was widely reported on TV news. That year, beauty YouTuber “LinaBae” uploaded a YouTube video of herself removing her makeup [55]. Other YouTubers followed suit and began uploading videos relating to the ETC-M.

The hashtag #EscapeTheCorset spread, and a new avenue emerged in the capitalist free market. The ETC-M community enjoys comfortably fitted clothes, simple skincare products instead of heavy cosmetic ones, books, culture, and art pertaining to the movement that offers an alternative, reasonable, and cost-effective consumption route [13]. Between 2016 and 2018, the ETC-M spread and the news reported the significance of the movement in 2019. According to South Korea’s big data center KOSTAT (The Statistics Korea) from the second half of 2015 to the first half of 2016 and the second half of 2017 to the first half of 2018, the expenses that women in their twenties originally incurred on makeup, hair salons, and plastic surgery began to decrease steadily. However, car sales increased [56]. The ETC-M may have influenced their consumption patterns.

The ETC-M differed from previous feminist movements because it did not follow the narrative of Western feminism. It is significant as it began in South Korea and caught the attention of the media globally. In October 2018, The Guardian interviewed a YouTuber who owned an ETC-M YouTube channel called “Korean womyn” [57] and was the first to report on the ETC-M. Later that year, BBC NEWS interviewed beauty YouTuber LinaBae and announcer Hyunju Lim [58] and made South Korea’s ETC-M globally known. Announcer Hyunju Lim wore a pair of glasses on an episode of MBC TV Newsdesk in South Korea, which became a topic of conversation in South Korea as, unlike men, wearing glasses is considered unconventional for female announcers, and she participated in the ETC-M by deviating from society’s beauty standards. BBC reported this as news of women finding the freedom to express themselves in an extremely conservative society. ABC News reported on the gruesome crimes against women in South Korea and published articles on the ETC-M. The news covered feminist practices ranging from the fact that Korean women were in solidarity through the #EscapeTheCorset hashtag to the 4B movement (or “Four No’s”, that is, renouncement of four activities: sex, child-rearing, dating, and marriage with men), and delivered the narrative of Korean feminism and ETC-M from a broad perspective [9]. NPR covered the story of photographer Jeon Bora’s “escape the corset” black-and-white photo exhibition featuring 100 women who participated in the ETC-M. The 100 women were presented before and after they participated in the ETC-M; the photos included women who had shaved their heads, stood in the nude, and did not conform to society’s beauty standards; further, only biological women were allowed to enter and view the exhibition [59]. This exhibition was crowd-funded with the help of social media. In South Korean society, the mention of the ETC-M is still a sensitive issue. However, on a global scale, gender sensitivity is an important value, and the ETC-M and ETC-F are worth contemplating.

3. Methods

With the ETC-F, a new mode of dressing emerged. This study qualitatively examines the noteworthiness and specific characteristics of the ETC-F, and quantitatively attempted text mining analysis on the pattern of propagation through social media. As the ETC-M began to be shared on social media, styles that were commonly found among shared social media posts came to be known as “escape the corset fashion.” From a fashion design perspective, this study analyzes the specific characteristics of ETC-F and its significance. To this end, this study conducted a literature review, examined ETC-F as seen on social media platforms, and examined the case study of an ETC-F brand case. The specific details are as follows.

First, ETC-F was examined by drawing from the literature using a diachronic approach. The works of Korean scholars in the fields of both culture and women’s studies were referred to in order to understand the development of the ETC-F. The Declaration of Tal-Corset by Yun and Yunkim [60] and Escape the Corset: The Coming Imagination by M. K. Lee [61] provided a strong foundation for understanding the ETC-F. Yun and Yunkim [60] were the first to shed light on the cultural context of the ETC-M. M. K. Lee [61] interviewed the women who participated in the ETC-M from 2018 to 2019. Various research materials, institutional reports, and statistical data on the ETC-M were referenced. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Seoul Gender Equality Library were especially resourceful. FemiWiki, a feminist wiki website (https://femiwiki.com/), was used as a reference because the ETC-M is still an ongoing movement online through the participation and opinion of the public. FemiWiki is managed by the public and provides updated information on events related to the ETC-M. It is narrated from various perspectives. Since it began in 2016, FemiWiki has not stagnated.

Second, social media findings and broadcast news were collected and analyzed to understand the types and characteristics of the ETC-F. Findings drawn from social media were crucial. Since the end of the 20th century, the Internet has been a tool for a diverse range of women to discover and approach feminism [62]. Flores et al. [63], who studied the revival of feminism through social media, considered that using both offline and online spaces to discuss feminist content and share feelings about inequality could help build new forms of communication and reinvent space. Turley and Fisher [64] studied social media and feminist activism and emphasized the growing importance of social media for feminist movements, campaigns, awareness-raising activities, and other related endeavors. They especially emphasized how social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and blogs are meaningful and important objects of research as they help feminists and others share their personal experiences and raise awareness regarding the inequality and violence that women face in contemporary times. To categorize and analyze the ETC-F, social media posts by young feminists who participated in the movement are the most crucial sources of information in this study. Through the social media posts put up by young feminists, it was possible to identify common characteristics and ways of how women dressed up as part of ETC-F. Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and other social community platforms were the main source of these data. Searches were conducted on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtags #EscapeTheCorset and #ofsw. The hashtag “#ofsw” stands for “Only for single women” and had 40,000 posts under it at the time of the study. Styles were identified through pictures and online posts put up by young feminists who participated in the movement using these hashtags. Influential YouTubers Heavytalker, SOGNO, SOLOdarity, and MEJI, among others, used these hashtags on their channels. YouTube channels were also an important source in this study. Each YouTube channel had at least 30,000 subscribers (maximum 160,000) at the time the study was conducted. These YouTube influencers have significant social influence and presence. The online feminist community “Women’s Era” on the Daum café social media platform also provided important resources through their “Unmarried by choice” forum. This community was established around 2017 and had approximately 800,000 registered members and 120,000 posts at the time of the study. News reports were collected to serve as a foundation for the discussion in this study. A series of events in the 2010s was specifically selected as research material. South Korean feminism has been rebooted between 2015 and the present, and this reboot serves as the background for the ETC-M. A large amount of research material centered on 2018 and 2019 was collected. This marked the point in time when the ETC-M was widely known to the public. When the search term “escaping the corset” was entered on Google, approximately 4,320 Korean news articles were found. Overlapping articles were discarded. The search results were reorganized to identify how feminism in Korea developed over time and what it had become at the time of study. Global news channels such as CNN, BBC, and The Guardian published articles that offered insights on the sociocultural meaning of the ETC-M from a global perspective.

Third, to discover where the market and culture formations of the ETC-F currently stand from a fashion design standpoint, a brand that represents the movement was selected and analyzed. The ETC-F style had been developed mainly on social media platforms. Soon after that, brands representing this style emerged. Fuse Seoul is the most noteworthy brand among all ETC brands. It is most frequently named through the media in relation to the ETC-F and has been active since 2018. Fuse Seoul designs fashion products and diligently plans and executes promotion campaigns and collaborations. The brand’s diverse activities are listed on its official website (https://fuseseoul.com/). These activities are also shared with the public on various social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. These platforms made it possible to collect information on the brand for this study. In particular, the special projects carried out by this brand and the contents of the YouTube channel operated by the brand representative show strong styling images and utterances containing feminist identity, and the direction of ETC-F linked to the styles requested by the ETC women is clear. Through this, it was possible to derive the specific characteristics and significance of ETC-F and to find meaningful points of discussion.

Fourth, quantitative analysis was attempted on ETC and Fuse Seoul, which is known as the representative brand of ETC-F, based on keywords posted on online media. Using the text-mining method of natural language processing (NLP), we conducted preliminary searches for related posts on online communities, Instagram, blogs, news, and Twitter from mid-2015 to 2022. As the period of concentration of posts is from 2018 to 2022, the full-scale analysis was limited to this range. There are three types of analyses: the number and trend of posts written in all five channels above, related words that are frequently mentioned together, and positive/negative evaluation words. When analyzing related words and positive/negative evaluation words, for some vague words that require accurate interpretation, the corresponding posts were searched and the intention of using the word was confirmed in context.

The methodology model of this study is as follows (See Figure 1).

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. On the “Escape the Corset” Fashion

Analyzing ETC-M as a social phenomenon and identifying the characteristics of the resulting fashion styles will provide an opportunity to think about a sustainable society based on inclusion, diversity, and sensitivity through feminist fashion. Counting by the wording of posts on social media and online news, interest in ETC peaked after mid-2018. The following results were obtained by performing text mining to search for trends in the appearance of posts mentioning “ETC”, related words frequently mentioned together, and positive/negative evaluation words, by dividing the four-year period from 2018 to 2022 by one year (See Figure 2,

Table 1. Words related to “ETC”.

Ranking	July 2018–June 2019	July 2019–June 2020	July 2020–June 2021	July 2021–June 2022
1	corset	female	corset	female
2	female	corset	female	corset
3	movement	movement	movement	woman
4	Tal-Co	woman	woman	movement
5	woman	makeup	feminism	society
6	man	Tal-Co	Tal-Co	notion
7	feminism	feminism	society	man
8	society	clothes	clothes	Tal-Co
9	male	English	default	diary
10	makeup	German	man	the middle class

and

Table 2. Positive(+)/negative evaluation words related to “ETC”.

Ranking	July 2018–June 2019	July 2019–June 2020	July 2020–June 2021	July 2021–June 2022
1	ridicule	nasty	comfortable(+)	positive(+)
2	curse	good(+)	good(+)	disabled
3	violence	beautiful(+)	misogyny	hate
4	misogyny	detest	pretty(+)	curse
5	swear word	hate	support(+)	nondescript
6	pretty(+)	beauty(+)	great(+)	ridicule
7	logical(+)	human(+)	refuse	pretty(+)
8	chuckle(+)	anger	ridicule	not familiar
9	recommend(+)	noxious	convenient(+)	misogyny
10	inexpensive(+)	support(+)	wish(+)	comfortable(+)

).

The frequency of postings over the past four years has decreased since Its peak at the end of 2018. As mentioned in the theoretical review earlier, ETC was a hot topic in Korean society and a term that many people discussed while it existed, along with the history of Korean feminism. However, the level of attention did not always remain the same. When the analysis range of four years was divided by one year, the first year had the highest frequency (See Figure 2). The frequency for one year after July 2019 was approximately 20,000, and the graph was almost horizontal. After July 2020, the frequency was approximately 10,000, depicting a gentle decline.

ETC seems to have entered the process of becoming an issue that is gently applied and discussed in real life. It started with a dynamic and radical movement that called for social change by creating a neologism. Although positions on ETC issues are still diverse and conflicting, it has indeed become a style that some female groups enjoy. Judging from the graph, the emergence of a novelty that is different from the mainstream is no different from the rising–falling trend of a fashion phenomenon that has received attention for a period and gradually become a subculture. Change and fluidity are essential in the world of fashion. Several theorists have pointed out that various fashion styles may emerge in a fluid society [65,66].

The mention of ETC began on social media on 9 July 2015. Initially, the posts were made primarily on Twitter. From the beginning of 2018, however, the frequency of posts increased rapidly. Around that time, the mention of “ETC style” appeared on 21 February 2018, and the frequency of use increased notably from May. Shortly thereafter, the use of the term ETC-F began in June 2018. It is noteworthy that the public began to use the word “style” earlier than the combination of “fashion” in the concept of ETC. Figure 2 shows the trend over a one-year period with relatively high posting frequency, from July 2018 to June 2019. When retweets were included, more than 110,000 posts were generated in November 2018. Shortly thereafter, the hashtag #ofsw (“Only for single women”) appeared on social media on 2 December 2018. The word “default” womenswear appeared online on 16 April 2020.

Table 1 shows the top 10 words among related words for the last four years. In 2018–2019, “makeup” appeared first, and in 2019–2020, “clothes” finally appeared as a related word. In 2020–2021, the term “default”, which symbolically means ETC-F, appeared within the top 10. Upon analyzing the use of ETC’s words online, it does not appear that the visual concept has been clearly established, although it is clear that the expression of ETC’s beliefs is through style or fashion. In other words, it appears that the public is still looking for an ETC-F concept online. Table 2 lists the top 10 words for positive/negative evaluation of ETC over the past four years. Most of the ETC over the four years is related to the negative evaluation vocabulary. However, in 2020-2021, more positive words are counted, which coincides with the period when the ETC-F brand, which appears in the next chapter, is most actively searched for in posts.

The ETC-F is not limited to the acquisition of certain fashion items, hairstyles, makeup looks, or the mode of wearing innerwear. Rather, it alludes to one’s style and identity overall. On social media, the ETC-F is known as the “escape-the-corset look” or the “default look”. There is a clear political motive behind the ETC-F as it aims to break away from the styles that portray gender stereotypes and to dismiss fashion as a means of dividing people based on gender while also making “womanliness” pointless [60]. Sporting short haircuts and not wearing makeup, bras, and high heels are a few features that represent the ETC-F. The following results were drawn from qualitative analysis conducted online from 2015 onward, with a focus on online feminist communities and news broadcasts, as well as posts on social media and YouTube and other sites, with respect to the ETC-M. A variety of information has been shared on social media, including topics such as product reviews, advice on what to look out for while making a purchase, and how to style clothes, vis-à-vis the ETC-F. The detailed findings are presented below.

First, the ETC-F style has common characteristics. One of the most distinctive characteristics is short haircuts and wearing no makeup. The reason for this is that society’s expectations, fantasies, and gender stereotypes center on women having long hair. Women who are part of the ETC-M find short haircuts more practical than long hair, and refer to long hair as “protein” or “protein hijab” [67]. They argue that the time and cost involved in taking care of long hair should be diverted to self-development. Some also argue that hair should be completely shaved off, and several women were soon found with shaved heads [68]. Wearing no makeup is also common and mainstream in the ETC-M. The no-makeup look is a statement from women who rebel against the idea that wearing makeup is a woman’s duty. Another distinctive characteristic is not wearing a bra. Women who chose not to wear bras exhibited their determination to go against the assertion that a bra is worn for the sake of maintaining the shape and preventing their breasts from sagging. Choosing to go braless is considered a bold move, even within the ETC-M. Women are also switching to wireless bras or are wearing bralettes, nipple patches, or band-aids as nipple patches. Wearing a bralette or using nipple patches are considered to be transitioning stages before going braless. This appears to be a social movement against society’s view of women’s breasts being an object of unsolicited attraction. The social phenomenon was also seen with women’s bottom undergarments, where women pointed out how traditional women’s underwear compresses the Y-zone and causes legs to swell, among other things, and began to wear men’s boxers and trunks instead [69].

The ETC-F manifested in outfits as well. First, suits constituted a form of ETC-F outfits. Considered exclusive to men, suits are discussed by feminists as inclusive and made for women, too. Women who participated in the ETC-M were against wearing women’s skirt suits, which emphasize the waistline, and were seen wearing straight-fitted suit jackets and slacks. Some women wore men’s suits. This phenomenon was common among young teen feminists who wore male school uniforms, rebelling against society’s idea that it is only “natural” or “normal” for girls to wear skirts and for boys to wear pants [70]. Another outfit that expresses the ETC-M is the modernized hanbok. Some wear the “bub-bok” in South Korea, a kind of hanbok, a traditional loose-fitting top-and-bottom set that is worn by people of both genders and by monks in South Korea. The ETC-M community started an online discussion about wearing bub-bok at the beginning of 2018. The discussion began and gained popularity during the Women’s Era. Most users were feminists in their twenties, who represented and led fourth-wave feminism. In 2021, the keyword “bub-bok” on the Women’s Era’s search engine returned 315 posts. Several posts around buying bub-bok were found, where women posted pictures of themselves wearing bub-bok and reviewed their purchases. The bub-bok style spread on Twitter and Instagram and became a staple style among ETC women. Bub-bok provided functionality and comfort for women, naturally being an alternative mode of fashion before the appearance of the ETC-F brands. The modern hanbok has become a staple outfit of the ETC-F and was soon sold as a fashion item by ETC-F brands.

There are distinct characteristics of ETC-F tops and bottoms. First, tops are regular or loosely fitting and neither reveal nor emphasize a woman’s curves. ETC women generally consider off-shoulder tops, crop tops, and any tops that show cleavage or that are designed to emphasize the waist as corsets. ETC women prefer wearing men’s jackets over women’s jackets that emphasize the waistline, prefer boxy shirts over feminine ones that accentuate the breasts and waist, and choose loosely fitting over slim-fit clothing. They prefer men’s tank tops over women’s tank tops. Thus, there is a tendency to wear tops that are bigger and more comfortable. ETC women avoided wearing skirts and one-piece dresses. They stand firm against garments that are solely meant for women [13]. Slim-fit pants that show off women’s hips, thighs, and buttocks as well as skinny-fit pants and leggings are considered corsets and are not worn by women who opt for the ETC style. Straight, tapered, and relaxed fit designs found in menswear are preferred. ETC women refuse to wear form-fitting clothes that show off their curves and refuse garments that are revealing, such as extremely short pants and low-rise pants that constrict them in the course of their daily activities. Instead, shorts with an overall wide thigh circumference and length reaching at least to the mid-thigh, men’s sweatpants, high-rise slacks, cargo pants, and other practical and functional pants are worn.

ETC women view high-heeled shoes as a means to repress women. They argue that high heels are similar to the Chinese custom of foot binding. In particular, the antifeminist thinking prevailing in society that wearing high heels makes women look slender and the legs look pretty, and the opinion that wearing high heels can lead to diseases such as hallux valgus and ankle fracture, are all sufficient reasons for their negative attitude toward high heels. Pumps, wedge heels, mules, and bootees are considered high heels. Flats and Mary Jane shoes characterized as feminine are also not to be worn. Instead, ETC women enjoy wearing comfortable and gender-neutral shoes such as sneakers, loafers, Oxfords, boat shoes, and walkers. Minis, clutches, and evening bags are considered feminine bags and are not the choice of ETC women. Minimalistic bags that are multifunctional with high storage capacity and that offer great comfort, such as cross bags, backpacks, fanny packs are preferred, as well as men’s bags or unisex products.

Another unique characteristic of the ETC-F is its exclusion of decorative design elements. Frills, ribbons, shirring, gathers, ruffles, and lace from the romantic fashion domain are excluded. Women who wear ETC-F refer to clothing including these decorative design elements as “candy wrapper clothes,” which they consider unnecessary decorative design elements that have defined women’s fashion and are used socially to constrict women in history [71]. Floral prints and wearing inner garments outside from romanticism have been studied as characteristics of second-generation feminism [72]. However, on the other hand, the ETC-F strongly refuses these characteristics.

After searching and categorizing the ETC-F by fashion item, as a result, it is common characteristics to wear clothes with comfortability, functionality, and practicality, avoiding emphasizing or exposing the female body line for both top and bottom garments. This applies to fashion accessories as well, and romantic designs are not accepted as ETC-F.

4.2. On the “Escape the Corset” Fashion Brand

At the beginning of the ETC-F from 2018–2019, posts and comments on Twitter and other social media platforms called for women to stop purchasing all-women’s clothing. Most women recommended purchasing unisex or men’s clothing in small sizes. Relying on online shopping for short men was another suggestion. However, there was an argument that the consumption of menswear alone would also increase the quantity of men’s fashion. In addition, women who had tried to wear men’s clothing pointed out the discomfort arising out of the biological difference, for instance, in the hips, between men and women.

Fuse Seoul emerged when people expressed their discomfort and highlighted their need for ETC-F products. It started out as an ordinary womenswear brand online; however, in the summer of 2018, it began to sell t-shirts with feminist phrases printed on them, thus re-establishing its brand identity. It continued to develop as a prominent feminist designer brand. Fuse Seoul is an exemplary fashion brand under the ambit of the ETC-F.

“Fuse Seoul” has been mentioned in social media and online news since 9 October 2018. The results of a text-mining search for trends in the appearance of posts mentioning “Fuse Seoul”, related words frequently mentioned together, and positive/negative evaluation words, by dividing the four-year period from 2018 to 2022 by one year, are as follows: (See Figure 3,

Table 3. Words related to “Fuse Seoul”.

Ranking	July 2018–June 2019	July 2019–June 2020	July 2020–June 2021	July 2021–June 2022
1	Seoul	Seoul	Seoul	Seoul
2	clothes	clothes	clothes	clothes
3	shopping mall	trousers	trousers	size
4	trousers	shopping mall	drawers	desert
5	size	refrigerator	refrigerator pants	lamb
6	shirt	refrigerator pants	refrigerator	trousers
7	model	size	Hanbok	coin
8	woman	suit	size	TV
9	corset	shirt	modernized Hanbok	prime cost
10	Hawaiian shirt	womenswear	desert	hooded t-shirt

and

Table 4. Positive(+)/negative evaluation words related to “Fuse Seoul”.

Ranking	July 2018–June 2019	July 2019–June 2020	July 2020–June 2021	July 2021–June 2022
1	improve(+)	nice(+)	good(+)	new(+)
2	win(+)	comfortable(+)	attach	new model(+)
3	pleasure(+)	attach	durable(+)	wish(+)
4	doubt	like(+)	comfortable(+)	possible
5	good(+)	look good(+)	fresh(+)	good(+)
6	do it well(+)	worth(+)	insufficiently-dressed	the best(+)
7	work well(+)	the best(+)	sale(+)	highly recommended(+)
8	nice(+)	good(+)	expectation(+)	discrimination
9	recommend(+)	cheer(+)	thankful(+)	comfortable(+)
10	perfect(+)	trust(+)	curse	thankful(+)

).

Figure 3 shows the trend over a one-year period with relatively high posting frequency, from July 2020 to June 2021. Including retweets, it generated over 30,000 posts in April 2021. Table 3 shows the top 10 words among related words for the last four years. The search terms consistently extracted in the first and second places are insignificant because they refer to brand names or general items, and the special item names appearing in the lower rankings show the popular items of Fuse Seoul. In particular, the names “refrigerator” and “refrigerator pants” refer to products with a sense of cooling fabric functionality. Further, “Hanbok” refers to the comfortable modified hanbok that appeared when the characteristics of ETC-F were described earlier, that is, the bub-bok mainly worn by monks.

Also notable are unexpected words such as “desert” and “lamb”, which are words related to digital content such as games and webtoons that have collaborated with Fuse Seoul. This point provides a clue that the public’s interest in Fuse Seoul has scalability in relation to digital content. The fact that “size” is considered a high-ranking related word for all four years is also a basis for showing the product characteristics of the Fuse Seoul brand.

Table 4 lists the top 10 words for positive/negative evaluation of Fuse Seoul over the past four years. In the evaluation of Fuse Seoul, the frequency of positive words throughout the four years exceeds 60% of the total positive/negative evaluation words. This is different from the tendency where negative evaluation words for ETC always appeared frequently. In the related word results, representative popular items of Fuse Seoul were mainly searched, while in the positive/negative evaluation word table, significant positive words stand out. In particular, words such as “improve”, “recommend”, “comfortable”, and “durable” are meaningful because they are related to the results of qualitative analysis to be explained later. However, since some of the posts from Fuse Seoul were included in the text-mining results, the quantitative aspect of the positive evaluation cannot be given too much meaning.

The results of the qualitative analysis of Fuse Seoul’s official website and social media activities are as follows. Brand owner Soo-Jung Kim questioned the methods used to produce menswear and womenswear and pointed out the problems such as standardized womenswear designs to fit society’s beauty standards emphasizing attraction, unlike menswear, and the unrealistically smaller sizes of womenswear. She shared what made her uncomfortable about the fashion industry during her fashion career on Instagram. Her Instagram posts expressing her personal opinion and experience received numerous “likes” [73] as it was relatable for many women. With this, the very first ETC-F brand was born. In October 2018, Fuse Seoul showcased its first winter collection, which comprised sweatshirts, hoodies, suit setups, and long trench coats. Fuse Seoul clothing items, at first glance, seemed to design ETC-F by designing menswear; however, the brand distinguished its collection from menswear by incorporating design factors that made the clothing more suitable to the woman’s body by prioritizing comfort. The design focused on developing improvements such as altering fit, collar, and shoulder pads in consideration for the inconveniences raised when women wore menswear in the early ETC-M. The brand participated in the ETC-M by adding details to its designs, such as the hidden waistband (found in men’s slacks) in women’s slacks and big inner pockets in women’s jackets like those found in men’s jackets. Fuse Seoul combines the advantages of menswear, such as spacious, deep pockets and loose and comfortable fit, among others, with improvements in womenswear such as altering the waist size and length to fit women’s bodies better. In addition, based on the tendency that menswear is made with a fairly relaxed trouser size, unlike womenswear, Fuse Seoul’s clothing is made about half a size bigger than the conventional equivalent in the market for the same size range, thereby stating that it pursues comfort and activity.

Fuse Seoul became famous with its line of drawers for women. It designed drawers instead of briefs for women to relieve them of the discomfort they experience, such as pressure and discoloration of the Y-zone, swollen legs, and uncomfortable pressure on the abdomen, among other things. Fuse Seoul’s drawers have the longest length for the crotch in the women’s underwear market. It is designed to minimize discomfort and offers room for users to attach menstrual pads. It uses water-repellent fabric in the crotch area to prevent vaginal discharge and menstrual blood from leaking. Including all that is suitable for a woman’s body in terms of comfort and offering women what they need in the design are displays of feminist values. Fuse Seoul designed trunks generous in size and with rising length to emphasize comfort for women. Another signature fashion product from Fuse Seoul is their “set up suit”, which began as a two-piece suit comprising a jacket and pair of slacks. Gradually, it became a three-piece suit with a vest added to the set. All suit jackets from Fuse Seoul are mandatorily designed and produced with at least six pockets: one each of chest and hidden sleeve pockets, and two each of outer and inner pockets. Their slacks are all designed with a hidden elastic waistband. Whereas most men’s jackets have lapel buttonholes, women’s jackets do not. Fuse Seoul recognized this and designed women’s jackets with lapel buttonholes.

Incorporating a distinctive characteristic of the ETC-F, Fuse Seoul styles its models to be braless in all photoshoots, sharing and emphasizing this through their online social network site. When they first began, Fuse Seoul organized and directed a few projects pertaining to feminism. It donates part of the proceeds from its sales to feminist causes and actively communicates with its main target market through Instagram. Every year, Fuse Seoul organizes special projects for feminism and maintains its brand identity as an ETC-F brand. It executed one of its first fashion image projects in 2018. It was called the “2019 Mirroring Calendar.” This calendar was created with fashion images that challenged society’s stereotypical expectations around gender roles assigned to women and men and society’s idea of a submissive woman and a strong willing man. One of the images in this calendar shows the contrast between a woman with a buzzcut wearing a suit staring into the camera and a man wearing a revealing dress in a submissive posture. Another image shows a woman wearing a puffer jacket and tuxedo with a bowtie and a man only concealing certain parts of his body wearing a halter top dress, standing side by side. The calendar was well-received among feminist women and became a hit. It sold out and went into a second round of production.

The second project was in 2019 and was called “I’m enough”. This project was a fashion photoshoot of six women participating in the ETC-F. The final product comprised seven photographs of the six women with messages conveying their support for the ETC women. The women in these photographs rejected all societal beauty standards and presented distinctive characteristics of the ETC-F. All the models wore suits, t-shirts with hoods, straight-fitted pants, and cargo pants, and all clothing was semi-loose-fitted and emphasized functionality and comfort. One image features a model looking down at the camera with her hands in her pockets to convey the idea of a confident woman. The photographs include models of different body shapes and sizes, and send a strong message to women not to be pressured to conform to society’s beauty standards. The third project is the “2020 Womyn Calendar Project,” where the word “woman” is spelled as “womyn”, which is commonly used by radical feminists who refuse to use the word “man” while spelling the word “woman”. This calendar features professional women holding down a variety of jobs. All models have short haircuts or buzzcuts and no makeup, wear glasses, and are braless, among other things.

Other than its independent projects, collaborations are conducted with feminist artists as a means of marketing the brand. First, in 2019, a charity sale was held by Fuse Seoul with the ETC feminist YouTuber “Heavytalker”. This charity sale incorporated the radical characteristic of fourth-generation feminism and only allowed biological women to enter the charity sale. Fuse Seoul donated 13,000 menstrual products and all the proceeds from the charity sale to the “House of Sharing for women victims of Japanese military sexual slavery” and local governments all over the country. It also collaborated with feminist YouTuber “Jappap”, who owns a gaming channel. They collaborated on designing clothes together for two consecutive years. All items such as bucket hats, t-shirts, and shorts sold out instantly as soon as they dropped. The collaboration was a success as a result of the YouTuber’s fanatic followers. In 2021, Fuse Seoul collaborated with webcomic artists who supported feminism through their content. They launched products such as the modern hanbok, t-shirts, and Korean traditional Norigae keyrings by collaborating with webcomics “Jeong-nyeoni”, “Geugnag-wangsaeng” that contain traditional Asian culture. Fuse Seoul strengthens its identity as a brand by continuing to collaborate with female feminist creators in the digital and new media industry.

4.3. Significance of “Escape the Corset” Fashion

Results were derived from the detailed characteristics of ETC-F as a distinctive style, and the process of appearance of the ETC-F brand formed based on these characteristics and the expression method of fashion design. Based on the above, the significance of ETC-F, which was built by young Korean women in the digital online era, can be discussed from the perspective of fashion in the following three aspects.

First, the significance of the ETC-F is that it raises awareness of inequality in women’s fashion. On several social media platforms, discussions on the ETC-F have shown that women tend to purchase men’s clothes in small sizes, which reveals the inequality prevalent in fashion, and have noted that this trend went unnoticed for a long period of time. The inequality in women’s fashion was pointed out mainly on social media, especially YouTube, through YouTuber Heavytalker’s viral video titled “The Truth about Women’s Fashion”, which offered a detailed report on the inequality in women’s fashion [74]. Heavytalker claimed that inequality was found in the size, fabric, and functionality of women’s clothing. She pointed out how unrealistically small women’s sizes are. Unlike menswear, form-fitting clothes accentuating the body line can be found in both everyday and sports clothes for women. Pockets are smaller in women’s clothes than in men’s clothes. She showed that women’s clothes are less suitable for active lifestyles. The fabric used in women’s clothes is less dense, which makes it essential for women to handwash or dry clean their clothes. Since its inception, Fuse Seoul has always pointed out the inequalities prevalent in women’s fashion and sought to provide women with the same benefits that men enjoy in fashion. On Fuse Seoul’s official Instagram account and YouTube channel, the brand pointed out the inequality in the production of womenswear and made it a public discussion. Men’s sizes are standardized across all brands, but women’s sizes are not, as women fit their bodies into the clothing instead of the other way around. As sizes differ across brands, women are more likely to purchase the wrong sizes, which, in turn, will increase their expenses by forcing them to bear charges in returning, exchanging, and making alterations to the clothes. In menswear, inner pockets are considered a basic detail, but not in womenswear. When making womenswear, the production cost calculation is different from that of menswear because the production of pockets is calculated as an additional cost. The issue of inequality in this garment production process also cannot be ignored. From a fashion design and production standpoint, raising awareness of gender inequality should continue toward the balanced development of the world.

Second, the unity among the ETC women has formed an “anti-fashion style” that goes against mainstream fashion. Through social media, the ETC-M gained social consensus by presenting a critical discourse on the duty of exaggerated femininity in South Korean society [75]. On a Facebook page called “Bamboo”, where Korean university students speak anonymously, they discussed that beauty is not only uniformly imposed perfection in appearance. Happiness, health, activeness, and intelligence can be all the beauty pursued by humans. It was suggested that the freedom to explore such diversity is the essence of ETC [76]. This discourse emphasizes that the effort women put into meeting society’s standards of womanliness has reached a point where it interferes with their daily lives, and that the root cause of this is patriarchy. Therefore, the ETC-M is about gaining freedom from a society that obliges women to be womanly instead of being beautiful in their own ways. Young feminists in their teens and twenties who aspired for this freedom created ETC-F. What started as a minor group has now become a one-of-a-kind culture and trend in fashion today. Anti-fashion centers on deliberately and/or emphatically being not fashionable [77]. It can be distinguished by whom the resistance is led by, the object of the resistance, and the style presented in the course of the resistance [78]. Women participating in the ETC-M are against Korea’s patriarchal society and the fashion standards within it. Women who participate in this movement change their appearance in a manner that rebels against mainstream women’s fashion created based on men’s perspective on womanliness. There is no limit on how one may express themselves here. A look with no effort put into it is acknowledged as an ETC style. School uniforms or modernized hanbok, especially “bub-bok” worn by Korean monks, are even used as fashion items to dress up in the ETC style. Loose-fitting t-shirts worn together with a bub-bok, carelessly rolling up one’s bub-bok pants, etc., are all ways of expressing one’s individuality and part of the ETC style. Therefore, the ETC-F dismantles gender dichotomy and feminine fashion that is shaped and learned by society. It disrupts stereotypical gender roles and the mainstream fashion sense that has been entrenched in society. Women who participate in the ETC-M are considered to constitute a subculture within a subculture. Through social media, ETC women unite and share interesting fashion moments online. Through social media, the ETC women formed a strong bond and actively participated in the ETC-M, which was both destructive and creative in that it made something that had never been seen before.

Third, the expandability of the ETC-F content has cultural significance. As mentioned earlier, when explaining the origin of ETC-M, a single illustration started the ETC-M. This project’s first post was an illustration that called on women to free themselves from the pressure of maintaining good looks on the outside. Content created from the movement is shared and spread on social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Those creating the content explain where the style originated from and share stories about events and figures related to the content. Together, diversity is discussed and shared. Short yet meaningful content is shared and spread online. Fuse Seoul is also part of creating cultural content not only independently as a brand but also through collaborations. Since 2018, the brand has continued its calendar project by narrating the values of feminism in various ways. The theme, form, etc., of the calendar project changes every year, and introduces new fashion items and styles. Fuse Seoul has collaborated with feminist webcomic artists and has developed products with stories that include Korean traditional culture. The process and results are shared online, and the media content developed is meaningful as it centers on joyful female characters. In collaboration with a feminist YouTuber, incorporating the YouTuber’s view on a famous game developed ingenious content. The core values of the ETC-F come from the ETC-M. They are not merely defined or limited by fashion items and styles. The ETC-F has strong potential to expand and become cultural media content.

5. Conclusions

5.1. Theoretical Contributions

The background and foundation of the ETC-M come from feminism in Korea. The movement presents the determination to take off the “corset” and refuse to comply with society’s beauty standards. The rejection of existing styles in society led to the creation of a new style. This study sought to examine this social and fashion phenomenon. By answering an initial set of questions, this study draws the following theoretical conclusions and makes several contributions to the literature. First, this study sheds light on the background of the ETC-M and ETC-F by approaching the present state of feminism in South Korea. It emphasized the characteristics of the social media era. This study also examined the “close relationship between feminist participation and fashion” and “the relationship between participation through social media and fashion” in order to draw out academic significance.

Second, the ETC-M and ETC-F are known most for the symbolic expression of “taking off the corset” to rebel against rigorous routines that seek to meet society’s beauty standards. This study proves that the ETC-F is not solely about refusing to dress up or about rebelling against existing styles. The ETC-M allowed women to choose to reject discriminatory fashion and instead attempt fashion in the new ways that they wanted to try, on the lines of Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, among others, who participated in feminism through fashion. Therefore, this study explains what the ETC women found for themselves.

Third, with the aim of defining the distinctive characteristics of the ETC-F, this study not only looked into styles seen on the surface but also performed a further in-depth analysis of the well-known outfits. Along with the widely known styles of ETC-F, such as short haircuts, no makeup, and going braless, unexpected outfits, including the modernized hanbok, bub-bok, school uniform, and menswear suit were discovered. These results were the style characteristics that can be commonly derived from the personal daily posts of young feminists shared through social media and the products of the ETC-F brand, which have now settled in the fashion industry.

Fourth, Fuse Seoul was selected as a research subject to understand the ETC brands. It pays close attention to the ETC-M on social media and identifies the wants and needs of the ETC women. It is also able to recognize the issues they face on a daily basis, and as an ETC brand. Fuse Seoul commercializes these issues into products that support and make it easier for women to participate in the ETC-M. The activities of Fuse Seoul show how the brand not only designed and produced various products that were commonly bought via group purchases by the ETC women, but also improved them; and how they continuously strive to create exceptional content on the ETC-M. By analyzing the brand, this study proved how the ETC-M has both influence on and a direct relationship with the fashion industry.

Fifth, this study presented the results of analysis of the emergence and spread of the ETC-M and ETC-F and social evaluation. Through the text-mining method, the number and trend of posts were examined, and the types of related words and positive/negative evaluation words were identified. This result could partially supplement the results of the qualitative analysis in explaining the characteristics and significance of ETC-F.

Sixth, this study identified three significant impacts of the ETC-F in South Korean society: (1) It raised awareness of the discriminatory practices in women’s fashion, (2) it led to the formation of anti-fashion by women who disagree with mainstream women’s fashion, and (3) it discovered the extensibility from a cultural point of view, wherein it has fashion contents based on lifestyle and culture as well as the entertainment industry, in addition to fashion product development. The above three impacts are agendas worthy of continuous discussion within the fashion field and will be progressive questions posed by the ETC-F to the fashion industry and fashion culture.

5.2. Practical Implications

Connecting the conclusions related to the above theoretical contributions from a practical point of view, this research shows implications that can be directly associated to the fashion industry and a sustainable society. First, it recognized the unreasonable standards and insensitive practices prevalent in design and production processes in the fashion industry. This clearly calls for improvement. This study can serve as a resource to help improve areas of distinction between menswear and womenswear.

Second, when discussing feminism in the fashion field, the history of Western fashion has repeatedly been centered. However, in view of today’s actual social phenomenon, it is interesting to recognize the situation in which regional special situations and special items appear. Accurately defining the concept and sharing it as a social term will promote a sincere attitude toward the cultural and social history of fashion.

Third, in the process of collecting material for research about fourth-wave feminism, this study drew on the importance of the future of social media and online content in the fashion industry. The fashion industry cannot merely explain everything maintaining the productivist system, especially in this era where the appearance of new media and communications are highlighted, and non-materialistic events create higher value. This study traces the spread of various contents pertaining to the ETC-F through social media platforms and their potential for the future.

Fourth, this study tried to find and publicize specific issues on social sustainability. In particular, gender issues are directly related to the coexistence of all members of society. This study can help make changes in the fashion industry in response to societal changes in terms of diversity and sensitivity, which in recent years have gained attention. Society must espouse an understanding and respectful attitude toward the fashion culture of emerging minority groups in the future. In South Korean society, women are considered a minority group and the bodies and beauty of women have been objectified in and by the fashion industry. Therefore, changes must be made vis-à-vis women in the fashion industry.

Fifth, this study presented a specific aspect regarding the inevitable relevance of feminism and sustainability, the background of which was the fashion industry. Although the fashion industry mainly talks about sustainability from an environmental point of view, it can be recognized that there is discrimination in the planning and production of fashion products, which can hinder harmonious coexistence among members of society. By linking the three keywords, namely fashion, feminism, and sustainability, new tasks to be achieved in the SDGs can be discovered. Efforts to achieve the SDGs should be taken to reduce the discrimination based on the specific experiences of members of society.

5.3. Limitations and Future Research

This study is one of the few to have conducted a qualitative/quantitative analysis of the ETC-F as a phenomenon related to gender issues that have appeared in modern society, as well as accumulated data on various fashion styles in the 21st century. However, as ETC-F has been recognized as a concentrated phenomenon since 2018 and online data have been observed for about four years, this is a research topic that needs to be further reinforced in the future. From a cultural and historical point of view, new comparative analysis research will be possible after a period of time has passed in the future with accumulated data made available in chronological order. As Amelia Jenks Bloomer’s feminist fashion research in the 19th century is still being conducted in the 20th and 21st centuries, the emergence of the ETC-F has a lot of potential as a topic that will continue to be mentioned along with new generations, technologies, and social changes. One of the areas discussed in this study is the significance of the ETC-F and its potential. This topic can be independently examined in greater detail in follow-up studies. This study focuses on the significance of the ETC-F from a fashion design perspective and does not focus on selecting certain digital communication content from YouTube and similar platforms to analyze the content and its formats in detail as fashion culture content. Therefore, follow-up studies focusing on a specific category of online content in detail relating to the ETC-F can be conducted.