BTS’ suits for 2021 Grammys to be exhibited in Seoul

BTS' stage costumes for the Grammy Awards 'Dynamite' performance are on display June 13-25 at the Kensington Hotel in Yeouido

BTS performs 'Dynamite' at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Sunday, March 14, 2021 (Video grab courtesy of CBS/Recording Academy via AP, Yonhap)

Jiyoon Yang 2

2023-06-12 12:44:10 yang@hankyung.com

K-pop

A set of seven suits worn by K-pop sensation BTS at the 2021 Grammys is to be exhibited in Seoul this month to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the South Korean boy band’s debut.

South Korea’s major fashion retailer E-Land Group said on Sunday it plans to showcase the suits, worn by the seven-member band during the performance of their song "Dynamite" at the 63rd Grammy Awards in March 2021, for free June 13-25 at its Kensington Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul’s main finance and investment banking district.

“We will showcase stage costumes of BTS’ monumental performance to celebrate their 10th anniversary and provide new value to fans and customers,” said a group official in a statement.

E-Land bought the custom-made suits donated by BTS for $160,000 in a Julien’s Auctions event to benefit the nonprofit organization MusiCares on Jan. 30, 2022.

TO OPEN THEME CITY WITH CULTURAL MUSEUM

The suits are among a collection of 500,000 pieces of clothing and memorabilia that E-Land has been accumulating for about 30 years. The retailer owns items of popular culture icons such as suits of Elvis Presley, dresses worn by Audrey Hepburn in the movie "Roman Holiday," the 500th home run ball of Babe Ruth and Nike Air Jordan Retro high 1 shoes worn by Michael Jordan.

E-Land Chairman Park Sung-soo collected those items in his goal to establish a theme city with a cultural museum to attract tourists at home and abroad.

“We are considering opening such a museum in a few years although we have yet to decide on where and when to build,” said another group official. “But it will be much larger than the E-Land Museum operated on a trial basis on Jeju Island,” the official added, referring to the country’s top tourist spot.

The group already exhibited some of the collections. Its Kensington Hotel in Pyeongchang where South Korea hosted the Winter Olympics in 2018 showcased some 160 items of sports stars including skates used by Yuna Kim, a gold medalist at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

The exhibition helped the hotel get the nod to host the International Olympic Committee session in 2018, winning in a competition against global chains, according to E-Land officials.

Write to Jiyoon Yang at yang@hankyung.com

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.