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British streetwear brand Palace Skateboards has put a Rhythm Red puffer jacket, a white logo beanie and ear-flap beanies at the center of its 2026 winter collection. The pieces share a bold look, yet each one changes color and bulk in a different way. Color and Volume, Piece by Piece The Pertex Balaclava Puffa in Rhythm Red wraps the head, torso and sleeves in a single vivid red, with an oval face opening and thick quilted baffles. Because red spreads across such a large area, the jacket can make shoulders, chest and sleeves look bigger, even though the body itself is unchanged. Black straight pants or charcoal trousers keep the lower half calm, while light sweatpants or wide denim add even more volume. The white beanie, printed with a large black-and-red PALACE logo, concentrates brightness right above the face. It pairs easily with a black coat, but its effect depends on the contrast between skin, hair and brows rather than a simple warm-or-cool skin tone rule. Anyone already wearing...

BLACKPINK member Jisoo has accidentally launched a new internet meme with an adorable slip of the tongue. The 'Laurel' craze has grown from a simple moment into a showcase of how a global pop star's every move gets turned into pop culture trend material. How a Live Shout Turned Into a Meme On the 8th, Jisoo appeared on the live broadcast of SBS 'Inkigayo', a long-running Korean weekly music show, to perform 'Addicted'. It is the second pre-release single from her first solo full-length album. She won over fans with a charismatic performance and solid live vocals. The spark came just before the stage began. Jisoo shouted 'Louder!' to get the crowd going, but between the venue's sound and her pronunciation, many fans heard it as 'Laurel' instead. Clips spread fast across online communities and social media with comments like 'She said Louder, but it sounded like Laurel' and 'So cute'. 'Laurel' quickly climbed the tre...

Japanese fashion label Graphpaper and sportswear company Descente changed the starting point of their 2026 fall-winter collaboration. Instead of reshaping Descente's existing down jackets, they applied Descente's fabrics and manufacturing technology to Graphpaper's own garments. A joint capsule collection unveiled on October 24 includes coats, tailored jackets, pants and shirts, extending a partnership that began in 2019. When Function Meets Drape The two brands begin from opposite principles. Descente trims excess fabric to fit the body and movement, while Graphpaper treats the space between body and garment, including wide sleeves and natural folds, as part of the design. That difference showed up in production. Heat-bonding can stiffen fabric, which risked flattening the drape of a wide coat. Early prototypes with heat bonding and seam tape did not drape as intended, so the team reduced where the technology was applied. For the tailored jacket, they compared prototypes w...

tvN's weekend drama '100일의 거짓말' (100 Days of Lies), a spy romance set in 1930s Gyeongseong (today's Seoul), has taken first place in the November drama brand reputation rankings. The Korea Business Reputation Research Institute, a local research body that analyzes online big data, placed it far ahead of its rivals. A Dominant Showing in the Data The institute analyzed 46,981,722 brand data points across 21 dramas aired from October 12 to November 12. '100일의 거짓말' scored a brand reputation index of 9,225,025, even as overall drama data fell 7.79 percent from the previous month. Its sub-indexes were strong across the board: participation at 2,673,012, media at 1,722,612, communication at 1,931,358, community at 1,773,574 and viewership at 1,124,469. The runners-up trailed by a wide margin. '사랑이 온다' (Love Is Coming) took second place with 4,057,161, followed by '재혼황후' (The Remarried Empress) at 3,761,860. '나의 유죄인간' and '닥터X : 하얀 마피아의 시대...

British streetwear brand Palace Skateboards has unveiled winter hats that range from a small golf embroidery to oversized PALACE lettering and a thick, quilted ear-flap hat. Each one changes where the head ends and the face begins. The November collection includes the Golf Nein Cuff Beanie, a beanie with large PALACE lettering and the Pertex Puffa Trooper, a puffy hat with long ear flaps. Small Embroidery, Big Letters, Thick Flaps A black beanie with tiny white golf embroidery barely alters the hat's shape. Its hem and the outline of the head set the overall impression, so facial features and hair stand out more. Wearing it low over the brows hides the forehead and hairline and gives the eyes more weight, while tilting it back reveals more forehead and makes the face seem longer. The beanies with big PALACE lettering pull the eye to the area just above the brows. People with narrow foreheads may find the gap between letters and brows shrinks when the hat is pulled down, so the hem ...

Actor Kim Seung-woo has been named in a criminal complaint alleging he stole cash from an acquaintance, a case that only recently came to light. His side flatly denies wrongdoing, calling the incident a playful act between friends with no intent to take the money unlawfully. A Complaint Filed Nearly Three Years Later According to Gangnam Police Station in Seoul, a complaint accusing Kim of theft was filed in July and is now under investigation. The complainant, identified only as A, alleges that in October 2021, at an entertainment bar in Cheongdam-dong, a Seoul neighborhood in Gangnam District, Kim took 22 million won in cash from A's bag without permission. The complaint came roughly two years and nine months after the alleged incident, which has drawn attention to the timing. Kim's lawyer, Kim Young-gon of the law firm Suho, issued a statement saying the episode was a joke during a drinking session among people who were close, and that Kim never intended to unlawfully take a...

Descente has changed the outer fabric of its 2026 FW Mizusawa Down line, replacing polyester with water-repellent nylon made without PFAS, a family of fluorine-based chemicals. The new fabric also appears in the Oversized MOUNTAINEER, a jacket co-developed with fashion brand Graphpaper. Fewer Seams, Smarter Venting Mizusawa Down was designed to tackle a common weakness of down jackets: once wet, down loses loft and warmth. Introduced in 2008 after a rethink that began in 2007, it is made at the Mizusawa factory in Oshu, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Instead of stitched quilting, which leaves needle holes where water can enter, heat bonding forms the down compartments. Seams that remain are sealed with tape. Descente says production involves more than 280 specialized processes. The jacket keeps its dual-zip ventilation, with mesh between two zippers so wearers can release heat and moisture without taking the jacket off. Unlike fabric breathability, venting moves air through an opening, and i...

A proposal at a public hearing in Goyang, a large city northwest of Seoul, calls for comparing three public sports facilities run under different management models over 90 days. Oh Kwang-hwan, head of the Yongin Special City Sports Council, said the goal is to find the most efficient way to manage each facility rather than apply one model everywhere. Comparing Operating Models on Common Terms Oh spoke on November 12 at the 2026 Goyang Special City Sports Development and Sports Council Operation Improvement Hearing, held in the Goyang City Council building and organized by the Goyang Sports Forum. His topic was innovation in facility operations and sustainable finance. He proposed applying shared indicators to three facilities: usage rates, operating costs, safety management and citizen satisfaction. The facilities would be run directly by the city, by a public institution, by the sports council under contract, or by a private operator. Oh said no single model can be declared best for e...

British streetwear brand Palace Skateboards has added the Pertex Balaclava Puffa to its 2026 winter collection, a puffer jacket with a hood that wraps the head and neck and leaves only a small oval opening for the face. Released in the second week of November, it comes in six colorways: black, black and navy, black and yellow, brown, ice grey and rhythm red. A Hood, a Body and a New Proportion The jacket pairs a Pertex-family shell with horizontal baffles across the chest, stomach and arms, thick sleeves, a short body and a drawcord hem. Unlike a separate balaclava or scarf, the head and body insulation is joined in one garment, which makes the head and shoulders read larger together. Across all six colors, the thick sleeves, short body and oval face opening stay the same. How it looks depends on the wearer. People with narrow shoulders can use the volume to add presence to the upper body, while those with broad shoulders or a fuller chest should choose their size carefully. Hair lengt...

South Korea's Supreme Court has finalized the acquittal of former pro golfer Ahn Sung-hyun in a high-profile case over alleged bribery tied to a cryptocurrency listing. His wife is Sung Yu-ri, a member of the beloved K-pop girl group Fin.K.L. The ruling, handed down on Nov. 12 by the court's Second Division, removes what had been the biggest obstacle to her return to entertainment. From Prison Sentence to Full Acquittal Ahn was indicted on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, plus taking money in breach of trust. Prosecutors alleged that in 2021 he accepted tens of billions of won from businessman Kang Jong-hyun in exchange for a promise to get a particular coin listed on Bithumb, a major Korean crypto exchange, and that he took 20 billion won as payment for the favor. The verdicts swung sharply. The first trial sentenced Ahn to four years and six months in prison. The appeals court overturned that, finding Kang's testimon...

Japanese fashion brand Graphpaper and sportswear company Descente have widened the body and sleeves of a down jacket and shortened its length in their 2026 fall/winter collaboration. The result, 'Oversized MOUNTAINEER', is built on Descente's flagship Mizusawa Down model and redesigns upper-body volume and proportion while keeping its functional structure. Wider Body, Shorter Hem Rather than simply scaling up the pattern, Graphpaper adjusted the width of the body, the length and the sleeve room separately. The emphasis is on horizontal width over vertical length, so the down's volume gathers around the shoulders, chest and arms, and the hem ends near the waist. That differs from a long down coat, and from an oversized piece that grows in both width and length. The roomier cut also leaves space for thicker layers such as shirts and knitwear underneath. Descente's existing technology is retained: heat-bonded baffles instead of conventional stitched quilting, and two v...

The global wellness market is estimated at $2.7 trillion in 2026, and shoppers are asking a tougher question than ever: does it actually work? In the US, 44% of consumers rank efficacy as a top purchase criterion, level with price at 44%, while quality follows at 41%. Growth, Deals and a Satisfaction Gap The US wellness market now tops $700 billion and is growing 5 to 10% a year. The six largest consumer health and wellness mergers and acquisitions announced or completed between 2021 and September 2026 all came after 2025, and together total about $89 billion, with private equity taking part. Product launches are surging too. Items touting health or wellness benefits made up 33% of new US consumer goods launches through September, up from 24% in 2021. Among US consumer brands that grew more than 20% a year from 2023 to 2025, wellness products accounted for 53% of sales, versus 20% for brands growing 4 to 9%. Yet about 40% of consumers surveyed in China, Germany, the UK and the US say e...

British streetwear label Palace Skateboards has released the Check P3 Zip Hoodie as part of its Winter 2026 collection, in six colorways: black, chocolate brown, grey marl, heavy purple, navy and racey green. The cut stays the same across all six, and the difference comes from fabric color and the graphic on the back. Same Hoodie, Different Triangle The front is plain apart from a small P logo on the left chest, with a center zip, front pockets and ribbed cuffs and hem. The back carries a large triangle made of the word PALACE repeated in three directions, with textured, partly cut-off lettering inside the letters. On the black hoodie the lettering is red, while the brown version uses a lighter print. The triangle is the Tri-Ferg, a logo designed by graphic designer Fergus Purcell. Palace was founded in London in 2009, and the design recalls the Penrose triangle, an impossible shape that looks three-dimensional on paper but cannot exist in real space. Palace has used it across T-shirts...

BTS has landed the only K-pop spot on Apple Music's 2026 Best Songs list with 'SWIM,' the title track of its fifth studio album. The year-end list gathers 100 songs that resonated most with listeners around the world, and the group's track is the lone K-pop entry. Apple Music announced the global 100-song ranking on the 8th, Korea time. 'SWIM' also earned places in several Best Playlists categories, including A-List Pop, Viral Hits and KPOPWRLD. Chart Staying Power Apple Music described the group's comeback as a return that came after years of built-up anticipation, saying it redefined this year's K-pop landscape. The recognition comes as the album's long chart run continues. The fifth album, 'Arirang,' ranked No. 62 on the latest Billboard 200, the main US album chart. That marks 33 consecutive weeks on the chart. The album entered at No. 1 on the chart dated April 4 and held the top spot for three straight weeks before settling into a stead...

Japanese fashion brand Graphpaper and sportswear maker Descente have spent eight years rebuilding the down jacket together. Their 2026 fall/winter piece, the 'Oversized MOUNTAINEER,' brings back Descente's signature Mizusawa Down model with a wider body, fuller sleeves and a shorter hem. From Bigger Fit to Combined Patterns It began in 2019, when Graphpaper's Takayuki Minami tried on Mizusawa Down at a Descente exhibition and found it too narrow, even in larger overseas sizes. He asked Descente for a roomier cut. Enlarging a pattern is never simple, because shoulders, sleeve joins, body length and the space for insulation all change with it. The 2020 version widened the armholes for thicker layers and lengthened the body, using the water-repellent, breathable CEBONNER fabric. Later projects switched to Descente's ANCHOR model, and in 2024 the two brands merged ANCHOR and MOUNTAINEER into one jacket with a stand collar and a split raglan shoulder, a pattern that blen...

In Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, a new contemporary garden keeps dead pine trees and crumbling concrete walls on purpose. Médongaule Garden uses them to express the memory of war, division and loss in modern Korean history. The garden opened its Korean garden in September 2025 and unveiled the contemporary garden in June 2026. Its 'Story of Korea' section moves from the scholar-official spirit of the Joseon era to hardship, recovery and prosperity. History Told Through Paths, Stone and Wood The route begins with a shelter shaped like the gat, the traditional Korean hat worn by scholars, reached by a spiral path up a hill. A wedge-shaped structure with wave-like planting abstractly recalls the turtle ship from the 1592 Japanese invasion, a symbol of resistance. The most striking contrast is 'The Age of Hardship.' Dead pine trees with hardened resin, low branches, narrow shaded paths and walls with exposed rebar evoke the Korean War, which began in 1950, rather than a ti...

British streetwear brand Palace Skateboards has printed Sophy Rickett's 1995 photograph 'Vauxhall Bridge' on shirts and T-shirts in its Winter 2026 collection. The image shows a woman in a suit urinating in public against the backdrop of the MI6 headquarters in London. The 'Vauxhall 1995' items arrived in the seventh drop of the winter line, as a white long-sleeve shirt and T-shirts in six colors. One Photo, Two Very Different Garments On the long-sleeve shirt, the black-and-white photograph spreads across most of the front, while the sleeves, collar and back stay plain white. The T-shirts, in black, pink, grey, light blue, orange and white, carry a small rectangle at the chest instead. The artwork is identical, but the scale changes how readable it is. On the shirt, the figure and the architecture dominate; on the tees, the fabric color takes over. Rickett's 1995 'Pissing Women' series placed women in tailored clothing in various London locations, perfo...

Skincare in South Korea is no longer just about creams and serums. A survey of women aged 20 to 69 found that 22.8% now use cosmetic procedures, and 14.9% combine three or more methods. Many women still rely on cosmetics as their base, then add clinic visits, home beauty devices or inner beauty supplements depending on their skin concerns. A Mix-and-Match Approach to Skin Research firm Embrain's Opensurvey polled 1,000 women nationwide on October 27 for its 'Beauty and Procedure Trend Report 2026.' Skincare alone remains the most common routine, used exclusively by 39.2%. Only 2.6% rely on procedures alone, which suggests most people who visit clinics keep using cosmetics too. Combining skincare and procedures accounts for 6.5%, while 3.8% use all four methods: skincare, inner beauty, home devices and procedures. Home devices show the strongest link to clinic treatments. Among device users, 37.0% use them instead of procedures and 25.0% use them alongside procedures. Of 80 ...

A cough that lingers for weeks does not automatically mean Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, a bacterial cause of pneumonia often seen in young children. Early symptoms such as fever, headache, sore throat and cough look much like a common cold, so symptoms alone cannot reveal the cause. Anyone with a persistent cough, ongoing fever or worsening breathing should see a medical professional. What the Latest Korean Data Shows According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the incubation period is two to three weeks, and most people recover within three to four weeks. The cough often starts dry and may worsen or bring up phlegm. Some patients develop pneumonia, but a long-lasting cough cannot show whether pneumonia or this particular infection is the cause. Hospital-based surveillance for week 44 of 2026 found no sign of a surge. Bacterial respiratory inpatients numbered 25, down from 32 the previous week and 66 a year earlier. Mycoplasma was identified in 96 percent o...