Wadi, Seoul

Having been in the scene for almost 20 years, Wadi is considered one of the ‘OG’s’ of  sneakers and streetwear in Korea. Wadi runs South Korea’s biggest YouTube channel for sneakerheads, “Wadi’s Sneaker Closet,” with over 200,000 followers, and is also CEO of Musinsa Original Lab – an in-house agency from the country’s leading online fashion shopping platform, Musinsa. We travelled to Wadi’s incredible summer house on the Korean island of Jeju - where he goes each year to take a break from the hustle and bustle of Seoul.

You’ve been in the streetwear scene a long time, Wadi – especially when the culture in Korea is relatively new.

That’s right. I’ve loved sneakers since I was 15 years old. I’m now 35, and there’s not been a single time that I’ve felt tired of the scene.

What first got you into sneakers  and what keeps you attached to the scene, now?

I was one of those kids in Korea who was heavily influenced by the NBA and hip hop culture back in the 90's. I found it very interesting how those cultures fed into sneaker culture. What keeps me going is being given the opportunity to turn all of the knowledge and networks that I’ve accumulated into business and opportunities for myself and others. I literally am getting paid to do what I love. It’s an amazing experience and I am thankful for it.

And do you see yourself as an artist, as a creative, or as something else?

I’d rather call myself an entrepreneur. I’ve always loved sneakers and I love creating content, but my dream has always been to run a global company. That’s mainly why I accepted the offer from Musinsa to run Musinsa Original Lab.

Congratulations on that fairly new role, by the way! Could you tell us a bit about the Korean streetwear scene?

I think the Korean streetwear scene is explosive, and has huge potential. There are so many potential players out there - hustling, interacting, and competing with each other. But in Korea, it is impossible for any one brand to keep the top spot for any length of time. All of the brands take turns to lead. It’s a volatile, diverse, and dynamic world out here. 

Yeah,  we know that South Korea is particularly competitive as an industry. Is there anything - or anyone - that’s particularly exciting about it for you?

IAB Studio [a fashion studio collective led by Korean rapper Beenzino and his ‘crew’] has been absolutely dominating the scene here for several years. I also personally find the streetwear brand Dark Room [by rapper Simon Dominic] very interesting. If IAB Studio encompasses a kind of mild taste which suits the majority, then Dark Room is the spicier version of it. And then there’s Peaches! Literally whatever they do, everything they do and everything they touch, is dope. I worked together with the CEO of Peaches, Ryo, back when I was working in entertainment for Samsung, and we’ve kept in touch since.

And what makes what he is doing so exciting?

Peaches have just shown an unbelievably unique and stylish movement – one that I’ve never seen from a local Korean brand, ever before. That’s what makes them exciting.

We love what he’s doing, too. Are there any other brands you can think of in Korea that are positively disrupting the scene?

There’s Bajowoo. As far as I know, the CEO hasn’t used any celebrities or personal connections to promote his brand. It makes me wonder how this local brand without any of this ‘halo effect’ from a celebrity or a network has become so hyped. He’s been worn even by global celebrities like J.Cole, J Balvin, Cardi B, and Migos. He must be some kind of alchemist.

We love that – an ‘alchemist’. What do you think it is, in essence, that makes these people able to change up the scene in a positive way and put them on the edge of culture? 

I think it all boils down to connectivity. Who you know, who you hang out with, who you collaborate with decides pretty much everything. Lately, people more and more tend to value a person or a brand by who they collaborate with. It’s almost like a kind of credit score for brands; the more you hang out and collaborate with hyped brands or people, the higher people’s evaluation is of you. And of course, vice versa. I have personally experienced this a lot, too. I haven’t changed much I don’t think, but if I collaborate with a famous Korean rapper or brand on my channel, my ‘market value’ suddenly skyrockets and, suddenly, everybody wants to collaborate with me. Just one precious connection can open a thousand doors at once - doors which would have taken me years to open if I had never made that one, essential connection. People these days assess the value of brands and people by their network, rather than by the brand’s own identity or essence. 

It’s interesting to think of collaborations as a kind of ‘credit score’. Do you have any other frustrations with the scene?

In a similar way, most of the brands dominating the Korean streetwear and street culture scene right now have become famous and popular thanks to their celebrity involvement – for example Beenzino and IAB Studio, G Dragon [ex member of K Pop group Big Bang] and Peace Minus One, Simon Dominic  and Dark Room. It’s hard to find a ‘self-made’ don of the Korean streetwear that really started from the bottom and became nationally, or globally, influential. I’d really like to witness a future superstar of the Korean streetwear scene really helping grow their hometown.  

Do you think anything’s being ‘lost’ in the culture at the moment?

It is sad to see the demise of so many potential local brands due to the simple lack of appreciation for them. As I mentioned earlier, I have a mission to make local brands become internationally successful. I want to use my influence to help any potential Korean brands to go global. This is important to me.

It’s an admirable mission! And what, do you think, has the most influence on Korean streetwear?

I think online shopping platforms and YouTube. Musinsa basically rules and influences the whole fashion industry here. At the same time, YouTube and social media creators and influencers have such a huge effect on brands in terms of becoming popular and successful. It’s almost impossible to become popular in Korea without those two things on your side nowadays.

Do you think sports affects streetwear in Korea, at all?

I think sports have very little influence on streetwear in Korea. There are far more Korean celebrities sponsored by Nike than there are Korean athletes or Korean Basketball League players. I think sports has a very tiny influence on the Korean streetwear scene. I personally feel that the three main sports in Korea - basketball, football, and baseball - are more of a culture for the older generation here. Nobody plays sports anymore. The younger generation play video games, instead. This really hit home for me when I worked with the League of Legends Championship in Korea recently and witnessed thousands and thousands of young spectators come to support their teams and enjoy the league. It was crazy.  

Yes! Gaming is a huge market in Korea. So who ultimately has the most influence within the culture of streetwear? Is it the brands, the consumers, or something or someone else entirely?

In Korea? The celebrity. 

And has it always been that way? 

Not always, but ‘hype marketing’ matters the most these days. I personally think brands used to have a certain amount of influence on the market, but not anymore. Whether you can make it look hype or not decides pretty much everything.

So, if you had to say which brand ‘owned’ streetwear in Seoul, what would you say? 

Musinsa. They own the whole scene here in my opinion. Musinsa has this ‘real time trend ranking’ system which basically predicts and specifies which clothes are going to be worn and which brand is ‘hype’. All of the brands here die trying to get their name on that list. Musinsa also recently started investing in, directing, and incubating up-and-coming smaller brands as well. I predict their power and influence will only get bigger and bigger. As an example, Musinsa in Korea sells more adidas products than adidas’ official website.... 

Wow, they sound like huge players. Is there a brand that you’d call ‘legendary’ in Korea?

Definitely 360Sounds [a Korean street culture label that started as a party brand owned by DJs]. I think the whole Korean street culture itself started from them. They were the first pioneers – the ones that cultivated the whole ecosystem. Their parties were *the* place, where new brands - which later became big brands - were discussed and born. All the creatives in Seoul went to their parties and started new movements through networking. 360Sounds is like the Medici Family of Korean street culture. 

So, we’ve spoken quite a bit about Korean brands – now let’s talk about adidas. What are the first three words that come to mind when you think of adidas? And are adidas connected to the culture of streetwear in Korea, do you think?

My three words are ‘fundamental’, ‘Yeezy’, and ‘second place’. If my memory is right, last year was the 50th anniversary of the Superstar and this year is the 50th anniversary of Stan Smiths. For the brand to have survived and to still be selling classic products 50 years later is an amazing legacy. Unfortunately, I think they have a very weak connection with Korean street culture. I haven’t seen any memorable moments or involvement in street culture here from adidas.  They did a collaboration with Blackpink [a female K Pop group] and DPR [a commercially popular Hip Hop crew] which, to me, implies that they’re more heavily into celebrity marketing here. I’m not saying that’s wrong, or bad, but it doesn’t help build any kind of relationship with street culture in Korea.

What could adidas be doing to build that connection with streetwear in Korea?

Start to care! They don’t seem to care at all. Do you, adidas?

I know you mentioned adidas’ lack of connection to streetwear in Korea, but are there any elements of adidas that you think are legendary? 

Absolutely - when they launched the NMD, it was a sensation. I still remember that it was sold out everywhere in Korea. People were re-selling, buying from other countries, and toured every single adidas store in Korea trying to get a pair. It was mad. That was back at a time when adidas was way cooler than Nike. But adidas made a huge fuck up then, too.

How did they fuck up?

They failed to control the volume of shoes that were available. After they were all sold out, they kept supplying them, right after. Suddenly, anybody could get a pair, anywhere, anytime, and then of course, nobody wanted them or wore them anymore. It would have been far more legendary if they’d just let them be sold out and protected the hype. Then Nike’s hype right now could have been adidas’s. 

Exclusivity and over-supply is a recurring theme when we’ve talked about hype. What else do adidas need to be careful of in Korea, in order not to fuck up again.

I think they need to run their strategies in multidirectional and organic ways. It’s something that Nike here is good at – running multidirectional strategies together in harmony. Like, they combined the Michael Jordan documentary on Netflix with a Jordan promotion, and they understood Travis Scott’s fan culture and boosted his promotion with his documentary on Netflix. They know how to hype the whole culture to promote their brand and product, while adidas doesn’t seem to know exactly what they are doing in that sense. Hiring Sean Wotherspoon also just seems like somebody thought, “OK, let’s take him from Nike and make cool shoes.” I wish they’d spend more time on the build-up, and on storytelling.

If adidas wanted to use the idea of ‘originality’ to better connect with the culture in Korea, what would this mean to you?

Well, originality is about someone’s own colour. Humans, in a way, are a definition of originality, as we are all different. Even if someone only ever repeats the same thing – that’s still what makes them original. It’s about having the confidence to keep that originality instead of following trends, especially when there is a constant demand from the market to change. As a sneakerhead YouTuber, I’ve come to learn that people are interested in consuming ‘me’ – not the products I view, actually. Nowadays, we consume original people’s charm and lifestyles rather than just the products. This is what adidas should harness.  

Is there anything else you’ve noticed recently in the scene that’s surprised you?

From my recent collaboration with a department store, where I ran a temporary pop-up with a well-liked rapper and designer, I have genuinely realised that people don’t come outside anymore to shop. Fewer people came in person than we expected – this could also have been due to the pandemic - but then, when we opened it online after the offline pop-up at the department store, it just sold out so quickly. So, I genuinely experienced this digital transition that is actually happening. This means brands have to work on their own online shopping channels. In terms of actual sales, having a strong and loyal online mall will be key for adidas. Otherwise, they will have to follow the rules of the big online platforms like Musinsa to survive and promote their products. As an example, Anti Social Social Club only sells their products on their own website, so they don’t need to pay any commission from their sales.  Just like any other transitions and changes in the past, only the brands who adapt will survive. Otherwise, you have to at least learn how to co-exist with these massive platforms in Korea, which is not ideal.

That’s a very useful point. We’re almost done, but before we finish, what’s one thing you’d love to see happen in the culture of streetwear in Korea?

I really hope that local brands can stop putting limits on their own potential. I heard that young Japanese people are very interested in Korean brands, as they don’t have quite as many of their own, local brands these days. Instead of playing zero-sum games in the small Korean market, I hope Korean local brands can go global. The whole game will change then. I’d like Korean brands to stop trying to be on Musinsa’s Top 10 list. I hope they dream big and grow big. In terms of adidas, I hope they foster their own superstar designer and director, like Nike did with Sean Wotherspoon, and I hope they collaborate more with local Korean brands to grow together in harmony. 

Is there anything you’d like adidas specifically to know if they are to reach out and work with smaller brands or key players in Korea?

There is this ‘rule’ here in Korea that if you collaborate with adidas, you will never be able to get a job with Nike. So, if someone hopes for a chance to work with Nike, they will hold on any offer from adidas in case they get a call from Nike later on. adidas must move faster than Nike in Korea to snap up these key players!

And is there anything we can pass on to adidas Originals for you personally?

I am on the adidas Asia seeding list. I am always down to collaborate. Hit me up.