BTS’s Concert Outfits Reveal Their True Personalities Behind “ARIRANG”
BTS stunned fans with their powerful looks at the March 21 BTS Comeback Live: ARIRANG show at Gwanghwamun Square. Their outfits weren’t just stylish—they each told a unique story tied to their new ARIRANG album.
The collection, named “Lyrical Armor,” was created by Korean designer Jay Songzio’s label, Songzio. Inspired by Joseon-era armor, the designs mix traditional elements with a modern, edgy vibe. Jay revealed in an interview with WWD that every member’s outfit represents a specific role or archetype in the ARIRANG narrative.
HYBE approached Jay about two months before the show without giving any specific references. He explained,
“They just said, we want a theme, we want a story that revolves around individual members, which was crazy. I did some initial sketches, and we exchanged the general story and developed through quite a long design back-and-forth process.”
The overall theme connects to the Korean emotion of han—a deep sorrow and longing rooted in Korea’s turbulent history. Jay said,
“Before going into the individual members, I felt that it was important to translate a very emotional healing into this collection, because at the end of the day music is all about emotion. And a very unique Korean emotion called ‘han,’ which can be translated many ways, but it means sorrow and longing. In Korea, people say that we all carry ‘han’ inside us because of our very turbulent history. Korea, since its very early ages, we have had countless wars – a lot of challenging and difficult times, and Korean people always had to overcome this sorrow. So I tried to build a story where these members become some sort of heroes, some sort of warriors who are fighting in these turbulent times and then leading to a brighter future.”
Jay assigned each BTS member a character based on their personality and role in the group. RM was “the hero” for his charismatic leadership. Jin was “the artist,” reflecting his elegant presence. Suga earned the title “the architect” as BTS’s main producer.
J-Hope was called “sorigun,” meaning “sound man,” for his fast, performative style. Jay explained,
“It’s one of these folk song performers from our histories.”
Jimin was “the poet,” known for his soft and performance-heavy style. V was named “seonbi,” a Korean nobleman or gentleman, highlighting his handsome and refined image.
Jungkook was “the vanguard” because of his dynamic energy. He even requested his white shirt be painted in a rough, distressed style inspired by Korean landscape painting.
Jay was surprised by how much the members contributed to the designs. He said,
“Honestly, in the beginning, I didn’t expect this much participation. I thought that after the first few sketches, the members wouldn’t spend too much time on the clothing. But then it was very, very nice, because they participated a lot, even down the very smallest details – things like colors they wanted, accessories. We spent a lot of time together with individual members.”
The Lyrical Armor collection perfectly blends BTS’s individual styles with a deep cultural story, making their comeback visuals as meaningful as their music.