Today, Karl Lagerfeld presented Chanel's Resort 2015 collection in Seoul, South Korea. In addition to Chanel's front row mainstays—Kristen Stewart, Tilda Swinton, etc.—two K-pop stars joined the fray: G-Dragon of Big Bang (pictured above with Lagerfeld in August) and CL of 2NE1. You may have heard of K-pop in passing, but what exactly is the phenomenon all about? Here, Mashable's resident fashion expert, David Yi, explains what you need to know about the craze.

Harper's BAZAAR: What exactly is K-pop?

David Yi: K-Pop is a hodgepodge of all pop sugary goodness. It's very slick and it's very addictive and the beats are very smooth. If you think about the best music videos you've ever watched, from epic videos like Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" or "Telephone," these are [like] every single video that K-pop comes out with. And because of the styling and because of the addictive tunes, it's something that appeals to so many people, not just Koreans, but a mass global audience. Take everything great and over-the-top in pop and that's K-pop.

HB: How did K-pop explode into popularity and why is it such a huge phenomenon?

DY: I think it has to do with this one group called Girls' Generation. They're 9 girls who dance exactly in sync, they're sexy, they're cute, their music is addictive. They were signed with the same label that Lady Gaga is under, Cherry Tree Records. They did this entire American Press Tour in 2013, they were on live with Kelly Ripa and they performed on David Letterman, they made their rounds. I feel like the peak probably happened in 2012 and 2013 with groups like Girls' Generation, 2NE1 and Big Bang. I feel like a lot of people think of Korean pop and think, "that must be cheesy, that must be foreign and weird." But if you look at it the stars are not only beautiful, they're flawless with their dancing, they're flawless with their singing, they're flawless with their style and American pop stars can't compare. If you think of American pop stars like Justin Bieber, he's great at singing but he's not known for his style or dancing. If you think of Fifth Harmony, they're known for their singing but not their dancing or style. Every K-pop star is known for all three things. Their singing is always so amazing, their dancing is above and beyond and their style is just out there. It's the perfect storm for fans to become addicted to them. They perfected pop music, they put it on acid and made it addictive and made people really need it. There's a withdrawal for people who need it every single day of their lives. It's a drug.

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Sooyoung of Girls' Generation

HB: What sets it apart from traditional pop music?

DY: K-pop is kind of like a machine. These singers aren't just scouted and then they debut. They go through an intense training process of five to eight years. They're discovered when they're 10 and then they go through acting, singing and dancing classes every single day, then the best of the best are put into a group and then they debut. They're like androids! Every single day of their lives is so intense. They train 16 hours every day. The number one profession all kids aspire to be in Korea is an entertainer, which is really shocking and surprising, but if you think about it, they idolize these stars and they can do no wrong, which is why these singers have such huge careers—because they have so much clout and everyone wants to be them. These fans are invested in their lives because they know how much they sacrificed to get there, they know how many years went into their career.

HB: Who are the people to know?

DY: The five artists you need to know are 2NE1, Big Bang, CL, Girls' Generation and EXO—it's a boy band from the same company as Girls' Generation. And G-Dragon, he's the leader of Big Bang. He is always front row at Chanel, always front row at Rick Owen's show, he's an international style star. If you think anyone in the states has swag, G-Dragon takes swag and injects it with his own flavor.

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CL of 2NE1

HB: How does fashion and beauty play a part in the culture of K-pop?

DY: I feel that K-pop really does resonate with so many fashion fans because every music video is so highly stylized and Koreans are known for being purveyors of luxury. Look at the K-pop fans, they're not only trendsetters in Korea, but Seoul has become the Hollywood of Asia. We're talking Korean pop stars, Korean drama stars and movie stars, they're like Asian movie stars. They're huge in China, they're huge in Thailand, they're huge in Japan and the reason is partly to do with their style.

There's a group called 2NE1. Their leader, her name is CL and she is debuting in the States under Capitol Records so she is going to be massive. She's part of the whole Jeremy Scott crew, she is always front row at Fashion Week, she's an It girl. Korean style is a mix of streetwear and luxury. I bring up the group 2NE1 because they're the ones who brought Givenchy and Balmain to the masses in Korea and made them huge. Jeremy Scott, they became friends because they always wore Jeremy Scott for Adidas and he became huge in Asia because of the fans. They also discovered talents. They started wearing Hood by Air before anyone else did, same with Off White and a lot of different brands we see at VFiles now. Now it's very trendy to wear these European brands and streetwear brands together.

If you look at American artists, I feel like they're not really trendsetters. Like Beyoncé—we all love her but she's not known for her style. I feel like a lot of stylists are looking at K-pop now to see what the next big trend is. Who is the big style star, what are they wearing and how are they wearing it?

HB: What's the biggest misconception about K-pop?

DY: People think that it's just about Psy (of "Gangnam Style" fame) because he became a two-hit wonder. But it's so much more than that. Psy really isn't K-pop. If you look into it and past Psy, there are so many stars, and there is so much more to K-pop than what people automatically judge it to be.

Julie Kosin Senior Culture Editor Julie Kosin is the senior culture editor of ELLE.com, where she oversees all things movies, TV, books, music, and art, from trawling Netflix for a worthy binge to endorsing your next book club pick.

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