朝鮮“美人軍”的冬奧會魅力攻勢

Winter Olympics fashion has, largely, been a tale of two events: the opening and closing ceremonies, where national costume comes out to play; and figure skating, where the aesthetic swings and swoops from Vegas-on-ice to Vera Wang, with a touch of Broadway and Diaghilev thrown in. As of this week, however, a new factor was added to the mix: the North Korean cheerleading squad.

基本上，冬奧會的時尚部分只有兩個地方：展示國家隊隊服的開幕式和閉幕式;還有花樣滑冰，它的美學趣味在拉斯維加斯冰秀到王薇薇(Vera Wang)、一點點百老匯和加吉列夫芭蕾舞團之間不斷搖擺。不過，一個新的元素在本周加入了這個混合體：朝鮮拉拉隊。

Approximately 230 young women strong, the squad arrived for the Pyeongchang Games in matching red wool coats, buttoned at the waist, with black fur trim at the neck and wrists and matching black caps, high-heeled ankle boots and sheer hosiery. They toted matching red wheelies and handbags, and all grinned matching grins.

這個由大約230名年輕女子組成的拉拉隊抵達了平昌冬奧會，她們穿著紅色羊毛大衣，腰上別著扣子，黑色毛皮邊點綴頸部和手腕，戴著配套的黑帽、短靴和透明絲襪。她們拿著配套的紅色行李箱和手袋，臉上掛著配套的微笑。

Imagine a cross between Pan Am “stewardesses” of the 1960s, “Red Sparrow” and the Dallas Cowboys squad, and you’ll get the idea. In North Korea they are reportedly known as “the army of beauties.”

想像一下1960年代的泛美航空(Pan Am)“女乘務員”、“紅雀”和達拉斯牛仔隊的混合，你就懂了。據稱，她們在朝鮮被稱為“美人軍”。

For a country whose image is defined largely by the figure of its leader, Kim Jong-un, with his severe military dress and strange trapezoidal hairstyle, the cheer squad provides a visual message of a different kind.

對于一個國家形象主要由最高領袖金正恩，以及他那嚴肅的軍裝和奇怪的梯形發(fā)型所定義的國家來說，朝鮮拉拉隊發(fā)出了一種不同的視覺信息。

There to support the joint North and South Korean team, they also serve, at least theoretically, to normalize and humanize the regime — propaganda in fashionable person form.

她們是為了支持朝韓聯(lián)隊來到平昌，但至少在理論上也是為朝鮮政權的正?；腿诵曰繕顺隽?mdash;—時尚麗人形式的政治宣傳。

The cheer squad first appeared in 2002 during the Asian Games in Busan, and have also been at the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu and the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon, but the Olympics will be their global coming-out moment.

這支拉拉隊于2002年的釜山亞運會期間首次亮相，也曾在2003年的大邱夏季世界大學生運動會和2005年的仁川亞洲田徑錦標賽上出現(xiàn)，但奧運會將成為她們登上全球舞臺的時刻。

Chosen, according to reports from An Chan-Il, a defector who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, by strict criteria on height and family background — Ri Sol-ju, the wife of Kim Jong-un, was originally in the cheer squad — they have worn everything from traditional Korean garb to Nike baseball caps and T-shirts, and often use flags and fans in the routines they do from the stands.

據世界朝鮮問題研究所(World Institute for North Korea Studies)所長、脫北者安江日(An Chan II，音)的說法，她們是依據身高、家庭背景方面的嚴格標準選拔出來的——金正恩的妻子李雪主最初也在這支拉拉隊里——她們既穿傳統(tǒng)朝鮮服裝，也穿耐克棒球帽和T恤衫，并經常在看臺的常規(guī)表演中使用旗幟和扇子。

Nike! Just like you and me.

穿耐克!就跟你和我一樣。

In front of the millions who will watch the Olympics and who have a very specific stereotype of a hermit kingdom in mind, colored in shades of drab, the garb may provide a jolt of outreach. Clothes can do that. They are an access point everyone can read and relate to.

在數百萬將觀看冬奧會的人頭腦中，對朝鮮已經有了一個非常具體的刻板印象，即它是一個單調乏味的隱士王國，在這些人面前，她們的裝束可能會起到令人驚訝的外延效果。服裝是可以做到這一點的。它們是每個人都可以讀懂和產生聯(lián)系的入口。

After all, when Kim Jong-un appeared in a gray tailored suit during his New Year’s address instead of his usual army uniform, it caused ripples across the internet.

畢竟，當金正恩在新年演講中穿著灰色西服而不是軍服時，就在網絡上帶來很大反響。

Though exactly how normal 230 young women wearing precisely matched clothing and acting in lock step really is, is up for debate. Even the athletes, marching into the arena in their team uniforms, express more sartorial individuality than the cheer squad.

不過230名年輕女性穿著完全相同的衣服、走著完全一致的步子到底有多正常，是一個仁者見仁，智者見智的問題。即使運動員穿著隊服入場，也比拉拉隊表現(xiàn)出了更多的服裝個性。

So it’s possible that the squad’s image-ineering could backfire, could strike the world as yet another example of the way the authoritarian regime dictates every aspect of its citizens’ lives. But everything is relative. And compared to the perception of dress in the country, the cheer squad has a glow of color and style that is both unexpected and weirdly mesmerizing.

因此，這支拉拉隊的形象工程有可能會取得適得其反的效果，讓世界覺得，這是獨裁政權決定其公民生活方方面面的又一個例子。但所有事情都是相對的。與對朝鮮國內服裝的印象相比，拉拉隊身上的色彩和風格使人眼前一亮，既出乎意料又奇怪地讓人著迷。

Either way, given the global attention paid to the impeccably coordinated opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics with its choreographed displays of harmony, there’s no doubt the cheer squad is going to get a lot of attention. Odds are they will be chronicled and photographed regularly throughout the Games, and may make most of the fashion news (at least until Ivanka Trump arrives).

不論如何，考慮到全球對北京奧運會上配合得無懈可擊的開幕式，以及它展現(xiàn)出的經過精心編排的和諧之感的關注，朝鮮拉拉隊毫無疑問也將獲得大量關注。她們有可能會在賽事期間被寫被拍，也可能會占據大量時尚新聞(至少是在伊萬卡·特朗普[Ivanka Trump]到來之前)。

Indeed, it’s not hard to imagine a certain famous TV watcher also tuning in for the Games and being struck by the allure of having a national cheer squad. What better accompaniment to the military parade President Trump reportedly desires? Rah-rah.

的確，想像一下吧，某個著名的電視觀眾也在觀看奧運比賽，并且為擁有一支國家拉拉隊的誘惑所擊中。還有什么更匹配據稱特朗普總統(tǒng)所渴望的大閱兵呢?真棒!