Main Cast: Chae Soo-Bin, Minho, Lee Sang-Un, Park Hee-Jung

Summary

The Fabulous is the newest hit South Korean drama following the story of 4 friends who have devoted their lives to the fashion industry, yet struggle to survive and make their names known. Despite their struggles, the 4 friends turn to one another during their highs and lows.

Ji-Eun (played by Chae Soo-Bin) works at Audrey, a luxury brand promotion agency, as a marketing and section chief. Despite her hard work and constant effort, her firm and career are constantly at risk as she navigates fussy celebrities, influencers, and companies. Despite her tumultuous love-life, Ji-Eun relies on Joseph (played by Lee Sang-Un), Ye Seon-Ho (played by Park Hee-Jung), and Ji Woo-Min (played by Minho of Shinee).

Despite being a son of a famous actress, Joseph, an aspiring luxury fashion designer, struggles to stay relevant each fashion season. Branded as a young designer filled with illusions of grandeur, Joseph navigates the fashion scene in an effort to keep his fashion-dream and business alive.

Ye Seon-Ho is a veteran and famous runway model, however after breaking up with her designer boyfriend and being blacklisted by major magazines and companies, she struggles to find work and continue her career. Despite being labeled as a cold yet emotional diva, Seon-Ho surprisingly has a big heart and defends younger models as they struggle to enter the modeling world.

Ji Woo-Min is a freelancer photographer and retoucher. Despite being incredibly talented and successful at his job, he lacks passion in his current role and also struggles to get over his close friend / former girlfriend, Pyo Ji-Eun. Despite breaking up over three years ago, Woo-Min still thinks about Ji-Eun and enjoys her company as he frequently hangs out with her, Seon-Ho, and Joseph. Woo-Min is content with his current friendship with Ji-Eun until one day he realizes that he is still in love with her.

Thoughts

I initially had a lot of high expectations for this drama due to Chae Soo-Bin and Shinee’s Minho starring as the main couple. Although it was cute to see how the 4 friends relied on one another and the details of their friendship, the overall plot of the drama felt very fragmented. There were many moments of the plot that felt very rushed and disconnected. Seon-Ho’s new boyfriend was very sudden and there was minimal development of their new relationship, nevertheless his backstory. Additionally, the premise and storyline of Ji-Eun getting back together with her previous boyfriend, Lee Nam-Jin, was very random and I struggled to understand why the writers included that relationship. It was obvious that Nam-Jin was only used as an obstacle between Woo-Min and Ji-Eun getting together, but Ji-Eun’s relationship with Nam-Jin had zero chemistry and was very superficial. Although, I could tell that there was a spark between Woo-Min and Ji-Eun, their chemistry felt like that of friends who genuinely cared for one another; it was more of a love that you have for a best friend rather than a romantic love.

However, the soundtrack and aesthetics of the series was definitely a highlight. Although I really loved Ji-Eun’s bubbly and bright demeanor, the best relationship between in the entire series is the friendship between Joseph and his assistant, Esther. Not only are they a dynamic duo, but their constant bickering and witty quips with one another is hilarious. They’re definitely an odd duo, but their spunky friendship is so endearing!