Elise Øverland: Gender-Bending Violinist Brings Down the House

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• By Will Ragozzino, courtesy of Patrick McMullan
  
• Courtesy of Elise Øverland
• Our craptacular vantage point

When you're at a runway show and the just-walked model disappears behind the curtains and no fresh model shows up to replace her you can only assume the worst: A wardrobe malfunction; maybe someone fainted; fashion attitudes clashing; walk-outs; blow-outs; cat fights; eating disorders. So, pardon us for assuming the worst when a just-long-enough-to-be-discomfiting gap left the audience at Elise Øverland spring/summer 2011 show speechless and on the edge of their seats.

But, wait, no-one's claws were out; no ambulance is on the way! They were clearing the runway and making sure the moment was right, musically, for a stunning, Øverland-clad violinist with a severe emo-hawk and drag-goth eye make-up—which stood in stark contrast to the breezy hairstyles and dewy beauty of the other models—to walk the runway and play a gorgeous, hair-raising solo over an electro backdrop. The solo seriously brought down the house, but it was over nearly as soon as it began. Elise's looks were fabulous—a little more grown up, more lace, less leather, tailored pants and fitted golden cocktail dresses embellished with bits of sheer—but who was this violinist? Did that really even happen? And—no disrespect—but was said violinist a male or female? What is going on here?

Well, we looked into it. The violinist was none other than Hahn-Bin, a 22-year-old wunderkind violin prodigy acclaimed the world over since his concerto debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age ten—he (yes, he) was born in Korea. As for the musician's sexuality we wouldn't know and we refuse to comment, but we did find this snippet from a post on a blog called My Korean Crush: "If you've seen him in interviews, no doubt dude is gay, and a bottom."

Anyhooooooo ?
· Elise Øverland [Official Site]
· Hahn-Bin [Official Site]
· All fashion week coverage [Racked]