Week 6- Uyen Ngo

Especially in this time and age, there has been a big issue of cultural appropriation. A very controversial example is a teenager who wore a qipao to prom despite not being Asian herself. This sparked a debate of whether or not it was cultural appropriation or simply appreciating one's culture. It's also easy to argue it is cultural appropriation because it was done by someone caucasian. However, what happens when it is an Asian person, or in Thuy Linh's "Material Mao", it is an Asian designer taking inspiration from their culture. Of course there is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from a culture you grew up in. But there is no denying that "because Asian designers were rewarded for invoking their culture into their work", "some were willing to convert culture into economics" (136). Even if this was not conveyed through the actual work themselves, Asian aesthetics could be used to help market the clothes they were selling. An example is Margie Tsai whose work has no resemblance to Asian fashion. Yet, her boutique is decorate to her relationship with the East. And these designers are more than aware. Vivienne Tam is a designer who actually produced a book to replicate Mao's "Little Red Book" and her clothes do not "challenge what her audience think they already know about China", in fact they appeal to them because "they keep a safe imaginative distance from China" (140). 

So this makes me wonder, is it ok that these Asian designers are marketing their own products to the Western audience? Does it make it acceptable because of their own heritage. Is it smart that they were able to use it to their marketing advantage or should they be accountable to making Eastern clothing a marketable trend without forcing the consumer to recognize the significance behind the clothing? 

Works Cited

Recommended: Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu. “”Material Mao”: Fashioning Histories out of Icons.”