Week 6
Fara Suiza
ASA141
May 4, 2019
Of all the week's readings, "It's Hip to be Asian" stood out to me because I, typically, think of myself as someone who is up-to-date with a lot of what goes in in pop culture whether it's from the music, entertainment, or fashion industry. Because of this, I'm really keen on what the latest trend is. Recently, I've noticed that more and more designers are looking and taking from Asian countries. For example, thee Met Gala had a theme that revolved around China called "China: Through the Looking Glass", which served as a way to, not so much learn about the culture in order to respect it, but rather used traditional fashion (and China!inspired gowns) in a high fashion setting.
In the article, Parminder Bhachu, she focuses on the commercialization of of the salwaar-kameezes (i.e Punjabi suits), particularly by the British elites. When I first read this, I immediately thought, wait... Wasn't India colonized by the British? Could this somehow be connected to colonialism? In a way, it truly is, even to this day, but in a different sense. The salwaar-kameezees went from being typically associated with lower-class immigrants to being considered high-fashion by some of the richest, most well-known individuals in Britain in the 90's. With its growing trend amongst the upperclass, it also brought in British, non-Asian designers to thee market, adding competition amongst British Asians.
To me, I understand that, in some ways, it is inevitable that people outside of a culture will want to capitalize on certain things about a culture/group of people such as their fashion; however, by marking that type of fashion a "trend" is taking away a lot of the meaning that comes with that particular fashion. For instance, the salwaar-kameezes might've just been a trend to female British elites, but inn truth, it has a history of being used by as a political piece of clothing by many different groups. For example, its been used as a way to peacefully reject "the [Delhi-based Hindu government's] action (in 1985) and also as reflection of 'ethnic pride' (amongst Sikhs)" (pg. 15)
My question: Would the commercialization of cultural fashion be okay (as well as non-ethnic people wearing it and making it 'popular' amongst thee general public) if the designer and the people who PROFIT from the commercialization are from that culture?
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