Week 5 - Material Mao

ASA 141
Week 5
Annika R. Uyenco

https://coolhunting.com/culture/designer-han-feng-synthesis/

"Material Mao" was a great reading because it reminded me once again how dynamic and easily influenced fashions can be. Asian fashion in particular is interesting when brought into the western world because of the history of Asian representation. Han Feng, the main designer and focus of the reading, started a blossoming chain of events with her collection. Feng knew if she were to make profit in the west with her clothes, she would have to make a few adjustments to fit the western cut all the while maintaining and displaying the roots and the cultural background of her clothes. Through her designs, Feng was able to combine east and west. Her collection took off and this became the start of many more designers from Asia getting recognition due to heightened western curiosity.

Asian influences and fashion in the western world has had a turbulent history. It is not a surprise that Asian influences were hard for the public to accept, especially with the media's portrayal of Asian culture and the many stereotypes that come along with it. Many associate Asian fashion with dragons and other stereotypical Asian features, subjecting Asian clothes to a niche of fashion. This can a frustrating struggle for Asian fashion designers who want make an impact in the west. However, Feng was able to use this racism to her advantage by transforming the current and narrow knowledge at the time and instead show the true beauty and history of Asia.

Another interesting story in this reading was designer Vivienne Tam who created a collection using images of Mao Zedong's face. The clothes were a satire to the late leader but not understood by those in the west. The clothes were funny to wear but the historical meaning behind them was not grasped. Those in the east were appalled and even became angry at store employees who displayed the clothes in the windows. Eventually though, people in the east accepted it and "...certainly many Hong Kongers wondered: ‘‘Is Mao funny?’’

Fashion is absolutely flexible and adaptable due to many ebbs and flows in cultural and political structures. It is natural that people and their desires influence fashion but we do not often think that clothes and what is considered "in fashion" can affect our opinions and perspectives.


Can you think of a time when fashion changed your opinion or perspective on a certain topic?

Week 6 - (Re)Appropriation and Ownership of Culture

Jinia Lee
Week 6
ASA141

Article: https://nextshark.com/instagram-bikini-asian-women-fetish/

While reading The Cultural Economy of Asian Chic, Nguyen stated, "At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Asian-inspired clothes that inundated fashion were almost invariably 'updated' or 'reinterpreted' in the same way: as sexualized objects made tighter and shorter than their ‘‘inspirations" (50). This made me think about how designers continue to perpetuate Orientalist ideas about Asians. I think the words, "updated" and "reinterpreted," gives off an impression that Asian fashion and costumes are "too traditional" which makes it seem like designers from the West are doing the East a favor by giving them some type of (mis)representation within the modern fashion sphere. In addition, it also can be assumed that Asian costume in its original form can never be accepted in the West or in high fashion because it does not fall into the category of sexualization or what is trendy. 

The picture above is a bikini/lingerie that was designed by a black fashion student and sold on her Instagram on Chinese New Year. There was some backlash on her design because many thought that she was sexualizing and fetishizing Asian women and was cultural appropriating. The designer commented back and said that she is not sexualizing Asian women because it was not worn by an Asian woman and that there is no law that says "black people can't use Asian fabrics." This makes me question: How do we truly differentiate what is appropriation or appreciation? At the same time, who gets to determine if it is or not? 

Week 6 - Hip Asians

So-Hyeon (Diana) Park
ASA 141
Week 6

There are a few points I'd like to make after reading "It's Hip to be Asian" by Parminder Bhachu. First, it was empowering to learn that the fashion industry in Britain is women-run businesses. I am not a feminist per se, but sometimes it is discouraging to see distorted sex-ratio in certain industries; however, it was not the case here, and the businesswomen are successful.

Second, the fluidity and flexibility of the British fashion industry are fascinating. A shop owner in Britain works with her client who is looking for a specific attire for a wedding; they collaborate to come up with a design, which the owner does the final touch and faxes it to a manufacturing factory in India; three weeks later, the client gets the final product back in Britain. We have to take a moment and appreciate the development of technology. The British Asian businesswomen took advantage of this advanced piece and applied it to their fashion businesses. The end result? They thrived in their world.

Lastly, the author makes a good point that this whole phenomenon of "currifying Britain" is not one-way directed. Rather, both British and Asian cultures influence each other in a way Britain Asians are "Englishized" while they "Asianized" the British fashion industry. I wonder whether the same formula applies to the other designers in the rest of the world.

Cherie Blair, the former British Prime Minister's wife, is well known for her obsession with Indian clothes.

Wk6 hippy asians

Ziyu Wang

Parmider Bhachu discusses the rising waves of Asian fashion in Great Britain in the article "It's hip to be Asian". The salwaar-kameez is specifically analyzed in great detail. The author noted that the salwaar-kameez, an ethnic wear commonly wore by Indian immigrants, quickly rise to prominence in the British fashion world after British royals start to wear them. Thinking back to the documentary "Good Hair" we watched in class, this is just another case of European beauty standards triumphing in our society. Our society tends to believe that Europeans' standard are the rule to live by, and whatever they decides to use, wear, or represent become trends in the rest of the world. European hair are always the 'good hair', and clothing that famous European people wear become new trends in fashion, even if that piece of clothing is commonly wore by low income immigrants that are often overlooked. We need to start appreciate other cultures, appreciate what's in front of us. We shouldn't just all conform to European beauty standards and obey them as law. There are plenty of ethnic wears out there that are yet to be discovered by the fashion world, but you know if a celebrity start to wear them, they will instantly become the new trend of the month. So what must we do to discover more ethnic wears and present it to the public?

Week 6: Cultural Economy of Asian Chic

Week 6
Sidney Siu
(Re)Appropriation and Ownership of Culture

Generally speaking, many people will think straight to cultural appropriation when the topic of Asian fashion/trends being popularized in the U.S. is brought up. However, in chapter 3 of this week's reading by Thur Linh Nguyen Tu, she reminds the readers that what she wants to focus on is: how Asianness as a fashion commodity is accessed as a resource to Asian American designers and what the cultural-economic relationship between Asia and the U.S. is, along with the aspects of its interconnectedness.

Though many countries in Europe-- France being widely known-- are fashion capitals of the world, the U.S. didn't absorb the Asian chic trend until centuries later in comparison. It's cited in the text that cultural economy of distance is where exotic (Asian) goods are desirable and valued due to the distance at which they are, i.e. the further away, the more alluring the product or object might be. One might think it's just a way for outside countries to flaunt cultural and global capital, which it in part is,  but another way to look at it is the fact that it also creates a "world of competition." (Nguyen Tu) Not only does this trend make up competition between the designers that incorporate Asian tradition into their clothing, but it also generates more competition for Asian designers.

So, while there is profit on both sides of the market, there is still a discussion of whether certain traditions can be used as a means for profit (rather than appreciation) and cultural authenticity. Can curiosity be a killer in the fashion industry as the talk of appropriation grows?

Week 6 - Material Mao

Lao, Reanna

In this week’s reading, I read about fashioning histories out of icons. In the article “Material Mao,” author Linh described the marriage of east and west through examples of Mao inspired art forms. In one example, Linh wrote about Mao inspired clothes which received mixed reviews in both the west and the east. I think the way America has portrayed China in U.S. history books has a part to play in this. Cultural curiosity of China is interesting to the west because of the previously written narrative of an exotic and mysterious people and country. Personally, I think it is a bit controversial as people have different personal resonance to the Chinese leader. However, I like the idea that designers are attempting to change views of ethnic groups through clothes. It is inspiring to see that designers are creating forms of art which embrace their own culture. The reappropriation and ownership of culture brings attention to a new narrative of inclusion. I think the Mao inspired clothes is more interesting than the overused idea of the changsan and of mythical creatures such as dragons. One question I had for the designers of the Mao inspired clothes is whether or not they considered Mao’s ideals into its creation. It was mentioned in the article that Mao himself was against consumerism and materialism.

Week 6 | "It's Hip to be Asian"

Rida Riaz
ASA 141
"It's Hip to be Asian"

This reading talked about the commoditization of the salwar-kameez which is a Punjabi ethnic wear and how over the years it became mainstream in Britain. When the salwar-kameez was worn by immigrant Pakistani/Indian women, it was looked down upon as a "poor" suit, but as soon as Princess Diana and Jemima Goldsmith-Khan started to represent it as well as wear the salwar kameez it automatically was viewed by the public as something royal and "high fashion." There's a quote in the reading that said, "these trends have recoded the salwaar-kameez suit from its stereotype of a dress-form of ‘low status immigrant women’ to that of a high fashion and couture garment," which has a huge impact on me since that is how this world works sadly as the rich set trends and make something unworthy look worthy while the minority is disregarded.  (pp.44)

Princess Diana in salwar-kameez 

Princess Diana and Jemima Goldsmith-Khan

Princess Diana and Jemima Goldsmith-Khan

(love my girl Diana though)

Another point in the reading that caught my attention was how various different designers use this British-Indian fusion to make an "exotic" fashion show theme by basically showcasing another culture as something trendy and different to consumers. The salwar-kameez isn't just a dress, but it tells a story about the immigrants' history, culture and migration routes and those people that choose to wear It even in a Western country are those that want to stick close to their ethnic roots. There is nothing wrong about Western women dressing up in salwar-kameez or any other ethnic wear in my opinion; however, what's wrong is looking down upon the immigrants that choose to wear their ethnic dress while looking up to those that are of higher prestige wearing that same exact dress.

Gucci Runway SS 18

Companies like Zara and H&M have been bringing out westernized versions of the salwar-kameez and even though they were just trying to be inclusive, I believe there was a better way to carry out certain styles that didn't seem offensive. So, H&M came out with a modest collection back in Spring 2018 and not only were the dresses crazy expensive, the styles looked exactly like salwar-kameez which is quite offensive to the Muslim community since the depiction of "modest" to H&M or Western clothing companies in general were restricted to an ethnic piece of dress. H&M had a very good idea about being inclusive by releasing a modest clothing line, but they could've put more thought and creativity in their styles since Western Muslim or modest women want to wear cute Western outfits they feel comfortable and beautiful in for day-to-day. Then, Zara always releases kurti (Pakistani tunics) in their summer/spring collections each year and the styles, colors and embroidery patterns is an exact replica of Pakistani ethnic wear while there's no mention of inspiration or credit to Pakistani fashion whatsoever. These clothing brands need to stop homogenizing a certain ethnic group and put someone else's rich, deep culture as a mere exotic trend. 

H&M Modest Spring Collection '18

H&M Modest Spring Collection '18 

H&M Modest Spring Collection '18