Fashion in 21st Century China


Book Description

This book explores the dynamic landscape of fashion in China since the beginning of the 21st century through an integrated perspective. The book considers key questions related to the changes in China’s fashion dynamics driven largely by the shifts in the mindset of Chinese consumers due to the current sociocultural contexts. To provide an understanding of these important shifts, this three-part monograph pays close attention to the new generation of Chinese fashion designers and consumers. The book explores in detail related topics such as, how today’s Chinese consumers relate to foreign brands, the meaning of apparel brands as identity symbols or cultural signs to contemporary young consumers, the attractiveness of Western fashion designers and brands in the eyes of current Chinese consumers as compared to past consumers, and how brands could adapt to the online-centered consumption behavior. The book serves as an insightful update on the Chinese fashion landscape for researchers, practitioners and passionate followers of its evolution.




Evolution & Revolution


Book Description

By using the medium of dress, Evolution & Revolution explores the dramatic cultural, social, economic and political changes which have occurred in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan over th past three centuries. This history is revealed through the luxury court robes of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911); the tight-fitting, side-slitted East-West cheungsam; the ubiquitous Mao suit, symbol of Communist ideology; and the bold new directions of contemporary designers. Written by authors from Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and rich with visual material, this unique book offers an accessible, informative and inspiring treatment of Chinese history, culture and dress.




Chinese Looks


Book Description

From yellow-face performance in the 19th century to Jackie Chan in the 21st, Chinese Looks examines articles of clothing and modes of adornment as a window on how American views of China have changed in the past 150 years. Sean Metzger provides a cultural history of three iconic objects in theatrical and cinematic performance: the queue, or man's hair braid; the woman's suit known as the qipao; and the Mao suit. Each object emerges at a pivotal moment in US-China relations, indexing shifts in the balance of power between the two nations. Metzger shows how aesthetics, gender, politics, economics, and race are interwoven and argues that close examination of particular forms of dress can help us think anew about gender and modernity.




Changing Clothes in China


Book Description

Historians have long regarded fashion as something peculiarly Western. In this surprising, sumptuously illustrated book, Antonia Finnane challenges this view, which she argues is based on nineteenth- and twentieth-century representations of Chinese dress as traditional and unchanging. Fashions, she shows, were part of Chinese life in the late imperial era, even if a fashion industry was not then apparent. In the early twentieth century the key features of modern fashion became evident, particularly in Shanghai, and rapidly changing dress styles showed the effects. The volatility of Chinese dress throughout the twentieth century matched vicissitudes in national politics. Finnane describes in detail how the close-fitting jacket and high collar of the 1911 Revolutionary period, the skirt and jacket-blouse of the May Fourth era, and the military style popular in the Cultural Revolution gave way finally to the variegated, globalized wardrobe of today. She brilliantly connects China’s modernization and global visibility with changes in dress, offering a vivid portrait of the complex, subtle, and sometimes contradictory ways the people of China have worn their nation on their backs.







Fashion Tribes China


Book Description

A window into the fashion tribes of the young Chinese, who make up one in ten of the world's population.The pace at which China has caught up with western lifestyle is breathtaking. Chinese youth have embraced, assimilated and adapted western cultural values and aesthetics in no time. They are confident and proud on the streets of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Most recently Chinese youth are beginning to rediscover their own heritage and mix it with western creative language, delivering a fresh and unique style, which is set to grow and influence the west in the near future. Fashion Tribes China presents the freshest and most cutting-edge youth street culture coming out of China. The book mixes straight-up head-to-toe street photography with detailed shots, including accessories, fashion detailing and fashion graphics, reflecting what is being worn and designed. Added to this are essays on style leaders in China, lifestyle, aspirations, motivations and creative thinking. Fashion Tribes China gives invaluable insight into today’s youth street culture and is aimed at creative professionals and marketers eager to understand and be inspired by what is set to become the 21st century's most influential youth group.




The Chinese Fashion Industry


Book Description

This is the first anthropological study of the contemporary Chinese fashion and textile industries from high-end designer clothing to mass manufacture.




Chinese Dress


Book Description

Featuring over 450 archival photographs and line drawings, Chinese Dress traces the evolution of Chinese clothing from court and formal costumes to the fashions of twenty-first century China. Author Valery Garrett skillfully weaves the story of Chinese dress in all its variations--elaborately embroidered robes, military uniforms, children's dress, wedding and funeral attire, working clothes, Mao-inspired fashion--against a backdrop of historical, cultural and social change. A comprehensive and sumptuously illustrated book, this book includes images of garments and accessories from museum and private collections, as well as unpublished or little-known archival photos and printed materials. Chapters include: Dress of the Qing Manchu Rulers 1644-1911 Dress of the Manchu Consorts 1644-1911 Attire of Mandarins and Merchants Attire of Chinese Women Republican Dress 1912-1949 Clothing of the Lower Classes Clothing for Children Dress in New China 1950-Present Day For both modern fashion inspiration and accurate historical representation, Chinese Dress is the essential reference for costume historians, fashion designers and collectors, as well as lovers of beautiful clothes!




Memes, Myth and Meaning in 21st Century Chinese Visual Culture


Book Description

This book explores the impact of global change in China in what is considered in the West as ‘the Asian century’ and what this in turn means for visual culture. Unravelling a deep understanding of historical shifts in visual culture that represent socio-political mirrors of culture, it expands the Western perception of Chinese visual culture and the intertwined complexities of cultural signification. This book provides a key resource for Galleries and Academic Institutions, offering insights into understanding the systems underpinning ideas, skills and influences of the new visual culture in the Asian century.