Less than three decades ago, when the Chinese bought cloth or clothes,
they would have had to use a government-issued coupon. Today the Chinese
fashion industry is one of the most dynamic in the world - it not only
supplies fashions to the increasingly discerning domestic market, but
also provides one-third of the clothing sold in the global market. How
did this phenomenal transition come about? What can the growth of the
Chinese fashion industry tell us about the post-Mao China? What roles do
the local and the global play in the dramatic changes?
This book offers a historically informed, ethnographically grounded and
interpretive analysis of contemporary Chinese fashion and the fashion
industry. It examines the interplay of state politics, market forces,
local social and cultural factors, and the global political economy,
both in the rise of the Chinese fashion industry and in the life and
work of Chinese fashion professionals.
As the first ethnographic account of the Chinese fashion industry in the
post-Mao era, The Chinese Fashion
Industry combines first-hand accounts with sophisticated cultural
analysis to offer new insights, and will be of interest to students and
scholars of fashion, anthropology and China.
By:
Jianhua Zhao
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 230mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 8mm
Weight: 400g
ISBN: 9781847889355
ISBN 10: 1847889352
Series: Dress, Body, Culture
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 03 January 2013
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
I. Introduction II. Rise of the Chinese Fashion Industry Chapter 1: The Growth of Chinese Textile and Apparel Industries Chapter 2: What Do Changing Chinese Fashions Really Tell Us? III. Creating Fashion in China Chapter 3: Designing a National Style: The Tangzhuang Phenomenon Chapter 4: For the Sake of Art or for the Market? The Cultural Economy of Fashion Design Chapter 5: Creating Fashion on the Runway, Chinese Style Chapter 6: Making Clothes for International Markets IV. Conclusion: Clothing, Modernization, and Globalization Bibliography Index
Jianhua Zhao is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Louisville, USA.
Reviews for The Chinese Fashion Industry: An Ethnographic Approach
The analyses are timely and important, and Zhao shows conclusively that many of our assumptions about fashion, the market, and modernization do not apply simplistically in the case of China. The book is short and readable and would be of interest to anthropologists working on material culture, globalization, and fashion and would be accessible to students and the general public. -- Jack David Eller Anthropology Review Database The book is a must-read for anyone who wants to know about China's fashion scene. Zhao has contributed many unique and interesting insights that are informed by his scholarly background in anthropology. His ability to challenge established theories and traditional views deserves admiration from both scholars and general readers. Another noteworthy point is Zhao's accessible yet informed writing style. This is not just a book for scholars in the field, but also an interesting text for anyone who wants to understand more about Chinese political, social and economic culture, as it has applied to the fashion industry. -- Christine Tsui, Parsons The New School for Design The China Journal, No. 72
