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Fashion in Shanghai: the Designers of a New Economy of Style

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Fashion in Shanghai: the Designers of a New Economy of Style FASHION IN SHANGHAI: THE DESIGNERS OF A NEW ECONOMY OF STYLE Tim Lindgren Master of International Business (Honours) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy A.R.C Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation Queensland University of Technology September 2013 Keywords Aesthetics, Buddhism, China, Daoism, Design, Fashion, Haipai, Luxury, Shanghai, Sustainability Fashion in Shanghai: The Designers of a New Economy of Style i Publications Book Chapter Lindgren, Timothy (2013) Chinese fashion designers in Shanghai: a new perspective about their role in the construction of a fashion city. Fashioning Identities: Cultures of Exchange. Oxford. Interdisciplinary Press. E - Book Chapter Lindgren, Tim (2013) Chinese Fashion Designers in Shanghai: Identifying a Fresh Perspective about Their Role in the World Order of Fashion. In Trending Now: New Developments in Fashion Studies. Oxford. Interdisciplinary Press. Journal Articles Ferrero-Regis, Tiziana, & Lindgren, Timothy (2012) Branding ‘Created in China’: the rise of Chinese fashion designers. Fashion Practice, 4(1), pp. 71-94. Lindgren, Timothy, Sinclair, Marta, & Miller, Dale (2010) Australian fashion designers: the potential nexus with China. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: an international journal, 14(4), pp. 598-614. Conference papers Lindgren, Timothy (2012) Chinese fashion designers in Shanghai: a new perspective about their role in the construction of a fashion city. In Fashioning The City: Exploring Fashion, Cultures, Structures and Systems, 19th-21st September 2012, Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom. Lindgren, Timothy (2012) Chinese fashion designers in Shanghai: identifying a fresh perspective about their role in the world order of fashion. In 4th Global Conference on Fashion: Exploring Critical Issues, September 16th-19th 2012, Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom ii Fashion in Shanghai: The Designers of a New Economy of Style Abstract In this thesis I contend that the momentum of Chinese fashion is at a tipping point. Typically this process has been constrained by two key forces that have shaped the perception of Chinese development. Chinese culture, and Chinese politics have long held an almost insurmountable presence over many aspects of daily life, including cultural and creative expression, however this is changing, in part because of exchanges of aesthetic information due to globalisation, but also because of China’s global ascendency as an economically powerful nation, and its recent implementation of creative policy. Accordingly I used the Chinese city of Shanghai as a case study where between 2010 and 2012, I explored the field of independent fashion design and production so as to understand how fashion designers are building businesses and forging their aesthetic. To examine this field I developed a simple model to conceptualise the clothing industry, Shanghai’s fashion system, and the Eurocentric clothing system. This model was utilised as a means of organising semi-structured interviews with fifteen fashion designers in Shanghai. As well, my professional practice, spanning twenty years in the global fashion industry has facilitated a more critical examination of the field. The research outcomes show that despite the dominance of the Eurocentric fashion system in China, some very successful designers in Shanghai have developed an uncompromising design aesthetic that is based upon a third key force of Chinese Buddhist and Daoist philosophy. I found that their work, in many ways, rejects the model of Western consumption that propels the Eurocentric fashion system, and instead they have created clothing brands that are ethically, morally and philosophically sound, and incorporate innate sustainable practice. Furthermore, in a powerful demonstration of China’s ‘soft power’, in March 2013, China’s First Lady, Peng Liyuan, accompanied her husband President Xi Jinping, China’s newly elected leader, on their first state visit to Russia. Instead of a European luxury brand, Peng Liyuan wore clothing from one of these designers Fashion in Shanghai: The Designers of a New Economy of Style iii Table of Contents Keywords .................................................................................................................................................. i Publications ............................................................................................................................................. ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... iv Map of China ......................................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... viii Statement of Original Authorship ........................................................................................................... x Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................. xi Terminology .......................................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 11 1.1.1 Locating the designers .................................................................................................... 11 1.1.2 Approaching the designers ............................................................................................. 13 1.1.3 Limitations to the research ............................................................................................. 13 1.1.4 Talking to the designers .................................................................................................. 14 1.1.5 Limitations to the methodology ..................................................................................... 15 1.1.6 Arranging the data .......................................................................................................... 16 1.1.7 Contextualising the field ................................................................................................. 16 1.1.8 Siting the designers and organising the thesis ............................................................... 22 1.2 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 2: FASHION AND CULTURE ....................................................................................... 27 2.1 Culture and Modernity ................................................................................................................ 28 iv Fashion in Shanghai: The Designers of a New Economy of Style 2.1.1 Modernity ....................................................................................................................... 32 2.1.2 The Diffusion of Fashion ................................................................................................. 34 2.1.3 Fashion and Consumption .............................................................................................. 36 2.2 Aesthetics .................................................................................................................................... 38 2.2.1 European and Chinese Aesthetics .................................................................................. 39 2.3 Fashion Systems .......................................................................................................................... 45 2.3.1 The Role of the Fashion Designer ................................................................................... 50 2.3.2 Design ............................................................................................................................. 53 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 3: FASHION IN SHANGHAI ........................................................................................ 61 3.1 Shanghai and Modernity ............................................................................................................. 62 3.2 Art, Education and Industry ......................................................................................................... 73 3.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER 4: GETTING STARTED: EMERGING DESIGNERS .......................................................... 91 4.1 Chen Mei ..................................................................................................................................... 93 4.2 Hu Tao ........................................................................................................................................
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