The Chinese Fashion Industry: An Ethnographic Approach
The Chinese Fashion Industry: An Ethnographic Approach, by Jianhua Zhao. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. xiv 197 pp. US$110.00 (hardcover) US$39.99 (paperback) US$99.99 .pdf eBook) US$37.99 (ePUB eBook).Research about Chinese clothing published before 2007 was mostly limited to historical costume and dress. Jianhua Zhao is one of the first Chinese scholars to publish in English on contemporary Chinese fashion, and this book is the first to shed light on the textile and clothing industry in China since the post Mao era from the perspective of the cultural economy. It encapsulates the formation of the Chinese textile and clothing industry, the evolution of Chinese styles (especially the Tangzhuang) Chinese fashion designers' working strategies, processing and business models, China Fashion Week and the garment trading network between the US and China.There are six main chapters in addition to an Introduction and a Conclusion. The main body starts from the second chapter. It depicts the formation and development of the clothing and textile industry since the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Zhao integrates previously fragmented information into a comprehensive narrative and substantially updates our knowledge of the field through his meticulous research in governmental and academic archives. The chapter not only provides information but also engages theories of power in its exploration of the relationship and negotiations between the government and the market. Close attention to the theoretical implications of his findings suffuses the whole book. Zhao's critical approach to various theories makes the book a valuable academic resource, rather than just an "information provider".Chapter 3 documents the evolution of clothing styles in China from the late Qing, and explores the association between styles, politics and social dynamics in a theory of modernization. Zhao argues that the modernization of China was not simply "because of the adoption of Western styles of clothing" (p. 13) rather, "the Chinese modernity encoded in the evolution of clothing styles is a story that the Chinese tell themselves about themselves in relation to their own past rather than to others" (ibid. Although not everyone may agree with his argument, Zhao provides interesting insights to his understanding of the modernization of fashion in China.Chapter 4 on the Tangzhuang or Chinese style jacket is one of the highlights of the book. This is the first discussion in English of the origins of the Tangzhuang, its evolution, the technology of its production and its role in modern China. Zhao also reveals behind the scenes stories of the active participation of the Chinese government in the development of a clothing style. The writing demonstrates Zhao's diligent archival and interview based fieldwork.Chapter 5 moves to commercial and production realms, and discusses the business choices and strategies of Chinese fashion designers. Through the stories of two anonymous representative Chinese designers, this chapter reveals how fashion designers run their businesses in China.The next two chapters explore China's fashion industry and its engagement with the international arena. Chapter 6 portrays the most important fashion event in China China Fashion Week (CFW) The chapter documents the organization, working process and logic of CFW and its function for Chinese fashion designers. It provides a good foundation for understanding how CFW works, and how it differs from other international fashion weeks. Chapter 7 explores the clothing exporting business from China to the US in a globalized network framework through the example of a manufacturer of NFL (National Football League) jerseys. This chapter showcases another remarkable aspect of the book: instead of only describing how the system works, it also illustrates how the "meaning" of a garment is constructed differently at different sites (manufacturer, agency, buyer)