fashion in china

went shopping a few days ago for clothing in china, a whole new wardrobe, actually, given that i had to leave most my clothes back in the states.

i find fascinating how brand obsessed people in china are. maybe it's an universal thing, but the chinese have certainly taken it to an extreme, or perhaps just its logical conclusion.

for one, almost nothing that you can buy will lack for a brand prominently displayed somewhere on the article. this was most noticable w/ dress shoes: i was trying to find a simple pair of black shoes, but every shoe had a small metallic logo with its maker on it. it didn't matter if the maker was some obscure brand out of guangzhou; they had to stick their brand prominently on the shoe itself. sweaters it was a bit easier to find non-branded ones, but in general, everything had one.

which then brings in the second part of the equation: how obsessed the fashion-makers seem to be with american and european brands. polo and lacoste seem to be the most prominent. rather than be content with letting those brands be, the chinese companies have generated countless imitation brands. i can't even count now how many different variations of lacoste's crocodile i've seen in my time here. and ironically, in comparing the prices, some of the imitators have become just as expensive as actual lacoste clothing.

in one particularly amusing moment last year, i went to stand in the mall that sold "Boss Wenbro" (or something like that). and when i asked if they were related to "Hugo Boss", the clerk proudly replied, "oh, that's the German Boss, we're the Italian Boss." If only the Italians knew they had their own "Boss" brand.

i wonder how long it will be before chinese fashion stops trying to parrot american brands, and start developing indigenous luxury brands. the worksmanship is there: after all, the american companies produce here too. the designs? that will take a while longer, but even there, chinese designers are starting to make their headway in the high fashion market. so how long until chinese mass fashion and consumers stop looking for the crocodile.

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as an addendum, i did end up buying yesterday a suit by a chinese brand. maybe it's not as simple as i made it out to be.