Chinese Fashion

Abstract

How has fashion mirrored the social and cultural changes that have taken place in modern China? To what extent has fashion contributed to those changes? This book provides the first comprehensive account of modern Chinese fashion from 1978 to the present day. The post-Mao era witnessed the birth of the Chinese market economy, the reawakening of Chinese fashion, and the rejuvenation of Chinese society. The program of economic reform turned China into the world's leading manufacturing powerhouse, and the Chinese fashion industry now plays a key international role. During the same period, Western companies discovered China as a significant market for branded fashion and luxury goods. This book, which takes a chronological approach, offers an analysis of the development of the Chinese fashion industry as well as an analysis of the relationship between dress, gender, identity and consumption in contemporary China. As such it will be welcomed by all students of fashion and textiles.