Butterfly on the Glass

"What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stop and stare?"
--W.H. Davies, Welsh poet and writer

I was sitting at the computer this morning when this pretty lady alighted on the glass and wanted to know what I was doing. Naturally, I got up and took a closer look, only to find she was taking a closer look at me! I can't help but think she's saying, "Well, what do you think of my new dress?" Being somewhat bug-challenged, I don't really know if this is a "new" dress, but from what I've seen on Blip recently from various "bug experts," it seems that this is, indeed, the season when the creepy, crawly caterpillars turn into these pretty flying creatures - am I right?

Hastily removing my mind from the creepy crawly part, she made me instead think of fashion and the importance fashion plays here in China. Although fashion is not the first thing that leaps to mind when thinking of China, as the nation has "opened up," there has arisen within China an insatiable awareness of global fashion trends and designer branding and how they are translating and evolving within the nation itself; not only do Chinese women want to keep pace, many of them have the money to do so. But no matter what their financial circumstances, both women and men of all ages in China have become highly focused on how they present themselves to the world.

Although Chinese designers have only started to make their mark on the runways of Paris and New York, for years many of the top fashion designers from the West have done their basic manufacturing here in China. Western fashion magazines still cannot be found in most cities on the Mainland, but the clothing and accessories coming out of Chinese factories, along with an opening up of the internet, has helped initiate a fast-growing trend toward global fashion awareness. Further to that, as China's economy boomed, high-end designers suddenly found a wide-open market for their pricey merchandise; put the two together and one can start to understand why the Chinese demand for Western designer goods has become insatiable.

For the very rich, it's all about branding, specifically the labels of Western designers: Hermes, Mui Mui, Chanel, Escada, Louis Vuitton, just to name a few. The high-end malls in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing are packed with one top-designer store after another, and some brands are so popular there are actually queues out the front door and down the street. No longer satisfied with cheap knock-offs, high-end Chinese consumers have become very discerning about the quality and reputation of the brands they purchase. Friends who recently visited Paris told me that if you want to shop at the top-designer stores there, you must arrive early before the Chinese tour busses pull up. Chinese tourists are so hungry for designer goods, they will literally clean out the inventory - and price appears to be no object!

Even for those without the discretionary funds to buy trendy brand-named clothing in China, the drive toward contemporary Western fashion is relentless. It used to be that anything remotely American was the big seller, and we would see everything from Levis and Tommy Hilfiger jeans to cheap T-Shirts with random English phrases and words (the meanings didn't matter as long as the words were in English.) Although American items are still popular, the trend now seems to be shifting toward Japan and Korea as young Chinese consumers are looking for the latest "hippest" designer duds. And since they can manufacture literally anything here, there's little need to go abroad to purchase the latest fashions; the label "Made in China" can be found on designs from around the globe that are made right here at home.

The definition of fashion in China is far reaching, to say the least, and, to the American eye, the extent of mis-matching is mind-boggling; of course, part of me realizes that this, in itself, is a fashion statement. In a country of 3 billion people, the object is to stand out from the crowd; if pairing bizarre combinations of tops, bottoms, shoes, hats, glasses, and gloves gets the job done, then mission accomplished! The latest fashion trend here is to wear various forms of flashy eye-wear - absent the glass!

In short, fashion in China, especially for women, seems to be all about the show, the flash, the superficial effect, the trend and standing out, whether with high-priced luxury goods or simply by how you combine your clothing and accessories. For a country that, not long ago, was entirely clothed in the work uniforms of the communist regime, the changes are staggering, but perhaps not so surprising. Maybe they're making up for lost time, or perhaps they see it as one more way of gaining a foothold into the Western world. Regardless of their motivation, there's no doubt that women in China are highly fashion minded, clearly conscious of how they look and very aware of who is noticing - much like this butterfly on the glass.