Developing a Fashion Industry in Vietnam - Get Rid of the Kitsch!

As a fashion-lover living in Hanoi, Vietnam, I keep finding myself confronted with the question, "What is real?" There are so many sartorial imitations of American and European brands that the very definition of brand-name clothing is turned upside down. Fake imitations of brand names made sense during the recent age of excess, but as priorities shift away from designer labels, how will the fake Fendi fend?

At first, I was just amused by the unabashedly blatant designer knock-offs. I almost bought a funky purse with a Marc Jacobs label that was so outlandish it almost seemed like something he would have created. I admired the way Vietnamese girls rode their motorbikes in Burberry-patterned concoctions and carried their oversized, obviously fake Louis Vuitton bags. Recently, I had a "Vietnamese kitsch" themed birthday party where everyone had to dress in kitsch. Kitsch is a hard concept to grasp and I even had to check on wikipedia to make sure that my conception of the term was correct.

This is from wikipedia:

"Kitsch is a German word denoting art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons [1] while making cheap mass-produced objects that are unoriginal. Kitsch also refers to the types of art that like-wise, are aesthetically deficient (whether or not being sentimental, glamorous, theatrical, or creative), and making creative gestures that merely imitate the superficial appearances of art through repeated conventions and formulae. Excessive sentimentality often is associated with the term."

All of a sudden, after reading the definition, kitsch was everywhere I looked in Hanoi. The iconic Burberry and Louis Vuitton prints that are seen all around on bags, dresses, headbands, motorbike seat covers, compact mirrors, and even trash cans are nothing but unoriginal cheap mass-produced objects. I felt suffocated and like I was living in a world of mockery. I was, however, pleased that a silly party theme actually seemed to be getting at an important insight into Vietnamese culture and fashion.

I tried to explain the kitsch party theme to my Vietnamese friend. Even though this friend is as stylish as can be and does not dress like other women in Hanoi, she has always lived in Vietnam and so it is hard to understand a party theme that is actually cultural commentary. To make this already complicated concept more confusing, she is not perfectly fluent in English. She tried her best to understand what I meant when I tried to explain. I said, "you know, like fake Burberry," and she brought me to a fancy store filled with fakes from China. This store was supposed to have the "closest to the real thing" that you can find in Vietnam. I walked around the store in a bewildered state, and tried to allow myself to find beauty in a fake Bebe dress, but to no avail. It seemed like I was in a creepy room in a Willy Wonka factory where nothing is real and I felt like I was about to burst, like the girl who eats the gum in Willy Wonka and turns into a grape.

"It is cheaper than in America," my friend told me as I looked at a fake Marc Jacobs purse that still cost $100. Yes, but it is not real, I thought. More than having a problem with fake versus real, my horror at the marketing for clothing here is that it is so unaligned with the current zeitgeist, spirit of the times. Whether you blame it on the recession or global warming, in the United States right now, people are losing interest in designer clothes and accessories and would rather have fewer, high quality items than lots of cheap clothes that do not hold up in the washing machine. As times have changed, values have shifted and the cheap, fake market in Vietnam does not seem to match this shift.

I would be hard-pressed to say that adorning yourself with cheaper versions of the real thing was ever appealing. But, it is certainly not cool anymore. As gaudy, expensive designer brand items become anachronistic relics, I am left to wonder what will happen to their kitsch impersonators. If the real thing is no longer desirable, then the fake version seems utterly worthless.

As Vietnam continues to become a richer country, people will have more buying power and will be able to afford higher quality goods. From conversations I have had with other outsiders observing Vietnamese culture, there seems to be a general consensus that the focus here is not on quality and careful design, but on cheap and expedient (across the gamut from clothes, to electronics, to architecture, to construction). I only know clothes, but in terms of development, it seems that the Vietnamese fashion market is ready for higher quality, unique goods. Vietnam is trying to foster a fashion industry and it needs to find its own fashion identity. I would really like to see a shift in mindset away from imitation designer labels made in China and towards an authentic Vietnamese style.

Check my blog for kitschy photos!

 

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Comments

[moneya]

It's called aspiration. People around the world, especially in emerging economies, long for goods which signal the type of lifestyle they hope to achieve. How about trying to understand the preferences of the people whose country you are a guest in, rather than disparaging and judging them?

[kidolympic]

If you really need to get in touch with what is real (sure is effort for a clause) read Julian Schnabel.

Go to a thrift store buy a handful, make your own clothes.