The Rising of Asian Power in the Fashion Industry

About half of global luxury consumption comes from China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. The rise and popularity of Asian designers and models is also very easy to understand, but the problem is that while more and more Asian designers are On the stage of the New York Fashion Week, the unique ethnic issues are still prevalent. Minh-Ha Phamm, professor of History and Art at Cornell University, said: “What I am most worried about now is that the rise of these Asian designers and Asian models has become an excuse for racial issues. Some people may say that if we have, Racial discrimination, then why do Asian designers such as Jason Wu and Alexander Wang have so many awards?" Looking at the following examples, we may find the answer.

On August 30, the Hollister Group, a California brand, opened a flagship store in IFC Mall in Seoul, South Korea. To celebrate the opening of the business, the brand selected a large number of male models from the United States to create a sexy lifeguard image without brand momentum. However, contrary to what was expected, these male models took the opportunity to insult the customers. Some of them took a disgusted look at Asian customers in the photo and uploaded photos to mock Asian customers. Although the brand apologized promptly afterwards and stated that these male models were personal acts and had nothing to do with the brand, the image of the brand was still damaged. The Koreans continued to boycott the Hollister brand and affected the operation of the parent company Abercrombie & Fitch.

In essence, the Hollister brand has not achieved the basic respect for Asians. At the opening ceremony in South Korea, Asian models can be selected. However, the brand always adheres to the American male model, and the Chinese model Liu Wen like Victoria Secret seems to be only Fancy in her rising popularity in the international market, rather than a true respect for the Chinese people. It seems that the Asian market is just a piece of fat for European and American brands, and many fashion brands only seek profits through some means of propaganda. They do not fundamentally respect Asian markets and Asian markets.