National Identity and Fashion Design-Comparative Study of Chinese and Korean Fashion Designers-

Abstract

In the latest ten years, researches related to national identity have received unprecedented attention. Especially in the context of globalization, national identity has become an incomparable soft power that a nation or a state cannot be dispensed with. When it comes to national identity in the field of fashion, the adoption of national or cultural elements in clothing also reflects more or less national identity. The purpose of this study is to observe the similarities and differences between contemporary Chinese and Korean fashion designers in understanding the concept of national identity. To this end, the literature review and in-depth interview were conducted. The literature research includes a review of the history of national identity both in China and South Korea. Photos collections of Seoul and Shanghai Fashion Weeks of the recent five years, as well as Chinese and Korean fashion designers works in the Four Great Fashion Weeks were reviewed to compare the similarities and differences between the fashion field of the two countries in terms of the demonstration of national identity. A total of 20 fashion designers (10 Chinese and 10 Korean) who have their own studios, and have been publishing Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter collections during recent three years were selected. The outcomes from the studies are as follow. Firstly, national identity is included in nowadays fashion design mainly via the adoption of ethnic and civic elements. Ethnic elements include visible-symbolized ethnic elements such as traditional ethnic arts, costumes and lifestyles while invisible-spiritual ethnic elements focus more on traditional religious philosophy. Similarly, civic elements that contain visible-symbolized political elements and invisible-spiritual political elements were also analyzed. Visible-symbolized political elements include national or governmental symbols such as national sign, marks or logos, while invisible-spiritual political elements are political ideologies and institutions. Secondly, the paradigm model that interprets the influence factors of both Chinese and Korean fashion designers awareness of national identity was exported. Under the general social background of national identity, including national and government role, features of culture, cultural acceptability of the market and the international and economic status, different features of fashion and fashion designers as well as different features of national identity on fashion were shaped. Three direct acting factors: the general background of national identity, the features of fashion and the characteristics of how respective fashion designers shape their awareness of national identity. Thirdly, there are three main similarities between Chinese and Korean fashion designers awareness of national identity. The first point is that both Chinese and Korean fashion designers emphasize broader regional characteristics of national identity, in other words, national identity has become a concept that beyond national boundaries

the second point is that influence of national identity on fashion designers are subtle and not obvious

the third point is that fashion designers have mixed consciousness of self-identity and national identity. National identity, as a higher category, can only be perceived in some special occasions while self-identity can be interpreted as national identity. Fourthly, there are three main differences between Chinese and Korean fashion designers awareness of national identity. The first point is that the adoption of ethnic national identity in fashion design field is more related to the traditional ethnic elements in Chinese case while modern ethnic elements were favored more by Korean fashion designers. The second point is that Chinese fashion designers as a whole showed a deeper comprehension of traditional ethnic culture or philosophy than Korean fashion designers do. The third point is that the strength of civic national identity showed by the two countries designers are different. The distrust of the government and disappointment of institutions formulates a weak civic national identity in Korean fashion designers views, while more solid trust on the government caused Chinese fashion designers to have a more intensive civic national identity. This research provides a comprehensive theoretical background for investigating how national identity can be shown in Chinese and Korean fashion field in past and present. Meanwhile, this research can also be seen as the basic material of marketing strategy for both countries fashion designers who want to enter in Chinese or Korean market. There is a limit on this research that the study group was so small, therefore, more Chinese and Korean fashion designers are ought to be considered. Quantitative and qualitative research are expected to be conducted together so that the result of this research can be more comprehensive and reliable in the future study.