Wessie Ling

This lecture will discuss several interconnected themes related to fashion-making, particularly in the context of China and its relationship with the broader global fashion landscape. It will evaluate the ways in which its prominent role in global production and trade has challenged the centrality of fashion history. China serves as a key manufacturing hub, a major consumer market, a source of design talent, and a driver of fashion tech. Its economic and political influence has ramifications for the global fashion industry. Trade policies, tariffs, and geopolitical tensions led by China have impacted the fashion industry's operations, supply chains, sourcing decisions, and creativity. In the same vein, there are convoluted debates about China’s economic expansion, geopolitical influence, and foreign policy as a new form of colonialism. Deconstructing fashion-making in the 21st century reveals the underlying power dynamics, cultural influences, and inequalities promulgated by China. The talk will underline the socio-cultural, political, and economic dynamics between China and other regions in the fashion industry through cultural exchange, globalization, trade, and collaborations. It takes de/recolonizing as a nuanced approach to consider both efforts to dismantle colonial legacies and potential new forms of influence or control in the context of China. Underpinning the established norms, power structures, and historical legacies are the complexities of decolonization and the evolving global fashion landscape.