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kingsandbastardz · 10 months ago

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So for basically my whole life I'd grown up with and was resigned to accept that the chinese concept of formal/nice clothing of my and the previous generation has been western clothes. So at any awards ceremonies or performances, entertainers would show up mostly in western suits/dresses and maaaaaybe you'll spot the occasional cheongsam if they're going for a Wong Fei Hong vibe. Which, you know, kinda sucks if you have any concept of western cultural imperialism in asia.

So when the hanfu revivalist movement started, I was waiting to see when it would enter the mainstream -- my hope was for fashion designers to integrate traditional/dynastic elements into their work and make it common place enough that I can buy this shit online for ME. Because I WANT.

Though some of the designs can be a bit hit or miss, I am LOVING what various stars and entertainers are wearing out and about now.

Anyway - here's a collection of Xiao Shunyao's modern hanfu inspired/hybridized stage outfits from the last couple years. For his MLC performances, his stylists seem to be borrowing inspiration from his Di Feisheng and possibly other character costume silhouettes.

I'd been seeing a few comments about how his outfits play with gender - and some of his outfits do! But I think the interesting thing to discuss is from which standard is he playing with gender? Because from a western perspective, the things he does with his western suit tops, belting on top of the jacket for a tightly cinched waist, and the addition of a trailing skirt = femme. But if you're talking from a hanfu-hybridized pov, that's just a modern take on hanfu and having any of those elements is not inherently femme and would often read masc to me.

So these things aren't necessarily gendered because they exist traditionally in chinese men's clothing or costume designs (ie video games, comics, historical fiction illustrations and film, etc, so therefore in the modern lexicon of masculine/acceptable for men):

presence or lack of a skirt

silky, velvety, gauzy or sparkly material choice, esp in formal or stage clothing

short or long length of skirt

embroidery

flowers/floral/bird designs

folding fans

certain styles of makeup

beading, gold, tassels, jewels

non-chunky jewelry

headbands

widely flowing silhouettes

What XSY's stylists are doing with some western clothing items are interesting. I'm convinced there have been one or two western jacket tops made of thinner material that they're folding over the front, and belting down instead of buttoning (which then matches with his other outfits that are designed specifically to do this). Then they're adding a skirt, cloak or bracer element to it.

The western portions often bring a military minimalist feel which they balance with a more gauzy material in the skirt or cloak portions.

Things I think are playing with gender:

row 1 - image 1: red di feisheng-inspired outfit

The lace-up girdle is there to match the bracers in both material and style. And it's positioned to be similar to the heavy belt that Di Feisheng wears. HOWEVER. That style of girdle/corset-like clothing item can't be divorced from the modern idea of sexy leather corsets. So imo, this waist piece on that outfit was a choice. Especially when paired with his allergic-to-collars-higher-than-his-sternum necklines. And if you take into context how masculine yet female coded his character is in the drama, the whole look evokes that.

row 2, image 1: black western suit with belt on top, hat, cloak, black boots and not-visible but also a black tassel fringe skirt

Hat and cloak moves the intention of the outfit from western toward a more Asian slant, because alone, it looks like a western black suit with western heeled boots, cinched waist with a lady's belt (seated photoshoot) and western style tassel skirt. The suit top consists of a vest and a shrug-like sleeve portion that appears masculine at first glance. But take the shrug and pair it with the tassel skirt (I can't find the red carpet photos but here is a better view of the skirt when seated), and I think you got a look that's both intentionally edging toward the femme in a western sense but also confusing matters by hiding within the parameters of both western and chinese traditional male styling.

row 2 - image 2 : white asymetrical western jacket styled in a front fold-over style, gauze skirt, trailing pearl embellishments

The more traditional leaning version of this is the white outfit in row 3 that he wears to the Hi6 Hello Saturday variety show -- the skirt portion on that outfit is one I'd consider non-gendered. Row 1, images 2 and 3 are examples of masculine/neutral uses of gauze that plays with flow of form but isn't inherently femme. This stage outfit is very western-appearing masculine suiting, until you hit the skirt which is giving me long ballerina tie-on skirt with the additional swan/mermaid pearl strings. Imo, another example of deliberately using traditional masculine styling but switching it up with the combination of material choice and make that is feminine.

row 2, image 3: black space military boots, black suiting, black -silver ombre sequin trailing skirt and white gauzy shawl with black floral design

The over all design is going for a masculine military-feel. (think this outfit for shen langhun) But instead of a thicker military cloak, it's replaced with a woman's gauze shawl and a skirt that trails behind him very much like the back of a woman's formal fish-tail gown when he moves around. If you take into context Wang Herun's outfit is a white-silver sequined dress cut in a way to also give a space-military-queen vibe, imo they both coordinated their outfits to balance out with both femme and masc qualities.

Thoughts? I'm curious what others think about this.

While I wait for the CNY photoshoot for XSY's red and black look, here's him with his stage collaborators with a nice range of skirt lengths, period influences and material choices. The woman in the center is the one with the most military-fighter design out of the bunch. The dudes are all in variations of formal-wear-with-good-kicking-boots (and lots of crotch space).

#xiao shunyao #mysterious lotus casebook cast #my royal ramblings #fashion #chinese fashion #gendered fashion in cultural context

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dresshistorynerd · 9 months ago

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The Real Cost of the Fashion Industry

Atacama Desert, in Alto Hospicio, Iquique, Chile. (source)

The textile industry is destroying the world. The industry is wasting massive amounts of energy and materials, and polluting the air, the ground and the water supplies. It overwhelmingly exploits it's labour and extracts wealth from colonized countries, especially in Asia. I assume we all broadly understand this, but I think it's useful to have it all laid out in front of you to see the big picture, the core issues causing this destruction and find ways how to effectively move forward.

The concerning trend behind this ever-increasing devastation are shortening of trend cycles, lowering clothing prices and massive amount of wasted products. Still in year 2000 it was common for fashion brands to have two collections per year, while now e.g. Zara produces 24 collections and H&M produces 12-16 collections per year. Clothing prices have fallen (at leas in EU) 30% from 1996 to 2018 when adjusted to inflation, which has contributed to the 40% increase in clothing consumption per person between 1996 and 2012 (in EU). (source) As the revenue made by the clothing industry keep rising - from 2017 to 2021 they doubled (source) - falling prices can only be achieved with increasing worker exploitation and decreasing quality. I think the 36% degrees times clothing are used in average during the last 15 years (source) is a clear indication on the continuing drop in quality of clothing. Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2015, while 30% of the clothes produced per year are never sold and are often burned instead (source), presumably to prevent the returns from falling due to oversupply.

These all factors are driving people to overconsume. While people in EU keep buying more clothes, they haven't used up to 50% of the clothes in their wardrobe for over a year (source). This overconsumption is only made much worse by the new type of hyper fast fashion companies like SHEIN and Temu, which are using addictive psychological tactics developed by social media companies (source 1, source 2). They are cranking up all those concerning trends I mentioned above.

Under the cut I will go through the statistics of the most significant effects of the industry on environment and people. I will warn you it will be bleak. This is not just a fast fashion problem, basically the whole industry is engaging in destructive practices leading to this damage. Clothing is one of those things that would be actually relatively easy to make without massive environmental and human cost, so while that makes the current state of the industry even more heinous, it also means there's hope and it's possible to fix things. In the end, I will be giving some suggestions for actions we could be doing right now to unfuck this mess.

Carbon emissions

The textile industry is responsible for roughly 10% of the global CO2 emissions, more than aviation and shipping industry combined. This is due to the massive supply chains and energy intensive production methods of fabrics. Most of it can be contributed to the fashion sector since around 60% of all the textile production is clothing. Polyester, a synthetic fiber made from oil which accounts for more than half of the fibers used in the textile industry, produces double the amount of carbon emissions than cotton, accounting for very large proportions of all the emissions by the industry. (source 1, source 2)

Worker exploitation

Majority of the textiles are produced in Asia. Some of the worst working conditions are in Bangladesh, one of the most important garment producers, and Pakistan. Here's an excerpt from EU Parliament's briefing document from 2014 after the catastrophic Rana Plaza disaster:

The customers of garment producers are most often global brands looking for low prices and tight production timeframes. They also make changes to product design, product volume, and production timeframes, and place last-minute orders without accepting increased costs or adjustments to delivery dates. The stresses of such policies usually fall on factory workers.

The wage exploitation is bleak. According to the 2015 documentary The True Cost less than 2% of all garment factory workers earned a living wage (source). Hourly wages are so low and the daily quotas so high, garment workers are often forced through conditions or threats and demand to work extra hours, which regularly leads to 10-12 hour work days (source) and at worst 16 hour workdays (source), often without days off. Sometimes factories won't compensate for extra hours, breaching regulations (source).

Long working hours, repetitive work, lack of breaks and high pressure leads to increased risks of injuries and accidents. Small and even major injuries are extremely common in the industry. A study in three factories in India found that 70% of the workers suffered from musculosceletal symptoms (source). Another qualitative study of female garment workers and factory doctors in Dhaka found that long hours led to eye strain, headaches, fatigue and weight loss in addition to muscular and back pains. According to the doctors interviewed, weight loss was common because the workers work such long hours without breaks, they didn't have enough time to eat properly. (source) Another study in 8 factories in India found that minor injuries were extremely common and caused by unergonomic work stations, poor organization in the work place and lack of safety gear, guidelines and training (source). Safety precautions too are often overlooked to cut corners, which periodically leads to factory accidents, like in 2023 lack of fire exists and fire extinguishers, and goods stacked beyond capacity led to a factory fire in Pakistan which injured dozens of workers (source) or like in 2022 dangerous factory site led to one dead worker and 9 injured workers (source).

Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 is the worst industrial accident in recent history. The factory building did not have proper permits and the factory owner blatantly ignored signs of danger (other businesses abandoned the building a day before the collapse), which led to deaths of 1 134 workers and injuries to 2 500 workers. The factory had or were at the time working for orders of at least Prada, Versace, Primark, Walmart, Zara, H&M, C&A, Mango, Benetton, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Joe Fresh, Carrefour, Auchan, KiK, Loblaw, Bonmarche and Matalan. None of the brands were held legally accountable for the unsafe working conditions which they profited off of. Only 9 of the brands attended a meeting to agree on compensation for the victim's families. Walmart, Carrefour, Auchan, Mango and KiK refused to sight the agreement, it was only signed by Primark, Loblaw, Bonmarche and El Corte Ingles. The compension these companies provided was laughable though. Primemark demanded DNA evidence that they are relatives of one of the victims from these struggling families who had lost their often sole breadwinner for a meager sum of 200 USD (which doesn't even count for two months of living wage in Bangladesh (source)). This obviously proved to be extremely difficult for most families even though US government agreed to donate DNA kits. This is often said to be a turning point in working conditions in the industry, at least in Bangladesh, but while there's more oversight now, as we have seen, there's clearly still massive issues. (source 1, source 2)

One last major concern of working conditions in the industry I will mention is the Xinjiang raw cotton production, which is likely produced mainly with forced labour from Uighur concentration camps, aka slave labour of a suspected genocide. 90% of China's raw cotton production comes from Xinjiang (source). China is the second largest cotton producer in the world, after India, accounting 20% of the yearly global cotton production (source).

Pollution

Synthetic dyes, which synthetic fibers require, are the main cause of water pollution caused by the textile industry, which is estimated to account for 20% of global clean water pollution (source). This water pollution by the textile industry is suspected of causing a lot of health issues like digestive issues in the short term, and allergies, dermatitis, skin inflammation, tumors and human mutations in the long term. Toxins also effect fish and aquatic bacteria. Azo dyes, one of the major pollutants, can cause detrimental effects to aquatic ecosystems by decreasing photosynthetic activity of algae. Synthetic dyes and heavy metals also cause large amounts of soil pollution. Large amounts of heavy metals in soil, which occurs around factories that don't take proper environmental procautions, can cause anaemia, kidney failure, and cortical edoem in humans. That also causes changes in soil texture, decrease in soil microbial diversity and plant health, and changes in genetic structure of organisms growing in the soil. Textile factory waste water has been used for irrigation in Turkey, where other sources of water have been lacking, causing significant damage to the soil. (source)

Rayon produced through viscose process causes significant carbon disulphide and hydrogen sulphide pollution to the environment. CS2 causes cardiovascular, psychiatric, neuropsychological, endocrinal and reproductive disorders. Abortion rates among workers and their partners exposed to CS2 are reported to be significantly higher than in control groups. Many times higher amounts of sick days are reported for workers in spinning rooms of viscose fiber factories. China and India are largest producers of CS2 pollution, accounting respectively 65.74% and 11,11% of the global pollution, since they are also the major viscose producers. Emission of CS2 has increased significantly in India from 26.8 Gg in 2001 to 78.32 Gg in 2020. (source)

Waste

The textile industry is estimated to produce around 92 million tons of textile waste per year. As said before around 30% of the production is never sold and with shortening lifespans used the amount of used clothing that goes to waster is only increasing. This waste is large burned or thrown into landfills in poor countries. (source) H&M was accused in 2017 by investigative journalists of burning up to 12 tonnes of clothes per year themselves, including usable clothing, which they denied claiming they donated clothing they couldn't sell to charity instead (source). Most of the clothing donated to charity though is burned or dumbed to landfills (source).

Most of the waste clothing from rich countries like European countries, US, Australia and Canada are shipped to Chile (source) or African countries, mostly Ghana, but also Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire (source). There's major second-hand fashion industries in these places, but most of the charity clothing is dumbed to landfills, because they are in such bad condition or the quality is too poor. Burning and filling landfills with synthetic fabrics with synthetic dyes causes major air, water and soil pollution. The second-hand clothing industry also suppresses any local clothing production as donated clothing is inherently more competitive than anything else, making these places economically reliant on dumbed clothing, which is destroying their environment and health, and prevents them from creating a more sustainable economy that would befit them more locally. This is not an accident, but required part of the clothing industry. Overproduction let's these companies tap on every new trend quickly, while not letting clothing the prices in rich countries drop so low it would hurt their profits. Production is cheaper than missing a trend.

Micro- and nanoplastics

There is massive amounts of micro- and nanoplastics in all of our environment. It's in our food, drinking water, even sea salt (source). Washing synthetic textiles accounts for roughly 35% of all microplastics released to the environment. It's estimated that it has caused 14 million tonnes of microplastics to accumulate into the bottom of the ocean. (source)

Microplastics build up into the intestines of animals (including humans), and have shown to probably cause cause DNA damage and altered organism behavior in aquatic fauna. Microplastics also contain a lot of the usual pollutants from textile industry like synthetic dyes and heavy metals, which absorb in higher quantities to tissues of animals through microplastics in the intestines. Studies have shown that the adverse effect are higher the longer the microplastics stay in the organism. The effects cause major risks to aquatic biodiversity. (source) The health effects of microplastics to humans are not well known, but studies have shown that they could have adverse effects on digestive, respiratory, endocrine, reproductive and immune systems. (source)

Microplastics degrade in the environment even further to nanoplastics. Nanoplastic being even smaller are found to enter blood circulation, get inside cells and cross the blood-brain barrier. In fishes they have been found to cause neurological damage. Nanoplastics are also in the air, and humans frequently breath them in. Study in office buildings found higher concentration of nanoplastics in indoor air than outdoor air. Inside the nanoplastics are likely caused mostly by synthetic household textiles, and outdoors mostly by car tires. (source) An association between nanoplastics and mitochondrial damage in human respiratory cells was found in a recent study. (source)

Micro and nano plastics are also extremely hard to remove from the environment, making it even more important that we reduce the amount of microplastics we produce as fast as possible.

What can we do?

This is a question that deserves it's own essays and articles written about it, but I will leave you with some action points. Reading about these very bleak realities can easily lead to overwhelming apathy, but we need to channel these horrors into actions. Whatever you do, do not fall into apathy. We don't have the luxury for that, we need to act. These are industry wide problems, that simply cannot be fixed by consumerism. Do not trust any clothing companies, even those who market themselves as ethical and responsible, always assume they are lying. Most of them are, even the so called "good ones". We need legislation. We cannot allow the industry to regulate itself, they will always take the easy way out and lie to their graves. I will for sure write more in dept about what we can do, but for now here's some actions to take, both political and individual ones.

Political actions

Let's start with political actions, since they will be the much more important ones. While we are trying to dismantle capitalism and neocolonialism (the roots of these issues), here's some things that we could do right now. These will be policies that we should be doing everywhere in the world, but especially rich countries, where most of the clothing consumption is taking place. Vote, speak to others, write to your representative, write opinion pieces to your local papers, engage with democracy.

Higher requirements of transparency. Right now product transparency in clothing is laughably low. In EU only the material make up and the origin country of the final product are required to be disclosed. Everything else is up to the company. Mandatory transparency is the only way we can force any positive changes in the production. The minimum of transparency should be: origin countries of the fibers and textiles in the product itself; mandatory reports of the lifecycle emissions; mandatory reports of whole chain of production. Right now the clothing companies make their chain of production intentionally complex, so they have plausible deniability when inevitably they are caught violating environmental or worker protection laws (source). They intentionally don't want to be able to track down their production chain. Forcing them to do so anyway would make it very expensive for them to keep up this unnecessarily complex production chain. These laws are most effective when put in place in large economies like EU or US.

Restrictions on the use of synthetic fibers. Honestly I think they should be banned entirely, since the amount of microplastics in our environment is already extremely distressing and the other environmental effects of synthetic fibers are also massive, but I know there are functions for which they are not easily replaced (though I think they can be replaces in those too, but that's a subject of another post), so we should start with restrictions. I'm not sure how they should be specifically made, I'm not a law expert, but they shouldn't be used in everyday textiles, where there are very easy and obvious other options.

Banning viscose. There are much better options for viscose method that don't cause massive health issues and environmental destruction where ever it's made, like Lyocell. There is absolutely no reason why viscose should be allowed to be sold anywhere.

Governmental support for local production by local businesses. Most of the issues could be much more easily solved and monitored if most clothing were not produced by massive global conglomerations, but rather by local businesses that produce locally. All clothing are made by hand, so centralizing production doesn't even give it advantage in effectiveness (only more profits for the few). Producing locally would make it much more easier to enforce regulations and it would reduce production chains, making production more effective, leaving more profits into the hands of the workers and reducing emissions from transportation. When the production is done by local businesses, the profits would stay in the producing country and they could be taxed and utilized to help the local communities. This would be helpful to do in both exploited and exploiter countries. When done in rich countries who exploit poorer ones, it would reduce the demand for exploitation. In poor countries this is not as easily done, since poor means they don't have money to give around, but maybe this could be a good cause to put some reparations from colonizers and global corporations, which they should pay.

Preventing strategic accounting between subsidiaries and parent companies. Corporate law is obviously not my area of expertise, but I know that allowing corporations to move around the accounting of profits and losses between subsidiaries and parent companies in roughly 1980s, was a major factor in creating this modern global capitalist system, where corporations can very easily manipulate their accounting to utilize tax heavens and avoid taxes where they actually operate, which is how they are upholding this terrible system and extracting the profits from the production countries. How specifically this would be done I can't tell because again I know shit about corporate law, so experts of that field should plan the specifics. Overall this would help deal with a lot of other problems than just the fashion industry. Again for it to be effective a large economic area like EU or US should do this.

Holding companies accountable for their whole chain of production. These companies should be dragged to court and made to answer for the crimes they are profiting of off. We should put fear back into them. This is possible. Victims of child slavery are already doing this for chocolate companies. If it's already not how law works everywhere, the laws should be changed so that the companies are responsible even if they didn't know, because it's their responsibility to find out and make sure they know. They should have been held accountable for the Rana Plaza disaster. Maybe they still could be. Sue the mother fuckers. They should be afraid of us.

Individual actions

I will stress that the previous section is much more important and that there's no need to feel guilty for individual actions. This is not the fault of the average consumer. Still we do need to change our relationship to fashion and consumption. While it's not our fault, one of the ways this system is perpetuated, is by the consumerist propaganda by fashion industry. And it is easier to change our own habits than to change the industry, even if our own habits have little impact. So these are quite easy things we all could do as we are trying to do bigger change to gain some sense of control and keep us from falling to apathy.

Consume less. Better consumption will not save us, since consumption itself is the problem. We consume too much clothing. Don't make impulse purchases. Consider carefully weather you actually need something or if you really really want it. Even only buying second-hand still fuels the industry, so while it's better than buying new, it's still better to not buy.

Take proper care of your clothing. Learn how to properly wash your clothing. There's a lot of internet resources for that. Never wash your wool textiles in washing machine, even if the textile's official instructions allow it. Instead air them regularly, rinse them in cool water if they still smell after airing and wash stains with water or small amount of (wool) detergent. Never use fabric softener! It damages the fabrics, prevents them from properly getting clean and is environmentally damaging. Instead use laundry vinegar for making textiles softer or removing bad smells. (You can easily make laundry vinegar yourself too from white vinegar and water (and essential oils, if you want to add a scent to it) which is much cheaper.) Learn how to take care of your leather products. Most leather can be kept in very good condition for a very long time by occasional waxing with beeswax.

Use the services of dressmakers and shoemakers. Take your broken clothing or clothing which doesn't fit anymore to your local dressmaker and ask them if they can do something about it. Take your broken and worn leather products to your local shoemaker too. Usually it doesn't cost much to get something fixed or refitted and these expert usually have ways to fix things you couldn't even think of. So even if the situation with your clothing or accessory seems desperate, still show it to the dressmaker or shoemaker.

If it's extremely cheap, don't buy it. Remember that every clothing is handmade. Only a small fraction of the cost of the clothing will be paying the wages of the person who made it with their hands. If a shirt costs 5 euros (c. 5,39 USD), it's sewer was only payed mere cents for sewing it. I'm not a quick sewer and it takes me roughly 1-2 hours to cut, prepare and sew a simple shirt, so I'm guessing it would take around half an hour to do all that for a factory worker on a crunch, at the very least 15 minutes. So the hourly pay would still be ridiculously low. However, as I said before, the fact that the workers in clothing factories get criminally low pay is not the fault of the consumer, so if you need a clothing item, and you don't have money to buy anything else than something very cheep, don't feel guilty. And anyway expensive clothing in no way necessarily means reasonable pay or ethical working conditions, cheep clothing just guarantee them.

Learn to recognize higher quality. In addition to exploitation, low price also means low quality, but again high price doesn't guarantee high quality. High quality allows you to buy less, so even if it's not as cheep as low quality, if you can afford it, when you need it, it will be cheaper in long run, and allows you to consume less. Check the materials. Natural fibers are your friends. Do not buy plastic, if it's possible to avoid. Avoid household textiles from synthetic fibers. Avoid textiles with small amounts of spandex to give it stretch, it will shorten the lifespan of the clothing significantly as the spandex quickly wears down and the clothing looses it's shape. Also avoid clothing with rubber bands. They also loose their elasticity very quickly. In some types of clothing (sport wear, underwear) these are basically impossible to avoid, but in many other cases it's entirely possible.

Buy from artisans and local producers, if you can. As said better consumption won't fix this, but supporting artisans and your local producers could help keep them afloat, which in small ways helps create an alternative to the exploitative global corporations. With artisans especially you know the money goes to the one who did the labour and buying locally means less middlemen to take their cut. More generally buy rather from businesses that are located to the same country where the production is, even if it's not local to you. A local business doesn't necessarily produce locally.

Develop your own taste. If you care about fashion and style, it's easy to fall victim to the fashion industry's marketing and trend cycles. That's why I think it's important to develop your personal sense of style and preferences. Pay attention at what type of clothes are comfortable to you. Go through your wardrobe and track for a while which clothing you use most and which least. Understanding your own preferences helps you avoid impulse buying.

Consider learning basics of sewing. Not everyone has the time or interest for this, but if you in anyway might have a bit of both, I suggest learning some very simple and basic mending and reattaching a button.

Further reading on this blog: How to see through the greenwashing propaganda of the fashion industry - Case study 1: Shein

Bibliography

Academic sources

An overview of the contribution of the textiles sector to climate change, 2022, L. F. Walter et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science

How common are aches and pains among garment factory workers? A work-related musculoskeletal disorder assessment study in three factories of south 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, 2021, Arkaprovo Pal et al., J Family Med Prim Care

Sewing shirts with injured fingers and tears: exploring the experience of female garment workers health problems in Bangladesh, 2019, Akhter, S., Rutherford, S. & Chu, C., BMC Int Health Hum Rights

Occupation Related Accidents in Selected Garment Industries in Bangalore City, 2006, Calvin, Sam & Joseph, Bobby, Indian Journal of Community Medicine

A Review on Textile and Clothing Industry Impacts on The Environment, 2022, Nur Farzanah Binti Norarmi et al., International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Carbon disulphide and hydrogen sulphide emissions from viscose fibre manufacturing industry: A case study in India, 2022, Deepanjan Majumdar et al., Atmospheric Environment: X

Microplastics Pollution: A Brief Review of Its Source and Abundance in Different Aquatic Ecosystems, 2023, Asifa Ashrafy et al., Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances

Health Effects of Microplastic Exposures: Current Issues and Perspectives in South Korea, 2023, Yongjin Lee et al., Yonsei Medical Journal

Nanoplastics and Human Health: Hazard Identification and Biointerface, 2022, Hanpeng Lai, Xing Liu, and Man Qu, Nanomaterials

Other sources

The impact of textile production and waste on the environment (infographics), 2020, EU

Chile’s desert dumping ground for fast fashion leftovers, 2021, AlJazeera

Fashion - Worldwide, 2022 (updated 2024), Statista

Fashion Industry Waste Statistics & Facts 2023, James Evans, Sustainable Ninja (magazine)

Everything You Need to Know About Waste in the Fashion Industry, 2024, Solene Rauturier, Good on You (magazine)

Textiles and the environment, 2022, Nikolina Šajn, European Parliamentary Research Service

Help! I'm addicted to secondhand shopping apps, 2023, Alice Crossley, Cosmopolitan

Addictive, absurdly cheap and controversial: the rise of China’s Temu app, 2023, Helen Davidson, Guardian

Workers' conditions in the textile and clothing sector: just an Asian affair? - Issues at stake after the Rana Plaza tragedy, 2014, Enrico D'Ambrogio, European Parliamentary Research Service

State of The Industry: Lowest Wages to Living Wages, The Lowest Wage Challenge (Industry affiliated campaign)

Fast Fashion Getting Faster: A Look at the Unethical Labor Practices Sustaining a Growing Industry, 2021, Emma Ross, International Law and Policy Brief (George Washington University Law School)

Dozens injured in Pakistan garment factory collapse and fire, 2023, Hannah Abdulla, Just Style (news media)

India: Multiple factory accidents raise concerns over health & safety in the garment industry, campaigners call for freedom of association in factories to ‘stave off’ accidents, 2022, Jasmin Malik Chua, Business & Human Rights Resource Center

Minimum Wage Level for Garment Workers in the World, 2020, Sheng Lu, FASH455 Global Apparel & Textile Trade and Sourcing (University of Delaware)

Rana Plaza collapse, Wikipedia

Buyers’ compensation for Rana Plaza victims far from reality, 2013, Ibrahim Hossain Ovi, Dhaka Tribune (news media)

World cotton production statistics, updated 2024, The World Counts

Dead white man’s clothes, 2021, Linton Besser, ABC News

#fashion #fashion industry #sustainability #sustainable fashion #sustainable clothing #environment #climate change #i will be continuing the series of how to see through fashion industry propaganda at some point #i just felt compelled to write this because i feel like people so often miss the forest for the trees in this conversation

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jewellery-box · 8 months ago

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Dress, circa 1883-1885, Scotland

Silk, cotton, linen, metal

Description: Woman’s dress in cream corded silk chine printed with abstract floral design in red, blue, brown and yellow, with small, rectangular neckline with facing in pleated red silk satin, fitted bodice constructed in six panels, fastening centre front with red cord lacing through fourteen pairs of eyelets over a stomacher-style panel of horizontal cream machine lace frills. Elbow-length sleeves with pleated red silk satin cuffs. Skirt, full-length, fastening on left with five metal hooks and eyes, chine overskirt pleated into waistline at front and over hips at side, side panels trimmed with vertical border of cream machine lace and frill of cream machine lace extending into lower side edges of train, centre back cut-in-one with bodice with additional width in skirt to go over bustle, extending into a long train, red silk satin frill under hem. Petticoat-style underskirt revealed in front in cream silk satin underskirt decorated with six slightly asymmetrical horizontal rows of cream machine lace. Bodice lined in printed cotton, fitted with eight metal bones and waistband. Skirt front lined with linen and printed cotton, sides and back lined with printed cotton, integral thirteen-inch wire mesh bustle with two sets of twill weave tapes to pull fullness to back to create train, balayeuse around hem of skirt and train. Waistband printed in light green ‘R. Simpson and Sons Costumiers Jamaica St. Corner Glasgow’.

Worn by Ann Smith, the wife of Robert Kirk Simpson of R Simpson and Sons.

This romantic dress is printed with roses and has machine-lace frills on the skirt. In the 1870s and 1880s fashion looked back to the late 1700s, with its flamboyant fabrics, for inspiration. The blurred effect on this evening dress is created by printing the warp prints before the fabric is woven. This ikat technique originated in Asia and was introduced to France in the mid-1700s, where it was known as chiné. Here, it’s use, together with the laced bodice and open over-skirt draped back over the hips and into the bustle, reflect the historical revival style with its imitation of an eighteenth-century open gown.

Glasgow Museums Collection Online

#victorian #victorian era #victorian fashion #fashion history #historical fashion #19th century

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nattaphum · 1 year ago

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Mileapo’s interview conducted online after shooting for Spur Magazine

I changed into my clothes and the first person who appeared in front of the screen was Mr. Apo. While waving at me he said, "Hi! How are you? Mile will be coming soon, so please wait a little longer” he said with a refreshing smile that was no less than a vitamin yellow T-shirt. Mr. Mile, who appeared immediately after that, glanced at Mr. Apo and held two cushions that were nearby. While gently attaching one of them behind Mr. Apo, he sat down with a cheerful smile, saying, "Thank you for waiting." I witnessed the deep bond between the two of them, who care about each other on a daily basis.

You are two people who have been active as models since you were teenagers before you were active as actors. Please tell me how you aimed to be a model.

Apo: When I was looking for something to put into, I felt that "modeling work is cool." Luckily, I got a chance to be invited by an acquaintance.

Mile: I was also invited by an acquaintance and signed a contract with a model agency. At that time more than 10 years ago, there was still no culture of scouting through SMS. The way to enter this industry was either by chance or by acquaintance.

──At that time, it seems that model work and academic work were parallel, but each of them was quite conspicuous on the university campus ...!

Mile: Well, i was popular (laughs). Because I was also doing music activities. Since I was a child, playing the guitar has been my hobby.

Apo: I wasn't popular at all! Because i looked like a "simple boy" at that time. Because i was skinny, my face was elongated, and people around me often said that i looked like Ultraman (laughs). (Crosses arms and imitates Ultraman's pose)

Mile: hahaha. I also thought when we first met! It is similar to both Ultraman and the actor and who plays the role of Zhan Zhao

──Mile and Apo have appeared in fashion magazines from various countries so far. I saw a project that talks about the commitment to dressing and your favorite products, and I felt the love you two have for fashion.

Mile: I like fashion very much. I'm especially attracted to items that can feel the skills of craftsmen, such as tailor-made. Among them, I like accessories and shoes such as watches and rings.

──Apo seems to be particular into eyewear. I was surprised at the large number of things you carry, such as sunglasses and glasses.

Apo: hahahaha! It's a video that introduced the contents of my bag. You did your homework! ( =You've prepared well) Even in a day, I try to change the design according to the scene and mood, and wear glasses with a degree. I'm the type with a lot of luggage in the first place, but I especially carry a lot of glasses.

──As Apo mentioned earlier, the two of you who were appointed as Dior's ambassadors this year. In June, I participated in the men's collection in Paris and received cheers from many people there. How did you feel when you decided to work as an ambassador?

Apo: i was very happy. Actually, we've talked about it many times before it's decided. It started in the fall of 2022, when I worked with Dior for the first time. " While I was on a concert tour around Southeast Asia with the members of KinnPorsche, the Dior team came to see the concert and appreciated our attitude towards our work. From there, we discussed and came to the conclusion that "Dior and we should be able to do a good job" and decided to appoint them.

Mile: This is the first time for us to do long-term fashion work. I am sincerely grateful to the people of the Dior family for welcoming and caring for us.

──In August, the movie "Man Suang" where you co-starred for the second time together was released." Following "KinnPorsche The Series", this work produced by BE ON CLOUD was also very impressive with very gorgeous costumes and visual beauty. Mr. Mile is performing traditional Thai art with a taphone (taiko) and Mr. Apo is performing rum (Thai dance), but how long did it take to prepare?

Apo: It took 4 to 5 months just to prepare before shooting.

Mile: it took almost a year to combine the shooting period. Thanks to spending a long time, I feel that I was able to firmly express the beauty of Thai traditional art.

Apo: Unfortunately, the screening in Japan has not been decided yet. If you are interested, please contact me!

Mile: (smiling and nodding) What Apo is trying to convey is, "Please let me know if there is a company that will become a distributor of the work."

Apo: Oh yeah, that's what it is (laughs). You may get a chance to meet Japanese fans in the wake of the broadcast. I look forward to working with you!

──Fans should be looking forward to the day when they can meet the two of them in Japan.

Mile: we've always wanted to meet.

Apo: we will definitely make it happen

#NOT MILE PUTTING A CUSHION BEHIND APO’S BACK #THE INTERVIEWER WITNESSED THE DEEP BOND BETWEEN THEM #cute interview !!!#kinnporsche #mileapo #apo nattawin #mile phakphum #mileapo x spur

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xuchiya · 8 months ago

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barbie and the fashion fairytale [k.hongjoong]

barbie m.list || k.hongjoong || p.seonghwa || j.yunho || k.yeosang || c.san || s.mingi || j.wooyoung || c.jongho

[Author: I used to be part of a pageant or contest so writing this one brought nostalgic and I included one of my answers here during the Q&A as an inspiration for all of you. It's the one in Italic hehet!]

As the Paris air crackled with anticipation in the grand hall of the Palais Galliera, you stared past through the high ceiling-windows of your room, just above your studio, highly strung. You were one of the designers— not yet popular but you had gained numerous audiences and had grabbed the attention of a few famous designers that included the very famous Prince of Balmain– Kim Hong joong. Incredibly, he is one of the best fashion creators in Asia and obtained the title of the ‘King of Fashion’.

“Oh my dear, please stop biting your nails.” Your sunbae at work, smack your hand gently as she pushes you to sit down on your plush bed. You sigh, unknowingly doing your habit out of nervousness. It is your dream to be recognized but presenting your art is never part of that dream, hence walking down the runway with your most proud work.

You turn to her, “How can I not?! I’m gonna be there at Palais Galliera in 2 hours and my shit is not piecing together if I tell myself to calm down!” The thickness of your accent makes the argument commentable yet your sunbae approach you calmly as you suddenly stand up and walk back and forth.

This time your hoobae walks in, poking his head in the door, “Uh sunbae— our call is here.” Your breath hitch, heart suddenly dropping down to your stomach as you felt your skin turn cold from the flashes of cameras and voices from the journalist. Your social anxiety is shaking to the core. That is, you felt a hand on your shoulder and a gentle squeeze following, “I cannot tell you to forget the nervousness but I can only tell you that I am proud of you and how far you come from all the hard work and eyebags you've been through.”

Your eyes trail on your sunbae, a smile creeping on your lips as the anxiety you were feeling disappears, “No one is more proud but me. I have seen, felt and encountered each of your journeys as a designer so put your shit together and let's go!”

The conversation ended with you being pulled in a hug, a hand on the back of your head, “It will be okay dear…” Instantly, you relax under her comfort and nod.

Crystal chandeliers cast a warm glow on the eager crowd, a sea of bobbing heads and expectant murmurs. Hongjoong, his heart a hummingbird in his chest, adjusted the crisp black bowtie at his throat, even if he is the event-holder of the fashion show, tonight was the culmination of years of relentless work, sleepless nights, and unwavering passion of each designers that he came across this past months–nevertheless to say, he had encountered one of the amazing creators of dresses and that is where Hongjoong met you.

Not only was he amazed about your designs, no no, he is amazed because of you. You were so breathtaking in his eyes that he bumped into the parking meter and spilled his coffee on his designer shirt yet he didn’t pay no mind to it. You were combined by heaven and his favourite cloth, bundled in so much elegance that he could be seen having heart eyes.

He contacted your sunbae about your details and your past projects and was shocked to say the least that you gave up at least 18 of your most designs to other designers. Hongjoong asked for the designs’ hardcopy— stunned and disappointed— that you chose to give up such amazing designs because of your doubts and less motivated self.

Kim Hongjoong, a young man from Seoul, is about to present a fashion designer’s debut collection at Paris Fashion Week – the first French-Korean designer to ever do so.

His gaze swept over the crowd, searching for a familiar face amidst the throng. His family, unable to make the trip from Korea, would be watching via livestream. But there was another face he yearned to see— yours.

Weeks bled into months, filled with late-night brainstorming sessions fueled by strong coffee and cheap takeout. You became one of his designers under his company. He became your window into the world of high fashion, his passion infectious and encouraging you to do more in fashion. A silent understanding bloomed between you, a shared dream woven into the fabric of his collection.

As the spotlights hit the runway, Hongjoong took a deep breath. The first model emerged, a vision in a hanbok reimagined for the modern world, the fabric a breathtaking fusion of traditional silk and French lace. Each piece that followed was a testament to his journey, a bridge between two cultures he called home.

As your models were lining up on the stage, your eyes widened in realisation upon seeing the familiar dresses on their body. You hurry towards one of the staff, “Where did you get these dresses, ma’am?”

The kind lady smiles at you whilst rolling the lint on the dress, “Sir Hongjoong returned to Paris 3 days ago after his trip back in Korea with these wonderful dresses.”

Your eyes met him from across the room, shining with pride and something more, a warmth that sent a jolt through him as he watched your models walk down the runway—wearing your old project designs along with your new designs showing off your tradition’s clothing merged with modern style. As the final model strutted down the runway, the applause was thunderous as you were called in to present yourself. Tears welled up in your eyes, a mixture of relief and exhilaration. Standing in the runway with your models wearing your designs with thousands of people appreciating your hard works.

You look over your shoulders to catch a glimpse of your hoobae and your sunbae with tears in their eyes, your sunbae mouthing you 'I'm proud of you'.

Tears of joy came down your cheek to which one of your models softly wipe it making you chuckle. Hongjoong, part of the audience, felt a swarm of satisfaction and felt a pat on his shoulder as his plan went well.

He had made your dreams come true.

Later, amidst the post-show chaos, he finally found you. You threw your arms around him, the scent of your lavender perfume a familiar comfort, shocking other staff and designers so does the man that was frozen from your warmth. "It was incredible, Hongjoong! We did it!" you whispered, your voice thick with emotion.

He smiles, his body soon relaxes, pulling you close. "You did it," he corrected, his gaze lingering on your lips then back to your gleaming eyes.

Hongjoong wanted you to see your worth, your ability and skills. He wanted you to be proud of what you have done, whether it be a small or big achievement so he hopped on his private plane to take them back as the majority of the dresses were under the name of his clients back in Korea.

Hongjoong wanted your inner little girl full of dreams to let the woman you are today achieve it.

In that electric moment, under the glittering Parisian sky, the unspoken desire between you blossomed. The city of love had woven its magic, uniting a dreamer and his muse, their love story a beautiful tapestry woven from passion, perseverance, and a touch of Parisian elegance.

Taglist: @binchanluvrr

#ateez #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez fanfic #ateez x reader #ateez fluff #ateez hongjoong #ateez kim hongjoong #kim hongjoong #kim hongjoong x reader #kim hongjoong x y/n #ateez atiny #kpop

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totowlff · 1 year ago

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hello, how are you? first of all i have to say god how i love every single one of your stories, i literally gasp every time i see the notification of you uploading something new. i read all your fics and everyone is original and very well-written.

i was just wondering, have you thought of writing something about “needy toto” since he’s done surgery? i mean either soft toto who needs attention or not that soft toto who needs some other kind of attention 👀 if not never mind, it was just a doubt i had🫶🏻

hey, im good! and im super glad you enjoy my stories!

about your request, i guess i can do something for you, just check under the cut

feverdream

You breathed a heavy sigh when you pressed the button for the top floor.

That was a difficult day, to say the least.

Being a fashion designer and entrepreneur had good and bad times. Some days were really good, and other days you didn't want to go back to your studio near the Prince of Monaco's palace. But you believed that, one day, it would all be worth it. One day, you would be invited to show your collections in the fashion capitals of the world.

It was just a matter of time.

When the elevator door opened, you headed down the hallway towards the door of the penthouse where you lived with your husband, who was finally home after two weeks in Asia for work. And you couldn't wait to give him all the kisses you couldn't give during those long 15 days.

When you unlocked the door and opened it, you definitely expected him to be in the kitchen, preparing something or even in the living room, watching something on television while he waited for you to arrive. However, the house was silent, the lights were on, but there was no sign of him.

— Darling? — you called, while leaving your bag and keys on the sideboard at the entrance. On top of it was your husband's wallet and keys, which indicated that he was also at home.

But where?

After finding out that he wasn't in the kitchen or in his office, all that was left was your suite to investigate. And when you entered the room, you found him lying on the bed, curled up under a double layer of blankets.

— Toto? — you said softly, unsure if he was awake or not. A positive grunt coming from somewhere in the middle of the pile of fabric made you come closer, sitting on the edge of the bed — What happened?

— Y/N — he stammered in a hoarse voice. Pulling the blanket down, you found his messy hair and pale, dry lips. The dark circles under his eyes and the way he was shaking even though he was covered made you press your lips into a thin line. He was definitely not well.

— Yes, darling, it's me. What are you feeling?

Toto didn't seem to be processing your words at typical speed. In fact, he spent long seconds with his eyes lost on your face, seeming to realize you were there. Until he finally answered you.

— Cold.

Placing a hand on your husband's forehead, you saw the reason for all those blankets.

— You're burning with fever — you said, while pressing your fingers against other points on his face and neck — Why didn't you told me before, my love? I could have left the studio earlier to take care of you.

— Cold, very cold — Toto limited himself to saying with a trembling voice.

Getting up from bed, you started thinking about what your mother did when you had a fever to bring your temperature down. The first thing you remembered was the medication, which was stored in a small box along with the other first aid materials in the bathroom. Checking if it was the right medicine, you got a glass of water in the kitchen and went back to your room.

— Sit down, darling — you said softly — I brought you some medicine.

With difficulty, Toto managed to lift his head, swallowing the pill with a grimace before letting himself fall onto the pillow. Leaving the glass on the bedside table, you went to the most complicated part. Pulling the mountain of blankets he had placed over his own body to reduce the cold he was feeling, even though they only made the situation worse, was a big challenge, especially with your husband's protests.

— No, Y/N — he groaned — It's cold...

— I know, Toto, but your cold will only go away if your fever breaks. And for that I need to take off these blankets.

He whimpered, trying to hold on to the duvet without success. After discovering him, you tried to take off the clothes he was still wearing, completely sweaty due to the fever and the layers of blankets he had placed over himself.

— No — Toto grumbled, trying to free himself from the gray t-shirt — Stop...

— My dear, I need to…

— No, I'm married — he said, trying to keep your hands away from his jeans, without success. The statement made you laugh, as you pulled the fabric down his legs.

— I know you're married, my love — you said, throwing your pants in the corner, while he curled up in the middle of the bed, in just his underwear — I was at your wedding.

— It was so beautiful — Toto said softly — Y/N was so beautiful... I love her so much…

— And she loves you too, I'm sure — you replied, holding back a giggle as you went to the closet in search of a washcloth that you could use as a cold compress.

With the fabric already wet, you approached the bed again, asking him to lie down on his back. As she placed the towel on his forehead, Toto hissed in protest.

— It's cold — he murmured, trying to remove the compress from his forehead. However, you gently pushed his hand away.

— I know, my love, but I need to do this for you to get better.

Toto fidgeted some more, while you stroked his face to calm him down. He was a terrible patient, and that was a fact. But at the same time, there was a certain sweetness in being able to care for him at that moment, when he needed you most.

— I hate being sick — he mumbled, eyes closed.

— I know that — you replied, taking the compress to his forehead again, his hair already damp at that point. After a few more seconds, Toto opened his eyes slightly.

— Sorry about that.

— It's not your fault.

— I should have been more careful.

You slid your fingers to his lips, asking him to be silent.

— In sickness and in health, remember? I will always be with you, Toto. Always — you replied, leaning in to press a kiss to his warm forehead before continuing to press the compress against his skin.

#wlffanswers #wlffflashes #toto wolff #formula 1 x reader #toto wolff x reader #f1 x reader

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blueiscoool · 2 months ago

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Chinese Porcelains Recovered From Centuries-Old Shipwreck Head to Auction

The porcelain vessels spent over 300 years at the bottom of the South China Sea.

Trawling the seabed near the south coast of Vietnam in 1989, a Vietnamese fisherman stumbled upon the remains of the wreck of a ship that was traveling from China to Jakarta when it sunk some three centuries before. Among the haul, which included everyday items like bamboo combs, tweezers, and dice, were a whopping 48,288 pieces of Qing dynasty porcelain. In Jakarta, traders of the globe-spanning Dutch East India Company had planned to transport the vessels to Holland. Some 28,000 were sold at a 1992 Christie’s auction in Amsterdam, their likely planned destination, for a total of $7.3 million.

Now, on October 10, a group of 20 of these vases, with all their historic resonance, is being offered in an online auction at Stair Galleries, in Hudson, New York, which handles traditional furniture and fine art. Ranging between five to eight inches-high and displaying intricate floral patterns typical of traditional Chinese pottery, the group bears a very modest high estimate of $1,200.

The “Vung Tau Cargo,” so called for the Vietnamese coastal city of Vũng Tàu, near which it was discovered, has had a notable history since it was raised from its watery grave by the state-owned Vietnam Salvage Corporation in a joint venture with none other than the famed Swedish treasure hunter Sverker Hallstrom.

As for the porcelain booty that wasn’t auctioned off at Christie’s Amsterdam in 1992, some went to Hallstrom’s personal collection, other pieces to the Vietnamese government. Others still fell into the hands of Alberto Pinto, a Parisian photographer and interior designer of Jewish-Moroccan origin, who acquired them at Sotheby’s in 1999. Pinto would then sell the 20 vessels now being offered at Stair at another Christie’s auction in 2006.

“Wear consistent with age and use,” the company’s online listing notes of the condition of the pieces, dryly enough in view of their history. It notes that five of the beakers have chipped rims, repairs or hairline cracks. Four of the vases and covers have some chips in the rims or feet, a few of them large. “Otherwise in good condition,” said the house.

“Some trademarks of ‘cargo porcelain’ have a somewhat cloudy appearance and in some cases encrustations of marine life,” said Lauren Anderson, director of exposition sales at Stair, adding that the cargo was “very fashionable with interior designers” like Pinto. Throughout his life but especially after becoming wealthy and successful, Pinto was known as a passionate collector of antique tableware, acquiring cutlery, porcelain, and linen from both Europe and Asia. (His collection also includes furniture, statues, and a sizable survey of Impressionist paintings, including Édouard Vuillard’s 1921 Lucien Guitry.)

By Tim Brinkhof.

#Chinese Porcelains Recovered From Centuries-Old Shipwreck Head to Auction #Vung Tau Cargo #Vũng Tàu #cargo porcelain #porcelain #shipwreck #ancient artifacts #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #art #ancient art #art history #antiques #qing dynasty

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accio-victuuri · 9 months ago

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wang yibo - lacoste press release for endorsement

LACOSTE officially announces brand global spokesperson Wang Yibo

[March 5, 2024] French high-end sports fashion brand LACOSTE is honored to announce today: Wang Yibo becomes a LACOSTE Brand global spokesperson. LACOSTE leads the fashion trend with French sports style through the diverse matrix of brand global spokespersons. With the elegant interpretation of spokesperson Wang Yibo, the brand hopes to attract the attention of audiences around the world and further promote the brand's creativity.

As one of the most influential young artists in Asia at the moment, Wang Yibo has strong expressive power and appeal, and has a unique attitude. He leads the trend and shows diverse fashion definitions. His personality that dares to break through himself and his avant-garde and outstanding fashion taste are consistent with LACOSTE.

The brand image of "elegant and casual, subversive and creative" coincides with it. Through this cooperation, we will comprehensively explore on the screen, stage and arena.

Wang Yibo, who has developed rapidly, also surprised the public by revealing another of his hobbies: tennis. He really enjoys his swing on the tennis court and it’s sense of exhilaration. Therefore, he is very much looking forward to cooperating with LACOSTE to comprehensively upgrade his fashion equipment on and off the court.

During the much-anticipated Paris Fashion Week, Wang Yibo will be wearing LACOSTE’s 2014 autumn and winter men’s models to appear on LACOSTE Red Earth Show, presenting the first collection by PELAGIA KOLDTOUROS as creative director, It is reported that the LACOSTE global visual blockbuster to be released in May will also release the brand’s global spokesperson Wang Yibo.

#wang yibo #lacoste pfw 2024 #accio victuuri translation #congratulations yibo 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼#lacoste really needs someone like wyb to go back to the market #after the problems from the last years

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davidluongart · 5 months ago

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🌹🗡️

A little doodle of modern day casual fashionable laughter-loving Aphrodite and bodybuilder/gymbro Ares.

Aphrodite still adorned herself with tons of Egyptian and Levantine jewelry, proud of her Middle Eastern roots and her own home in the island of Cyprus, where Asia, Africa and Europe met together. I think that her style of would be something similar to the Levantine and Egyptian Arab Christians would wore today, in the East. Only veiling and modesty practices when coming into a holy place of worship, necessarily.

For Ares, I just styling him with comfortable athletic clothes layering on top of each other, with the usual jewelry collection that he wore. His EOK (Hellenic Basketball Federation) jersey is a tribute to Greek athlete Giannis Antetokounmpo.

#ancient greek #aphrodite #ares #my art #mars #venus #modern day greek mythology #greek mythology #modern fashion

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solarpunkbusiness · 3 months ago

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Italian company converts discarded fishing nets into chairs, car mats and Prada bags

Since 2009, Giulio Bonazzi, the son of a small textile producer in northern Italy, has been working on a solution: an efficient recycling process for nylon. As CEO and chairman of a company called Aquafil, Bonazzi is turning the fibers from fishing nets – and old carpets – into new threads for car mats, Adidas bikinis, environmentally friendly carpets and Prada bags.

For Bonazzi, shifting to recycled nylon was a question of survival for the family business. His parents founded a textile company in 1959 in a garage in Verona, Italy. Fifteen years later, they started Aquafil to produce nylon for making raincoats, an enterprise that led to factories on three continents. But before the turn of the century, cheap products from Asia flooded the market and destroyed Europe’s textile production. When Bonazzi had finished his business studies and prepared to take over the family company, he wondered how he could produce nylon, which is usually produced from petrochemicals, in a way that was both successful and ecologically sustainable.

The question led him on an intellectual journey as he read influential books by activists such as world-renowned marine biologist Sylvia Earle and got to know Michael Braungart, who helped develop the Cradle-to-Cradle ethos of a circular economy. But the challenges of applying these ideologies to his family business were steep. Although fishing nets have become a mainstay of environmental fashion ads—and giants like Dupont and BASF have made breakthroughs in recycling nylon—no one had been able to scale up these efforts.

For ten years, Bonazzi tinkered with ideas for a proprietary recycling process. “It’s incredibly difficult because these products are not made to be recycled,” Bonazzi says. One complication is the variety of materials used in older carpets. “They are made to be beautiful, to last, to be useful. We vastly underestimated the difficulty when we started.”

Soon it became clear to Bonazzi that he needed to change the entire production process. He found a way to disintegrate old fibers with heat and pull new strings from the discarded fishing nets and carpets. In 2022, his company Aquafil produced more than 45,000 tons of Econyl, which is 100% recycled nylon, from discarded waste.

More than half of Aquafil’s recyclate is from used goods. According to the company, the recycling saves 90 percent of the CO2 emissions compared to the production of conventional nylon. That amounts to saving 57,100 tons of CO2 equivalents for every 10,000 tons of Econyl produced.

Bonazzi collects fishing nets from all over the world, including Norway and Chile—which have the world’s largest salmon productions—in addition to the Mediterranean, Turkey, India, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan, and New Zealand. He counts the government leadership of Seychelles as his most recent client; the island has prohibited ships from throwing away their fishing nets, creating the demand for a reliable recycler. With nearly 3,000 employees, Aquafil operates almost 40 collection and production sites in a dozen countries, including four collection sites for old carpets in the U.S., located in California and Arizona.

#solarpunk #solarpunk business #solarpunk business models #solar punk #reculture #fishing nets #materials innovation #circular #waste #italy

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mypulse · 8 months ago

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A collection of mini fun facts : I'll explain them base on the sequence of the geography (MAP)

The CAPITALs : (orange circles)

Last time I talked about how palace in the anime take reference of Forbidden Palace, 🏛️ which is located in ☆Beijing, the capital city of Ming and Qing Dynasty.

However Xi'an🏛️ (aka ★ChangAn) is the capital city of TANG Dynasty,

which is the clothing style of the characters. (ChangAn is the ancient name of Xi'an)

FASHION :

During TANG, ★ChangAn, was a cosmopolitan and multicultural city since it is the starting destination of 🐫 Silk Road.

Ah Dou is wearing a riding suit, know as Hufu 👕. It was a fashion among the noble ladies to wear Hufu for horse ride🐴 . Hufu is male clothing of the *Western region (part of 🐫 Silk Road). [ *West is Central Asia, not Europe]

LOULAN : (red on map)

Maomao was curious of 💐Concubine Loulan who has Northen facial feature while wearing Southern outfit. In history, LouLan was the name of an ancient 👑kingdom at *Western region. It's location is modern Xinjiang near the now dried salt lake Lop Nur (MAP). The carved wooden beam above is an artifact of Loulan Kingdom.👑

NAIL POLISH :

Just as the anime, Balsam is a major ingredient for 💅nail polish (also for blush and lip color).

Balsam flowers are usually found in Central, East and South of Asia. When my grandma was a girl, she grounded the flower patels and apply them on nails then wait for a while , letting the juice to stain the nails before getting rid of the residue.

In ancient time, 💅 nail polish are made of juice of the grounded petals of balsam mixing with potassium alum. This chemical is used in drugs and silk painting / writing. 📚

WRITING :

Silk is more often used for painting than writing since it is expensive. Potassium alum is applied on silk as preparation for painting and writing.

Other than silk, bamboo and wooden slips were being used for writing, before paper is commonly used.

OX BEZOARS :

🐃 Ox bezoars (the drugs that turns Maomao into "upper moon demon" ) is used for de-toxing. 牛黃 is Chinese and kanji character of ox bezoars. Nowadays, it's made into tablet form know as 牛黃「解毒」片. In this context 「解毒」is meaning de-toxing. But some people mistaken 「解毒」means de - posion and think 牛黃「解毒」片 (Ox bezoars) can get rid of poison intaken by individuals, since Maomao mentioned to JinShin to use poison if she is ever facing death penalty.

#apothecary diary #maomao #jinshi #loulan #lihua #nail polish #horse #silk road #xi'an #Chang An #changan #beijing #tang dynasty #forbbiden palace #palace #japanese #chinese

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beehunni62 · 2 years ago

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Origins of the Pibo: Let’s take a trip along the Silk Road.

1. Introduction to the garment:

Pibo 披帛 refers to a very thin and long shawl worn by women in ancient East Asia approximately between the 5th to 13th centuries CE. Pibo is a modern name and its historical counterpart was pei 帔. But I’ll use pibo as to not confuse it with Ming dynasty’s xiapei 霞帔 and a much shorter shawl worn in ancient times also called pei.

Below is a ceramic representation of the popular pibo.

A sancai-glazed figure of a court lady, Tang Dynasty (618–690, 705–907 CE) from the Sze Yuan Tang Collection. Artist unknown. Sotheby’s [image source].

Although some internet sources claim that pibo in China can be traced as far back as the Qin (221-206 BCE) or Han (202 BCE–9 CE; 25–220 CE) dynasties, we don’t start seeing it be depicted as we know it today until the Northern and Southern dynasties period (420-589 CE). This has led to scholars placing pibo’s introduction to East Asia until after Buddhism was introduced in China. Despite the earliest art representations of the long scarf-like shawl coming from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, the pibo reached its popularity apex in the Tang Dynasty (618–690 CE: 705–907 CE).

Academic consensus: Introduction via the Silk Road.

The definitive academic consensus is that pibo evolved from the dajin 搭巾 (a long and thin scarf) worn by Buddhist icons introduced to China via the Silk Road from West Asia.

披帛是通过丝绸之路传入中国的西亚文化, 与中国服饰发展的内因相结合而流行开来的一种"时世妆" 的形式. 沿丝绸之路所发现的披帛, 反映了丝绸贸易的活跃.

[Trans] Pibo (a long piece of cloth covering the back of the shoulders) was a popular female fashion period accessory introduced to China by West Asian cultures by way of the Silk Road and the development of Chinese costumes. The brocade scarves found along the Silk Road reflect the prosperity of the silk trade that flourished in China's past (Lu & Xu, 2015).

I want to add to the above theory my own speculation that, what the Chinese considered to be dajin, was most likely an ancient Indian garment called uttariya उत्तरीय.

2. Personal conjecture: Uttariya as a tentative origin to pibo.

In India, since Vedic times (1500-500 BCE), we see mentions in records describing women and men wearing a thin scarf-like garment called “uttariya”. It is a precursor of the now famous sari. Although the most famous depiction of uttariya is when it is wrapped around the left arm in a loop, we do have other representations where it is draped over the shoulders and cubital area (reverse of the elbow).

Left: Hindu sculpture “Mother Goddess (Matrika)”, mid 6th century CE, gray schist. Artist unknown. Looted from Rajasthan (Tanesara), India. Photo credit to Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States [image source].

Right: Rear view of female statue possibly representing Kambojika, the Chief Queen of Mahakshatrapa Rajula, ca. 1st century CE. Artist unknown. Found in the Saptarishi Mound, Mathura, India. Government Museum, Mathura [image source].

Buddhism takes many elements from Hindu mythology, including apsaras अप्सरा (water nymphs) and gandharvas गन्धर्व (celestial musicians). The former was translated as feitian 飞天 in China. Hindu deities were depicted wearing clothes similar to what Indian people wore, among which we find uttariya, often portrayed in carvings and sculptures of flying and dancing apsaras or gods to show dynamic movement. Nevertheless, uttariya long predated Buddhism and Hinduism.

Below are carved representation of Indian apsaras and gandharvas. Notice how the uttariya are used.

Upper left: Carved relief of flying celestials (Apsara and Gandharva) in the Chalukyan style, 7th century CE, Chalukyan Dynasty (543-753 CE). Artist Unknown. Aihole, Karnataka, India. National Museum, New Delhi, India [image source]. The Chalukyan art style was very influential in early Chinese Buddhist art.

Upper right: Carved relief of flying celestials (gandharvas) from the 10th to the 12th centuries CE. Artist unknown. Karnataka, India. National Museum, New Delhi, India [image source].

Bottom: A Viyadhara (wisdom-holder; demi-god) couple, ca. 525 CE. Artist unknown. Photo taken by Nomu420 on May 10, 2014. Sondani, Mandsaur, India [image source].

Below are some of the earliest representations of flying apsaras found in the Mogao Caves, Gansu Province, China. An important pilgrimage site along the Silk Road where East and West met.

Left to right: Cave No. 461, detail of mural in the roof of the cave depicting either a flying apsara or a celestial musician. Western Wei dynasty (535–556 CE). Artist unknown. Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China [image source].

Cave 285 flying apsara (feitian) in one of the Mogao Caves. Western Wei Dynasty (535–556 CE), Artist unknown. Photo taken by Keren Su for Getty Images. Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China [image source].

Cave 249. Mural painting of feitian playing a flute, Western Wei Dynasty (535-556 CE). Image courtesy by Wang Kefen from The Complete Collection of Dunhuang Grottoes, Vol. 17, Paintings of Dance, The Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 2001, p. 15. Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China [image source].

I theorize that it is likely that the pibo was introduced to China via Buddhism and Buddhist iconography that depicted apsaras (feitian) and other deites wearing uttariya and translated it to dajin.

3. Trickle down fashion: Buddhism’s journey to the East.

However, since Buddhism and its Indian-based fashion spread to West Asia first, to Sassanian Persians and Sogdians, it is likely that, by the time it reached the Han Chinese in the first century CE, it came with Persian and Sogdian influence. Persians’ fashion during the Sassanian Empire (224–651 CE) was influenced by Greeks (hellenization) who also had a a thin long scarf-like garment called an epliblema ἐπίβλημα, often depicted in amphora (vases) of Greek theater scenes and sculptures of deities.

Left to right: Dame Baillehache from Attica, Greece. 3rd century BCE, Hellenistic period (323-30 BCE), terracotta statuette. Photo taken by Hervé Lewandowski. Louvre Museum, Paris, France [image source].

Deatail view of amphora depicting the goddess Artemis by Athenian vase painter, Andokides, ca. 525 BCE, terracotta. Found in Vulci, Italy. Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany [image source].

Statue of a Kore (young girl), ca. 570 BCE, Archaic Period (700-480 BCE), marble. Artist unknown. Uncovered from Attica, Greece. Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece [image source].

Detail view of Panathenaic (Olympic Games) prize amphora with lid, 363–362 BCE, Attributed to the Painter of the Wedding Procession and signed by Nikodemos, terracotta. Uncovered from Athens, Greece. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California, United States [image source].

Roman statue depicting Euterpe, muse of lyric poetry and music, ca. 2nd century CE, marble, Artist unknown. From the Villa of G. Cassius Longinus near Tivoli, Italy. Photo taken by Egisto Sani on March 12, 2012, Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy [image source].

Greek (or Italic) tomb mural painting from the Tomb of the Diver, ca. 470 BCE, fresco. Artist unknown. Photo taken by Floriano Rescigno. Necropolis of Paestum, Italy [image source].

Below are Iranian and Iraqi period representations of this long thin scarf.

Left to right: Closeup of ewer likely depicting a female dancer from the Sasanian Period (224–651 CE) in ancient Persia , Iran, 6th-7th century CE, silver and gilt. Artist unknown. Mary Harrsch. July 10, 2015. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington D.C [image source].

Ewer with nude dancer probably representing a maenad, companion of Dionysus from the Sasanian Period (224–651 CE) in ancient Persia, Iran, 6th-7th century CE, silver and gilt. Artist unknown. Mary Harrsch. July 16, 2015. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington D.C [image source].

Painting reconstructing the image of unveiled female dancers depicted in a fresco, Early Abbasid period (750-1258 CE), about 836-839 CE from Jawsaq al-Khaqani, Samarra, Iraq. Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Istanbul [image source].

The earliest depictions of Buddha in China, were very similar to West Asian depictions. Ever wonder why Buddha wears a long draped robe similar to a Greek himation (Romans called it toga)?

Take a look below at how much the Greeks influenced the Kushans in their art and fashion. The top left image is one of the earliest depictions of Buddha in China. Note the similarities between it and the Gandhara Buddha on the right.

Left: Seated Buddha, Mahao Cliff Tomb, Sichuan Province, Eastern Han Dynasty, late 2nd century C.E. (photo: Gary Todd, CC0).

Right: Seated Buddha from Gandhara, Pakistan c. 2nd–3rd century C.E., Gandhara, schist (© Trustees of the British Museum)

Standing Bodhisattva Maitreya (Buddha of the Future), ca. 3rd century, gray schist. From Gandhara, Pakistan. Image credit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, United States [image source].

Statue of seated goddess Hariti with children, ca. 2nd to 3rd centuries CE, schist. Artist unknown. From Gandhara, Pakistan. The British Museum, London, England [image source].

Before Buddhism spread outside of Northern India (birthplace), Indians never portrayed Buddha in human form.

Early Buddhist art is aniconic, meaning the Buddha is not represented in human form. Instead, Buddha is represented using symbols, such as the Bodhi tree (where he attained enlightenment), a wheel (symbolic of Dharma or the Wheel of Law), and a parasol (symbolic of the Buddha’s royal background), just to name a few. […] One of the earliest images [of Buddha in China] is a carving of a seated Buddha wearing a Gandharan-style robe discovered in a tomb dated to the late 2nd century C.E. (Eastern Han) in Sichuan province. Ancient Gandhara (located in present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India) was a major center for the production of Buddhist sculpture under Kushan patronage. The Kushans occupied portions of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North India from the 1st through the 3rd centuries and were the first to depict the Buddha in human form. Gandharan sculpture combined local Greco-Roman styles with Indian and steppe influences (Chaffin, 2022).

In the Mogao Caves, which contain some of the earliest Buddhist mural paintings in China, we see how initial Chinese Buddhist art depicted Indian fashion as opposed to the later hanfu-inspired garments.

Left to right: Cave 285, detail of wall painting, Western Wei dynasty (535–556 CE). Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China. Courtesy the Dunhuang Academy [image source]. Note the clothes the man is wearing. It looks very similar to a lungi (a long men’s skirt).

Photo of Indian man sitting next to closed store wearing shirt, scarf, lungi and slippers. Paul Prescott. February 20, 2015. Varanasi, India [image source].

Cave 285, mural depiction of worshipping bodhisattvas, 6th century CE, Wei Dynasty (535-556 A.D.), Unknown artist. Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China. Notice the half bow on his hips. That is a common style of tying patka (also known as pataka; cloth sashes) that we see throughout Indian history. Many of early Chinese Buddhist paintings feature it, including the ones at Mogao Caves.

Indian relief of Ashoka wearing dhoti and patka, ca. 1st century BC, Unknown artist. From the Amaravathi village, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Currently at the Guimet Museum, Paris [image source].

Cave 263. Mural showing underlying painting, Northern Wei Dynasty (386–535 CE). Artist Unknown. Picture taken November 29, 2011, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China [image source]. Note the pants that look to be dhoti.

Comparison photo of modern dhoti advertisement from Etsy [image source].

Spread of Buddhism to East Asia.

Map depicting the spread of Buddhism from Northern India to the rest of Asia. Gunawan Kartapranata. January 31, 2014 [image source]. Note how Mahayana Buddhism arrived to China after passing through Kushan, Bactrean, and nomadic steppe lands, absorbing elements of each culture along the way.

Wealthy Buddhist female patrons emulated the fantasy fashion worn by apsaras, specifically, the uttariya/dajin and adopted it as an everyday component of their fashion.

Cave 285. feitian mural painting on the west wall, Western Wei Dynasty (535–556 CE). Artist unknown. Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China [image source].

Cave 285. Detail view of offering bodhisattvas (bodhisattvas making offers to Buddha) next to the phoenix chariot on the Western wall of the cave. Western Wei Dynasty (535–556 CE). Artist unknown. Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China [image source].

Cave 61 Khotanese (from the kingdom of Khotan 于阗 [56–1006 CE]) donor ladies, ca. 10th century CE, Five Dynasties period (907 to 979 CE). Artist unknown. Picture scanned from Zhang Weiwen’s Les oeuvres remarquables de l'art de Dunhuang, 2007, p. 128. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons on October 11, 2012 by Ismoon. Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China [image source].

Detail view of Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers 簪花仕女图, late 8th to early 9th century CE, handscroll, ink and color on silk, Zhou Fang 周昉 (730-800 AD). Liaoning Provincial Museum, Shenyang, China [image source].

Therefore, the theory I propose of how the pibo entered East Asia is:

India —> Greek influenced West Asia (Sassanian Persians, Sogdians, Kushans, etc…) —> Han China —> Rest of East Asia (Three Kingdoms Korea, Asuka Japan, etc…)

Thus, the most likely theory, in my person opinion, is Buddhist iconography depicting uttariya encountered Greek-influenced West Asian Persian, Sogdian, and Kushan shawls, which combined arrived to China but wouldn’t become commonplace there until the explosion in popularity of Buddhism from the periods of Northern and Southern Dynasties to Song.

References:

盧秀文; 徐會貞. 《披帛與絲路文化交流》 [The brocade scarf and the cultural exchanges along the Silk Road]. 敦煌研究 (中國: 敦煌研究編輯部). 2015-06: 22 – 29. ISSN 1000-4106.

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