IDFC2019
× ×New values
FASHION RESEARCH
International Development Field Camp 2019
February 16, 2019
How Fashion defines Identity in Myanmar and Japan these days?
Under the strong influence of Western cultures in Asian countries, the fashion styles of the people has changed to some extent. Even in countries like Japan and Myanmar ,which is known for its rich cultural heritage and traditions, the clothing in our daily lifestyles has changed into western styles as their clothings are much easier to wear and much more comfortable. Now, let’s see what we know about the current fashion trends in Myanmar and Japan.
During our camp, IDFC 2019 participants conducted interviews in both countries: Takeshita street in Harajuku, Tokyo and Bogyoke Market, Yangon. From these Interviews, we learned NEW VALUES about fashion in both Japan and Myanmar. We mainly focused on the younger generations to know about their opinions of the changes of the fashion trend.
According to our interview in Japan, many youngsters said that they are significantly influenced by Western cultures and they love to wear the casual and street fashion rather than Japanese traditional attire. In specific, Japanese boys really love to wear US styles. Just like in Myanmar, K-Pop fashion is trending among Japanese students. As for Japanese girls, they prefer wearing oversized shirts over Japanese traditional attire as it is quite difficult to wear. We also learned that they wear kimono only at special occasions or ceremonies. So, we can see that the daily outfits that Japanese people wear have changed compared to last ten years.
In Myanmar, we learned some interesting facts about fashion relating with generation gap. For older generations, we could see that they take their traditional fashion very seriously and stick to it. We can say that it is because they always feel strong belongingness to the country or they are conservative about accepting new trends. On the other hand, as for younger generations like us, we observed that most people prefer western fashion compared to traditional ones. Although they have to wear longyi for schools or working, interviewees said that they would wear casual clothings then traditional ones. The most impressive point through interviewing is that fashion in Myanmar is becoming more diverse and more
acceptable toward other fashion styles like western countries and other asian countries. It indicates that more Myanmar people especially youngsters have began to enjoy their own fashion styles.
One point that we aware is that people from both countries doesn't really know about what is popular in their counterparts apart from western styles. However, most interviewees agreed on the fact that wearing western influenced fashion cannot define their culture because following the trend does not mean we don’t care about our traditions. We can still observe that Japanese and Burmese people wear their traditional clothes with love in special occasions. Thus we have come to the conclusion that even with the generation gaps and the influence of western culture, our identities as Japanese and Burmese people will never be taken away in all means.
Group3: Riho Tanaka, Kyaw Saw Lynn, Eingin Thaw, May Phyo Paing
Values on Fashion
We interviewed people about fashion in Harajuku and Bogyoke Market. Harajuku is one of the famous cities in Japan. It is a great place to watch people in their most fashionable outfits. There, you can see people dressed in creative, cool, and sometimes crazy outfits. Meanwhile, Bogyoke Market is a tourist spot in Yangon, and a historical place.
In Japan, the fashion trend changes every year and people keep up with the trend almost automatically. For example, in winter season of 2019, boa coat and down coat have become the trends. In the interview, we saw a lot of women wearing those fashions but it might be difficult to see the same situation next year because a new trend will be coming. People have many ways to enjoy their fashion. For the teenagers, they would like to enjoy ‘teenage years’ to their fullest by wearing the most fashionable clothes. The girls whom we interviewed wore jackets with the same color and type, and it is normal for Japanese people to enjoy wearing paired clothes.
For the information about fashion, they get it from TV channels, magazine and social media. The young generation usually catches the fashion trend via Instagram and an application called WEAR. WEAR is introduced by ZOZO town which is the biggest web store of fashion. What people can do on WEAR is that they can basically communicate with friends and celebrities through ‘fashion.’ Depends on brands, items and their heights, users can follow the other users and find their favorite clothes and outfits. If they want to buy clothes, they can buy immediately. This application helps people to catch up with the trend and it could suggest the way to enjoy their fashion.
Nowadays, Burmese traditional attires have become the current fashion trend for girls. While wearing these outfits, they find it comfortable, confident and gorgeous. Moreover, people can choose different styles of traditional clothes depending on occasions.
On the other hand , fashion sometimes means “rule” to them. For example, even though youngers want to wear modern clothes like short pants and sleeveless tops, their parents and society doesn’t allow them to wear. Here, we can see conservative attitude towards fashion in Myanmar.
The trends of fashion are mostly influenced by celebrities, beauty bloggers, social influencers, international dramas (especially the Korean dramas) and local movies (for example, the retro fashion has been revised and become the most popular trend after the movie, ‘Me,’ has been released).
In these ways, we found the differences between Myanmar and Japan in terms of resources for fashion trends and values.
Group1:Natsu Kubota, Kazuhiro Kuroda, Than Zin Sann, Htet Aung Lin
