Elsbeth van Paridon | China's Contemporary Fashion & Underground Culture Scene

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

● Contemporary China through the lens of fashion and culture

● The new thinking around fashion and individuality among China’s younger generations

● China’s fashion scene today and how it differs from that of New York

● Does China have fashion icons?

● China’s urban underground scene

● The future of fashion in China

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Elsbeth van Paridon, a sinologist, journalist, and lover of China fashion, lifestyle, and urban culture. In 2018, Elsbeth founded The China Temper, a print and digital publication which “offers a gritty slash grungy look at contemporary China through a fashion-focused lens.”

Aside from her work with The China Temper, Elsbeth serves as an editorial consultant at the Beijing Review, an editor at WeAr Global Magazine, and a contributor to SupChina and RADII China.

“With economic development comes the development of the individual,” says Elsbeth. With regards to fashion and culture, for the longest time Chinese people as a whole have shied away from standing out from the crowd as individuals. However, in the last decade, those living in Tier 1 cities have largely shifted away from this attitude dramatically.

Elsbeth gives her thoughts on the idea of individuality in the country, from the rigid conformism of Mao’s China to a new generation “caught between tradition and innovation”. She refers to the modern fashion scene itself not as “trendsetting” but as “trend-dictating”, driven by the power of the stories behind the clothes.

She goes on to speak on China’s urban underground, particularly in Beijing (as she contends that “everything in Shanghai is above-ground”) and the trends that have emerged out of it, such as tattoos.

Finally, Elsbeth believes that gender-fluid fashion—which unbeknownst to most actually has strong historical roots in the country—is here to stay.

Key Quotes:

“With economic development comes the development of the individual, and fashion is a major part of that. It is a complete reflection of what is going on in society.”

“Fashion is a daily conversation between you and the world.”

“I only make fashion statements. I don’t make political statements. That way, it’s quite easy to create content. I’m telling stories about China from a completely different angle. Nobody’s doing it, and it’s the ultimate soft power.”