IV. Methodology

Stuart Hall’s work on representation is utilized in conjunction with Anderson's

imagined communities to argue for the importance of distinguishing one’s community

from the other, both culturally and within brand identity. As both believe that community

is “distinguished by the space they are imagined in,” I seek to understand how brand

identity helps customers find their chosen community and why it is crucial for emerging Chinese brands to have a clear representation of their identity and ethos.79 For both

Bobblehaus and YanYan Knits, their Chinese heritage and identities are visible in more

subtle ways. Emphasizing cultural identity, Hall argues that “all identities must

significantly mark their similarity to and difference from something else,” strengthening community ties while differentiating self from others.80 Hall too highlights the notion that

nations are formed, thereby becoming a symbolic community of representation and thus forming national identities.81 Hall also argues that identity is under constant transformation and is both in the process of “being” and “becoming.”82 Identity is thus

constantly shifting and broadening, and new emerging brands must adapt to the time and

place they exist in to reflect the multicultural identities that exist in society today while

retaining their chosen ethos. Now, we are more and more eager for representation of ourselves in every sense, and clothing embodies part of that identity.83 With an increasing

number of multicultural individuals, our identities are evermore fluid and nonbinary,

emphasizing the need for brands and communities that reflect that understanding.

Therefore, different emerging designers present themselves more specifically to their

79 Hall, Stuart. Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: 1997, 80. 80 Hall, Stuart, and Henry Louis Gates. “Nations and Diasporas.” The Fateful Triangle: Race, Ethnicity, Nation, edited by Kobena Mercer. Harvard University Press, 2017, 128. 81 Hall, The Fateful Triangle: Race, Ethnicity, Nation, 137. 82 Hall, Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, 70. 83 Wu, Juanjuan, Yue Hu, Lei Xu, and Marilyn R. DeLong, Fashion in Multiple Chinas, 79.

customers–highlighting political, social, or cultural views that were previously

unwelcome in the industry. Now, these identities are further incorporated and necessary

to a brand, allowing emerging Chinese designers to showcase their diversity beyond the

monolithic Western representation. This broadens up the representation of Chinese

designers that previously felt more singular and stereotyped, and allows for further

smaller, distinctive communities to exist within the industry.

Methodology

The following sections incorporate theoretical, historical, and visual analysis to

examine the brand communities of Chinese designers with respect to their heritage. In-

depth interviews with the designers and owners of the brands Bobblehaus and YanYan

Knits are used as a primary resource to gain insight into the creation of the brands and

their respective influences. This thesis investigates how both of these brands imbue their

designs and brand strategies to embody their respective identities. For YanYan Knits,

their identities are mainly visible through their design product, whereas for Bobblehaus it

is more visible through the entire presentation of their collections on social media. As not

all Chinese brands utilize traditional designs to highlight their heritage, it is important to

analyze not only their final designs, but how they conceptualize each design and choose

to market their brand to better establish their community.

Part 2 provides background information on brand communities and the

importance of brand identity and community, in addition to specific details about Chinese

brands and community building in general. For this section, theoretical and historical

analysis are applied to contextualize the rise of brand identity within the twenty-first