I. Introduction

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

Introduction

I started working for Bobblehaus in October 2019. They first posted a call for

editorial contributors in a slack group called The Cosmos, a community for Asian

American women to connect and support each other. The brand was pitched as both a

blog and soon to be clothing label that centered around uplifting Asian diasporic and

Asian American voices–a space that was built to be community driven and community

led. Bobblehaus was still in its infancy stage at this point–they had yet to publish

editorials or launch their clothing line, but were looking for those with similar

backgrounds to share their voices.

The call, which is now lost in a collection of old postings, sought Asian American

or Asian diasporic contributors to contribute articles that covered everything from pop

culture events to personal essays. Focusing on youth perspectives, Bobblehaus sought to

give space to voices that were underrepresented and overlooked, particularly in the Asian

diaspora. I eagerly messaged the girl who posted, soon to learn that she was the editor-in-

chief, Leona Chen. An interview was held with her and Bobblehaus’ co-founder, Ophelia

Chen, before a contributor agreement was quickly signed. I joined the team.

During our interview, Chen explained how she came to conceptualize

Bobblehaus: it stemmed from her desire to create a community for bi-cultural Asians

around the world. As someone who was raised with Chinese and American values all the

while listening to K-pop and watching Japanese anime, Chen realized that there was a whole generation that shared the same mash up of cultures that she did.1 Bobblehaus

1 Chen, Ophelia. Interview by Yin Chin Casey Huang. New York, 17 October, 2021.

grew from her longing to create a platform that allowed people to share similar stories

and life experiences of being multicultural. Thus, the blogs were born.

Bobbleblogs are what they are called now–a platform for multicultural and

diasporic voices to come together and share their experiences. It was, and is, as Chen had

planned it to be–a community of Asians across different continents and backgrounds that

all struggled with the idea of “fitting in” to a one specific cultural background. Chen’s

experiences paralleled my own and a whole community of individuals who grew up

under the same circumstances. The Bobbleblogs gave us a free space to express ourselves

as we wanted. Through it all, Bobblehaus was more than supportive of my perspective–

they truly valued their team and their unique perspectives, and encouraged us to highlight

our own personal opinions while contributing to the greater conversation of the Asian

diaspora. This of course would not have been possible if that was not the space they

sought to create: one that was supportive, open, but most of all accepting and inclusive.

Bobblehaus’ clothing line was launched mid-pandemic in 2020, after several

months of posting and pitching and writing articles about music, fashion, and

relationships. With specific focus on streetwear, Bobblehaus wanted to create clothing

that was unisex, bold, and functional for its customers. Clothing was always meant to be

integral to Bobblehaus as another way to share multicultural voices through the habit of

daily dress. With prior experience at Bloomingdale’s, Chen was drawn to clothing as a

way to embody identity and community: “Everyday you wake up and choose what you

wear based on how you feel or how you want to feel, and so it is naturally a part of your identity.”2 Community can then become key support in reaffirming these identities,

2 Chen, Ophelia. Interview by Yin Chin Casey Huang. New York, 17 October, 2021.

particularly for those who grew up in the Asian diaspora and felt they existed in a space

that never felt quite right. Fashion has the ability to create communities through shared

aesthetics and objects, creating in-groups for those who are included within their sphere.

In the two years that I have worked for Bobblehaus, the core value of community

always lingered in the back of my mind. It truly felt like they created a supportive

community through their brand in a fundamental way that was so much more than just

selling a product–the clothing and blogs were a form of invitation to join the community.

It is with this in mind that I began to think about the ways in which brands begin to

concept their brand identities. The way clothing and communities fit together began to

intrigue me: as a brand begins to consider and create their brand identity and ethos, what

core values are they considering? What key pillars do they emphasize in their initial

planning stage? With Bobblehaus, it is the value of community. Tracing Chen’s Chinese

American background, it felt like the fundamental value of community, passed down

generationally in Chinese culture, became the core of Bobblehaus. She was looking for a

community of like-minded individuals who had similar experiences as she did, but also

those who might just feel the way she does, caught in between cultures. She knew exactly

what community she wanted to create. But the idea of creating a community through

clothing and brand identity was not just unique to Bobblehaus, but other emerging brands

as well. Brands such as 7115 by Szeki or Glossier were too creating brand communities

by focusing and structuring their products around customer experiences and feedback,

inviting them to participate in the brand rather than as a passive consumer.

In general, the technological shift and political emphasis in the 21st century has led brands to build lifestyles and communities around their labels.3 No longer are brands

just marketing products, but highlighting what their brands stand for. With sustainability,

conservation, political, and social issues at the forefront of people’s minds, brands

operating within the current society must take a stance from their companies to align with

their customer’s values. While product and design are still crucial, they are not the only

things a customer considers when purchasing a product. It is no longer enough to just sell

the product–they need to embody their values transparently to connect with their

customers. Brand identities are thus crucial to the success of a brand’s marketing, as it

allows for brands to portray their views to their customers, thereby forming a brand

identity surrounding similar values. Community is the next step–creating a group of like-

minded individuals who not only buy from, but also participate and support the brand.

Bobblehaus, with their core values in community and Asian diasporic and American

identity, highlight these values through their brand identity to communicate to their

customers.

YanYan Knits is yet another brand that has a strong brand identity, attracting a

specific customer base much like Bobblehaus. They first caught my eye due to the

visibility of their Cantonese heritage on their products–something I had not seen

interpreted in such a way until coming across their website. A knitwear brand, YanYan

Knits creates unique, fun and eclectic pieces that are inspired by their lives in New York

and Hong Kong. Drawing upon Cantonese aesthetics, each piece displays subtle nods to

their Cantonese heritage in a way that is still cute and relatable. Though knitwear is not a

3 Walker, Terilyn. “The Importance of Brand Community in 2020 & Beyond.” Aspire. July 23rd, 2020. https://aspire.io/blog/importance-of-brand-community-in-2020-and-beyond/

typical medium used in traditional Chinese clothing, YanYan uses the material as another

way to juxtapose modern and traditional elements in their clothing–something they wish

to emphasize in their designs. By spotlighting their heritage, they also diversify the scope

of Chinese design. While YanYan does not lead with community in the way Bobblehaus

does, they put forth a unique brand identity that is immediately distinguishable to their

consumers, drawing them to their designs and ethos. This organically attracts a certain

community surrounding the brand, which centers around relation or appreciation of

traditional and modern Chinese motifs and values.

Bobblehaus and YanYan Knits are both emerging Chinese designers, with the

latter established in 2019 and the former in 2020. However, while they are established

within close proximity with each other, their founders are part of different generations

and therefore market to different clienteles. While Bobblehaus’s co-founders are more

within the sphere of Generation Z, YanYan Knits considers themselves as part of the

Millennial generation. Their approach, design and clientele are thus different as a result

of this generational difference, but are not limited to them either.

Both of these brands showcase and embody community in different ways, but

hold it as a core value within their ethos. The fashion system in the 21st century allows

for digital communities to naturally form, but the traditional value of community has also

been a core pillar of Chinese society. The ability for communities to encompass those

who are not in physical proximity is notably important for those within diasporic

communities, as it provides them a space of familiarity and comfort. With Confucianism

as a foundational belief system, Chinese societies have historically built their culture

around community as a traditional value, passing it down from generation to generation

and emphasizing the collective over that of the individual.4 This foundation is where

Chinese clothing brands, with Chinese heritage and values as part of the designers’ and

owners’ personal identities, begin to build their brand and brand identities around the

notion of community and kinship. Though the desire to build a community is not isolated

to Chinese culture nor is community entirely culturally generated, their heritage makes up

a large part of their personal identity and is thus seen reflected within their brand

identities.

This thesis seeks to understand how two emerging Chinese brands–Bobblehaus

and YanYan Knits–embody the value of community within their brands through

examination of their brand conception, brand identity, marketing strategies and design.

Both of these brands maintain community as a key pillar in their brand ethos, extending it

to their production, distribution, and consumption methods. The main research question

asks: how do emerging Chinese designers embody community as a key pillar in their

brand ethos? How much of a community is culturally based and generated, and how

much of it relates to the greater fashion sphere? The situating of an individual and others

reveals one’s social grouping and sense of belonging, forming a group of like-minded

individuals who share particularities in common to become a community. Therefore it is

only natural and fitting that, when building a fashion brand, one considers the community

that they want to build through the material and symbolic meanings of clothing as

identity. By analyzing brand identity formation and how Bobblehaus and YanYan Knits

utilize different ideas to interact with their communities, this thesis hopes to establish

brand communities as a crucial part of a brand’s identity and consciousness. Through

4 Chen, Lai. “Historical and Cultural Features of Confucianism in East Asia.” Confucianisms for a Changing World Cultural Order. University of Hawai’i Press.

analysis of brand elements such as social media, brand name, design and ethos of the

considered brands, this thesis highlights community as a core value in the structures and

foundations of emerging Chinese brands. Both of these brands draw from their personal

lived experiences to create designs and images that attract their community, incorporating

their Chinese heritage in organic ways to embody their histories and cultural values. The

foundations of these brands naturally attract their community, allowing them to build it

together.

In the remainder of Part 1, I provide background for the literature review,

theoretical framework, and methodology of this thesis. In Part 2, I seek to explore the

meanings and importance of community, brand identity, and specifically the formation of

Chinese brand identity and community. The four sections are split up as follows: the

value of community in general, the significance of community within Chinese cultural

values, the importance of brand identity and community, and the predecessors of brands,

concept stores, and brand communities for Chinese and Chinese American designers. The

Chinese fashion sphere, as referred to in this thesis, encompasses designers who identify

themselves as Chinese designers and connect with their Chinese heritage in any way they

choose to. As brand identity becomes increasingly important in today’s growing market,

the importance of distinction is crucial to maintaining a brand identity that positions a

company as unique and different. The importance of distinction is valued within

communities as well, separating one’s community from another. This section showcases

how distinction helps translate brand identity into brand community, formulating a clear

grouping. This section also highlights the value of community in Chinese cultures and

fashion companies, leading them to formulate a close knit community akin to a family

structure. Translating that to communities emerging Chinese brands seek to create, I

examine the cultural heritage of Chinese designers and the importance of drawing from

their personal lives and identities to create their brands. In the final section, I examine

brands and stores that act as the predecessors to Bobblehaus and YanYan Knits. Brands

and concept stores sought to create a community surrounding their creations, and while

their communities were tied to the public spaces, such as a storefront or gallery space,

this is less important in today’s globalizing and technologically advanced world. With the

use of social media, emerging brands today like Bobblehaus and YanYan Knits have the

ability to not only create a community in a physical space, but in the digital sphere as

well. The ability to connect people across geographical locations who share the same

cross-cultural interests allows brands to emphasize community and incorporate it within

their brand strategies, building social connections beyond that of a physical sphere.

Marketing and brand identities become more and more apparent on social media, in

which a glance at a brand’s feed can relay aesthetic values as well as political and social

values. The time and place that Bobblehaus and YanYan Knits exist in is crucial to how

they formulate their communities, as their communities are both culturally and socially

generated.

Part 3 of this thesis utilizes in-depth case studies to understand the origins, design

elements, and marketing techniques that Bobblehaus and YanYan Knits use to create

their distinct brand identity. Case Study 1 looks closely at YanYan Knits: their name and

ethos, their design elements and inspirations, as well as the way they collaborate with

other artists and how they utilize social media. YanYan Knit’s use of traditional Chinese

art and fashion creates a distinctively modernized Cantonese aesthetic that clearly