Chen Yali, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Jiangxi Normal University
Under the general trend of global capital flow and media convergence, fashion culture has intensified its commercialization, bringing external problems such as visual regime, consumerism, resource waste, capitalist cultural hegemony, etc. However, fashion is also a connector that combines artistic aesthetics, physical experience and symbolic meaning, with the symbolic transformation function of transmitting ideas, emotions and beliefs through some material forms. So, how could fashion communication play a positive role in the guidance of youths’ values?
First, there should be a focus on the dissemination of "mass fashion" to consolidate young people's identity and alleviate existential anxiety. Fashion, as a pattern of physical appearance decoration, represents a group of important choices of social concepts, lifestyles, preferences and habits. It gives an external form of self-identity narration and is a dual means to realize personalized self and socialized self. The "mass" production and dissemination of fashion makes fashion more democratic in the choice of styles and freer in the choice of forms. In the era of media convergence, the production of crowdfunded "mass fashion" based on social platforms has broken the monopoly of "high fashion" and "luxury fashion", and expanded the expression of "civilian" fashion in terms of agendas, concepts and discourse. In this sense, the dissemination of "mass fashion" in the context of media convergence is of positive significance in consolidating the identity of young people and alleviating existential anxiety.
Second, there should be a boost for the development of "national fashion" to enhance patriotic feelings and cultural confidence of young people. The creation and dissemination of local/national fashion are not only the time-space compression of a country's traditional culture and contemporary culture, but also the state of a country's economic and cultural development and artistic aesthetic improvement, reflecting the ability of dialogue, negotiation and even competition between local culture and international culture. In this sense, the creation, dissemination and consumption of national fashion symbols based on media convergence platforms not only are a series of "bottom-up" cultural consciousness-based practice, but also play a constructive function in strengthening patriotic feelings and cultural confidence of young people.
Third, there should be a boost for the spread of "functional fashion" to respond to the youth group's pursuit of a better life. With the synergy of commercial capital and fashion media, the creation and dissemination of fashion increasingly tend to favour the "symbolic meaning" production and desire stimulation, and meanwhile in the process of the replacement of fashion items, more emphasis is placed on the change of decorative details rather than the innovation of fashion items at the functional level. However, it is not a long-term solution for fashion products to rely solely on the production with symbolic meaning to win the market, from the current domestic people's general requirements for consumption upgrading. As one end of the supply side, the production and dissemination of fashion should focus on innovation of quality and functions to meet the pragmatic style and innovative consumption needs of the current youth group. "Functional fashion" underlines a shift of the focus of fashion ideas and actions from style and meaning production to material innovation and functional quality enhancement that can improve the experience of everyday life. Fashion-based consumption upgrading is one of the important contents of people's new expectations for a better life. In this sense, the spread of "functional fashion" has a positive correlation with realization of the youth group's pursuit of a better life.
Published on August 17, 2023