Menswear does not just stand for fashion but rather embraces so much more, such as the history, culture, psychology, sociology, economics, dance, and music of any given group of men.Menswear does not merely entail a man’s clothing or garments but also entails how and why they wear what they choose.
As we approach the holiday season and a brand-new year, I would like to introduce a whole new series of articles that arise from my travels throughout several countries in the Far East, beginning with a focus on China, where I lived for 4 years.
We hear so much about China as a new world economic power that boasts one of the world’s oldest civilizations and a population of 1.35 billion people! But what do we know about China’s men: how do they think and what do they wear?Like many countries, China is not homogeneous but rather home to 56 ethnic groups, the largest of which is the Han.
Besides the Han majority, there exist fascinating peoples like the Zhuang (16 million), Manchu (10 million), Hui (9 million), Miao (8 million), Uighur (7 million), Yi (7 million), Tujia (5.75 million), Mongols (5 million), Tibetans (5 million), Buyi (3 million), Dong (2.9 million), Yao (2.5 million), Bai (1.8 million), Gelao, (0.5 million), Shui (0.5 million), and Qiang (0.2 million).
I must say that I have been extremely fortunate—and privileged—to have lived 4 years in a region of southwest China where 11 of these minorities constitute 37% of the local population.
During my sojourn, I became acquainted with the men and their languages, cultures, music and dance, cuisine, and—of course—their traditional dress.Since I lived in this minority region in the 1980’s, much of the minority life that I experienced has slowly disappeared.
So, I have done my best to reproduce it for you with the photos that I took and the memoirs that I wrote!
Photos Copyright Men's Fashion by Francesco.
