The content of the intervention:
The scenario is to assume that an outdoor photo shoot for a fashion magazine about Chinese ethnic culture is being conducted, and practitioners and students in the fashion industry are invited to do a fashion styling on the theme of ethnic minorities. There will be a total of 2 sets of clothes to be styled (one for the Bai theme/one for the Dai theme). The requirement is that it needs to include tops/bottoms/jewelry. I hope that everyone will not use clothes of their own ethnic group but contemporary fashion for styling. Finally, use collage to display and briefly explain why these elements are used to design styling. Finally, I will invite friends from ethnic minorities to score these styling designs and give reasons.

The purpose of the intervention:
Because my question is now set as: How can we express cultural appreciation in the context of fashion image? In order to investigate whether fashion practitioners and students in China will consider cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation when it comes to ethnic cultural themes? Inviting Dai and Bai’s friends to participate in giving feedback promoted exchanges and dialogues between different cultures, helping participants to better understand the essence of each ethnic culture, so that they can handle cultural elements more carefully and avoid cultural misappropriation.

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Learning from intervention:

Even professional fashion people make mistakes when dealing with cultural topics. This reminds us that cultural respect is not just a slogan, and we need to do better research (both primary and secondary) when dealing with a range of topics. Understanding the history and traditional customs of each culture can help us make more respectful choices when dealing with cultural topics. The fashion industry is not only an artistic expression, but also a manifestation of social responsibility. The appropriate use of cultural elements conveys respect for tradition and understanding of the contemporary.

In this intervention, feedback from Bai and Dai experts helped everyone identify potential cultural misunderstandings and promoted a deeper promotion of ethnic minority cultures.

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About the next intervention:

In the next intervention, I plan to carry out a tie-dye workshop on the intangible cultural heritage of the Dali Bai people and invite non-Chinese students to participate. Through personal participation, everyone can feel the charm of cultural exchange and the beauty of Chinese traditional culture.