Is Cultural Appropriation in Fashion Appropriate? 文化挪用適用時尚嗎？
To take for oneself. To take without permission or consent. The dictionary defines appropriation as an act of taking. A forceful use of another’s possessions without their permission. Cultural appropriation is currently an issue that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Marc Jacobs’ use of dreads at his NYFW show fanned the flames of the issue of appropriation in fashion. The truth of the matter is that appropriation has been present in fashion as early as the 1900’s and can be seen early in the designs of Paul Poiret and the Callot Soeurs.
在不征得他人允许和同意的情况下，拿来为己所用。字典里面如此定义挪用的解释：直接複製、抄襲、採用他人的圖像作品，改變其原創性與真確性。文化挪用在当前的时装领域中似乎不会太快消失。Marc Jacobs在纽约时装周展出的2017春夏系列，其脏辫的挪用引发了这一问题的导火索。事實上，時尚的文化挪用早在1900年就已經發生。Paul Poiret 和 Callot Soeurs 可謂當時代表設計師。
During this period it was placed under the fashion category of Orientalism. Clothes were heavily influenced by Eastern culture. The designs incorporated East Asian styles such as the kimono and the use of Chinese symbols as embellishments on the garments. The Callot Soeurs, a fashion house founded by three sisters in Paris, was the first to make use of the kimono sleeve in their designs. During this time, to call this appropriation didn’t seem to elicit the same response that it would today.
東方主義是那個時期的代表。衣服設計較多受東方文化的影響，像日本和服樣式或中國刺繡元素，都喜歡被用入設計。Callot Soeurs，這個由三姐妹一起經營的巴黎時裝店，首次將和服袖融入她們的設計。在那個時候，文化挪用並不像現在引起人們的反應。
Now let’s fast forward to today’s issue with appropriation in fashion. It’s not only East Asian culture that’s under attack. For the past 15 some odd years aspects of Native American, Indian, African American, and Mexican culture have been targeted by fashion industry designers as what is considered to be the next hottest fashion trend. It’s understandable that designers pull their inspiration from what they see around the world. This is natural. Where the issue lies is not that they are using aspects of other cultures in their designs, but that they are not giving credit where it is due.
現在讓我們快速將目光轉移到當今的時尚文化挪用問題. 不止是亞洲文化遭到侵襲，在過去15年，本土美洲，印度，非洲美和墨西哥文化都無一例外躺槍，來成為時尚熱點趨勢. 可以理解設計師從他們看到的世界中獲取靈感，這很合理. 但問題是他們用了這些文化元素，卻不給予名份。文化服飾背後真正的意義被挪用的體無完膚.
The true meaning behind the pieces of cultural clothing that are being appropriated is being dissolved. The only thing people see once the designs are placed on fashion runways with no acknowledgement of their origins is a fashion trend. No one cares to understand the true meaning of these garments and this is an issue. Cultures are being viewed as nothing more than style inspiration.
人們所見的只是秀場上的這些設計. 沒人在乎這些衣服背後的真正意義，而這就是個問題. 文化被僅僅視為一種風格靈感。
How hard is it for a designer to acknowledge that a particular culture is where they gained the inspiration for their collection. As a writer, if you use a quote from another writer or even reword something another writer has written, you still have to cite their work and give them credit. Should the same rules apply in the fashion industry? It’s tricky. On the flip side some may see this as people being too sensitive. If the designer has no mal intent when incorporating aspects of one’s culture into his designs no harm no foul right?
設計師告知靈感文化來源有多難. 作為一個作家，如果你用了他人的句子或思想，你需要明確地標註就使用他人著作。難道一樣的規則不能適用在時尚領域嗎？很難說. 另一方面，有些人認為這太敏感了. 設計師並沒有惡意將文化融入他的設計。
It’s a touchy topic, but it still is one that needs to be discussed. Clearly, it is effecting people in a negative manner and coming off as offensive. Whether it be over sensitivity or a cruel exploitation of culture, something needs to be done about the way in which cultural appropriation is being used in the fashion industry. To take for oneself. To take without permission or consent. Can the theft of one’s culture simply be ignored?
這是個敏感的話題，但他仍然需要被討論.必須認清的是，文化挪用問題帶給人一種負面影響，甚至有些冒犯. 它是否過於敏感又或者殘酷剝削了文化， 還有待商榷。 但在不征得他人允许和同意的情况下，拿来为己所用，難道這種偷窃文化的行為可以被忽略嗎？
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