CITY GUIDE >Culture and Events
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CITY GUIDE >Culture and Events
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Young rock fans snap up band-name clothes
By Chen Nan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-10 09:51
Beijing's massive rock festivals and live concerts are full of young fans with dyed yellow hair wearing tight tank tops with Joyside, Queen Sea Big Shark or AK 47 emblazoned in hot pink, black or white across the front. Some of them are die-hard fans of those indie bands; others couldn't name a single song by them. They've bought the top from a trendy boutique because they think it looks cool. As the summer music scene gets into full swing, this will be a familiar sight. To many music fans, a band T-shirt is like a uniform, a statement of their affiliation. "I have nearly 100 rock band tees," says Beijing designer Ma Xin, 22. "I fell in love with rock music when I was 16 and immediately started collecting T-shirts. For me, it is like a symbol of the devotion you have sworn to your favorite groups. It is also an attitude you can express yourself." Band T-shirts are essential fashion items now and it doesn't matter if you know the band or not. Rock music has apparently moved from the charts to the catwalks and shop racks. Fans like Ma go to music festivals, live performances and online stores to connect with their idols. Not long ago, band T-shirts were only available in specialist music stores and were worn exclusively by committed fans and invariably came in black and big size. Now, they have been reworked into tight shaped tees and tank tops that come in all colors: pink, yellow, white, blue and so on. Wazzap, a Beijing-based store specializing in combining music and tees, is a case in point. Chen Junwei has been the creative director of the label since 2005, when events like Beijing Pop Music Festival at Chaoyang Park, Modern Sky Music Festival and Midi Music Festival were flourishing. He designed the festivals' official T-shirts and started working with record labels to make T-shirts for their bands. In 2006, he opened Wazzap's first store at Guloudajie, a hot meeting place for rock fans and trendsetters. It now has three branches, in Beijing's 798 art district, Sanlitun and Wudaokou, and his business has expanded to other cities, including Kunming, Yunnan province and Jinan, Shandong. "Music defines fashion eras down the years - rock'n'roll and fashion have always gone hand in hand, especially abroad," says Chen, 31, who graduated from Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology. "Pop stars have always been fashion icons. Think of The Beatles, Madonna and The Ramones - those foreign singers go closely with fashion. Their official websites sell all sorts of products like tees, jeans and accessories." Chen says awareness on the mainland of the link between fashion and rock music has risen in recent years. |
