Sunday, December 02, 2007

Cultural (mis)Appropriations

On my latest visit to Shanghai, I made a brief foray into the Parkson Department Store. It's essentially the Chinese take on a western department store, meaning there are boutiques and labels that are familiar to the Western shopper but, upon further examination, turn out to be totally foreign brands. I got a shot of one that's a clear rip-off of L'Occitaine en Provence (a favorite of my friend R).

Even legitimate brands are making inroads and not being ripped off, though the translations (and menus in Chinese) continue to seem like novelties to me.

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