| Abstract: |
When models wearing contemporary Lao fashions stepped out on the runway of the Grand Fashion Show, they catapulted the question of how contemporary Lao fashion designers represent themselves, Laos, the Lao, Lao textile traditions, and their vision of contemporary Lao fashion into the limelight. In this paper, we focus primarily on questions of identity, representation and authenticity projected by fashion show organizers and designers. We draw on observations and photographs of fashions we took at the Lao Handicraft Festival Grand Fashion Show, interviews with designers and written material from the Festival and the fashion show. Using content and representational analyses, we examine the use of traditional Lao styles and elements as well as the contemporary Asian and Euro-American styles presented at the show. We find that most of the fashion-show designers emphasized past and current Lao fashions through the preservation of Lao styles and elements that emphasize their authentic origin and the unique cultural heritage of Laos. At the same time, they were redesigning these styles with the creative integration of elements from non-Lao fashions that potentially extend the styles across the borders of Laos and into the international world of fashion.
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