A special interview with Cassey Gan in response to Cross culture and gender fluidity in Fashion
During Kelly’s MA course, each student chose a topic and title to focus on for their dissertation and she chose to focus on How can a brand positively reflect cross-cultural identities for a multi-heritage consumer?
Kelly reached out to Cassey, a Fashion Designer based in Malaysia for her bold and colourful designs speaks with Kelly on her views on Cross-culture and multi-heritage.
image: Cassey Gan, Fashion Designer.
Q: Brief description about yourself
A: I am a fashion designer who lives in Malaysia, a multi-cultural country. I love design and cannot imagine myself doing anything else.
Q: What does cultural appropriation mean to you?
A: Using other cultures that do not belong to you in a disrespectful way for personal gains.
Q: Could you give an example of brands or company's that has represented cultural appropriation in a negative way.
A: The most memorable for me is the Gucci wool balaclava jumper – a black turtleneck sweater that features a mouth cut-out with red panels that look like exaggerated lips. To me it is a direct reference to the blackface caricatures. This seems insensitive to history and almost like making fun of a particular ethnic group, which is totally unacceptable in my opinion.
Recently there is brand in Malaysia called Nala that caught some heat because of cultural appropriation too. She is Dutch but, in her interview,, she said that she wants to be the crusader who brings back baju kurung and see Malays in Malaysia wearing baju kurung once again. In the first place, baju kurung has never gone away. A lot of people are wearing it daily. On top of that, she is not someone of that culture, so for her to say she wants to bring it back and be the crusader for it…something just doesn’t add up.
image: Series 18 presentation, Cassey Gan - Instagram
Q: Do you think fashion brands could positively represent cultural influences in an appropriate way?
A: I think it is a very sensitive issue. As a fashion designer myself, I am drawn towards certain cultures and styles that are not mine. For example, I love everything Japanese especially the way they dress and their traditional clothing. I am inspired by that aesthetic; however, I will never say that I am here to educate everyone about Japanese culture through my work because I am not Japanese, and it is just not something right to say. I think being inspired is one thing, making fun of it is another (like in the case of Gucci) and educating everyone about a culture that is not yours is a whole new story as well (like in the case of Nala).
Q: How would you describe your culture and what does it mean to be cross-culture/dual heritage?
A: Although I live in Malaysia which is multicultural, I cannot quite consider myself cross cultured. I am Malaysian Chinese and therefore I grow up being accustomed to Chinese culture. I cannot say that I know a lot about the Malay culture or the Indian culture for example. Hence, it is not my place to talk about other cultures as if I know more than them. I think the point is when you live in a multicultural country, you just have to respect each other’s cultures and learn not to cross any lines.
image: Cassey Gan KLFW 2020 - Instagram