Combatting cultural appropriation with Halloween just around the corner, the Multicultural Center hosted Culture Couture on Oct. 13. The event was a fashion show designed to display and celebrate clothing from different nations. Aside from showing the significance of these styles today, the stage served as a reminder that cultural appropriation is very much alive in the fashion industry.
Master of Ceremonies Kandice Head led the evening, seeking to educate on avoiding cultural appropriation.
“We need to keep having this conversation through events like these, and especially through social media,” Head said.
Andrew Pham represented the Asian American Association in a traditional blue silk Vietnamese men’s Ao Dai, a piece that reflects a background of wealth and official ranking. Grooms often wear the blue and gold silk on their wedding day, while brides wear a red and gold Ao Dai in contrast. Today, simple white silk Ao Dais are commonly worn by women for school uniforms, and they are globally worn by Vietnamese people.
Pham was glad that cultural appropriation was a large part of the night’s message to students. Culture Couture not only gave Pham the opportunity to proudly represent Vietnam, but delivered a warning to students that the traditional Vietnamese pieces are not meant to be packaged and shipped to costume warehouses.
“It felt nice to be able to represent Vietnam when we are so underrepresented at Mizzou, even in the Asian American Association,” Pham said. “You see Japanese, Chinese and South Korean pop culture all the time, but when Vietnam is shown it’s typically a war reference. Nowadays, this piece (of clothing) is still such a symbol of wealth and power in Vietnam.”
Paola Mansilla, a sophomore international student who has studied at MU since freshman year, identifies as Bolivian. However, she represented the Association of Latin American Students and the Interested Ladies of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority wearing a traditional Mexican folkloric ballet dress from the western states.
Freshman Alex Carranza also represented the Association of Latin American Students, and he was thrilled to embrace his Mexican heritage.
“I didn’t grow up around my own culture; I grew up in a predominately white Missouri town for most of my life,” Carranza said. “It was fun to finally show off different traditional Mexican clothing styles.”
Carranza’s only complaint was that the event blew by too quickly.
“I feel like they could have covered cultural appropriation a little better,” Carranza said. “It felt almost like a side note next to the fashion show.”