Pang Kuan Smashing an Apple Monitor

PP: There are three main ones:
Retro has become popular lately. One group pairs 60s to 80s Western with Chinese retro. They pair second hand clothes produced in the West with Asian-made items. Another group favors Chinese labels from the 80s and 90s. Young people study Western celebrities and street fashion pictures and imitate the styles they see. “Nonconformist” styles have become more popular. Young people in smaller cities are also wearing the styles they see from Japan and Korea.

NF: Why are young people so into retro?
PP: Actually, young people tend to reject the old and embrace the new. It just so happens that retro is the latest trend being pushed by the media. So, they are basically just following this trend.

NF: Is independent music mainstream now?
PP: When Chinese people decided that music is no longer just something they can take or leave, when they view at as more than just background noise or a way of killing time, then independent music will truly have become mainstream.

NF: How do you attract foreigners to Chinese music and fashion?
PP: What sort of fashion do we have to be proud of?Aside from traditional styles, there’s nothing to get all excited about. That said, I do think that the retro styles [sold in Bye Bye Disco], including 80s athletic clothing, are rather attractive. The designs and colors might seem cheesey, but I think they are a lot cooler than what Nike and Adidas have to offer. Actually the problem is that Westerners do “get it” about how cool these styles are, but Chinese didn’t catch on until they saw foreigners wearing these styles – really quite pathetic. The big clothing companies here don’t like the retro athletic styles because they are too unsophisticated to understand. They would prefer to just copy Western styles rather than developing cool local styles.

NF: What do you think the Nanluoguxiang and Gulou areas will be like in five years? More bohemian or more yuppyish/boboish)?
PP: It won’t be that bohemian – that’s too weird for most people. It also won’t be that yuppyish because the shops here are too lame – most shops here are just selling tourist garbage. I wish there was some way of not allowing shops with uninspired tourist dross from opening here, but I know that will never happen because that stuff is the most profitable.

PP: 有三个吧：“复古”分为60-80年代的欧美+中国的复古，喜欢这些的年轻人一般会热衷于二手服装，西方产的和东方产的混在一起穿；80-90年代的国货 复古，这些人会穿中国老式的服装和热衷于中国老名牌。年轻人会关注欧美明星和街拍图片，购买欧美品牌的服饰，学习他们的搭配风格进行穿衣打扮。 “非主 流”流行于一些中小城市和农村的90后年轻人中间，他们学习日韩的穿衣和打扮的风格。

NF: 为什么年轻人喜欢复古中式？
PP: 年轻人其实还是喜新厌旧的多，而且喜欢追求潮流，只是突然有一天他们发现复古也成一个潮流了，电视台、杂志等各种媒体都在做复古的主题，他们就也跟着赶一赶这个潮流。

NF: “独立音乐”有没有终于变成主流？
PP: 当中国人不再觉得音乐对它们来说只是一种生活中可有可无的东西，不再把音乐仅仅作为一种消遣，独立音乐才有机会变成主流。

NF: 怎么吸引外国人到中国的服装和音乐？
PP:中国有什么服装值得骄傲的？除了古代的那些风格，没什么可津津乐道的。不过，最近几年复古风潮的流行，中国80年代的老式运动服我倒是很看好，它们 有时候看上去设计和颜色搭配很cheesy，但是很酷，比adidas, nike什么的同款运动服酷多了。可问题是西方人也觉得它们酷，但中国人不觉得，他们要先看到有老外穿了——很可悲。中国大的服装公司不会看好复古运动 服，因为他们太土了，他们宁愿抄袭西方的设计，也不愿意去发展本国的酷东西。

NF: 你觉得南锣鼓巷和鼓楼五年后会怎么样？会更波西米亚还是很小资？
PP: 波西米亚我觉得应该不会吧，没多少人喜欢吧，要不太怪了。小资的话也不会很小资，因为在这边的一些店都非常土，卖些旅游景点卖的那种东西，这个特别傻，我 特别希望南锣鼓巷和鼓楼可以有人可以管控一个商店的产品，如果他们要卖特别傻的东西，就不准开——可惜这永远无法实现，卖游客产品永远是最赚钱的。