Walking into any night market in the capital, one or two shops hawking pseudo ethnic fashions in bright primary colors can be spotted easily. The theme is generally India, or possibly Thai, and there is waft of incense. For these low-end goods, savvy shoppers know they can find the best bargains in the wholesale bins of the Wufenpu (五分埔) clothes market.
"When the ethnic fashion craze reached its zenith about four years ago, the bulk of buyers were students and young fashionistas. But now the acceptance of Indian and Thai apparel has extended to people of all ages," said Chung Ching-fang (鍾靜芳), a veteran ethnic-wear wholesaler at Wufenpu.
Though the dozens of ethnic-wear vendors at the market claim to procure their clothes from weekly trips to Thailand and less frequent visits to India, it is an open secret that much of what is available at Wufenpu as Indian clothing is actually made in China, Thailand and Malaysia. Many customers seem satisfied with these knock-offs, as long as they are colorful.
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Since authenticity is hard to come by at the low end of the market, a good way of making sure what you buy is the real deal is to increase your budget from hundreds to thousands of NT dollars and take your business to the few specialist stores scattered around the city.
Seasoned traveler Shun, who began selling ethnic clothing five years ago, now runs two shops called Tsai Wan (在玩), one on Yungkang Street (永康街) and the other on Lungchuan Street (龍泉街), sporting quality Indian garments from Indian brands such as the well-known Anokhi, The Shop, Fabindia and Melike.
According to an experienced sales assistant who goes by the name of 17, the local market of ethnic-wear has been saturated over the years, and for small establishments like Tsai Wan to say in business, they have to steer clear of items too ethnic for everyday wear and pick contemporary designs that sport a traditional aesthetics.
The strategy seems to work as Shun's business has enjoyed steady growth from word-of-mouth recommendations from customers who appreciate quality Indian fabrics, flattering cuts and fine dyes.
Further up-market are two boutiques run by connoisseur Huang Tsai-lin (黃彩琳), one on Lungchuan Street and one on Zhongshan North Road, which stock luxury clothing from more than a dozen of India's leading international brands and designers such as Anamika Khanna, Abraham and Thakore, Jason Cheriyan, Neeru Kumar and Fish Fry, famed for its extravagant designs for Bollywood stars.
Sporting a dazzling variety of Indian wear from short to long kurtas, sarongs, scarves, shawls, stoles to quilted jackets and wrap trousers, Huang's establishment on Zhongshan North Road is called In Between, and serves as a portal of high-fashion garments made of first-rate cotton and silk and adorned with exquisite hand-embroidery and hand-block prints that don't lend themselves to mass production.
Naturally, these one-off designs come with a hefty price tag, and you can expect to pay up to NT$40,000 to NT$50,000 for a single item.
"Ours is definitely a niche market, for most people won't spend tens of thousands of NT dollars on ethnic wear from unfamiliar brands when they can buy a Gucci or Chanel outfit for the same price or just a little more," said Nien nien (念念), a sales assistant at In Between, adding that most of the buyers are regular customers who work in the design, art and entertainment industries.
Although Huang began selling high-quality ethnic wear long before the trend got started, she said that it remains difficult to appeal to a market which has little knowledge or understanding of Indian haute couture, with its blend of contemporary designs, superior traditional textiles and subtle details in cutting and craftsmanship.
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