English version
In today’s wave of globalization, cities are no longer just economic or cultural hubs—they’re becoming brands. When we think of Paris, Milan, or Tokyo, what comes to mind isn’t just geography, but a distinct fashion identity. Chengdu, by contrast, is more often associated with “slow living,” hotpot, and pandas. These are powerful cultural tags, but they haven’t yet been translated into a coherent fashion narrative. That’s where my research begins: exploring how Chengdu might shape a fashion identity rooted in its own local culture.
During my early fieldwork, I noticed something interesting. Chengdu’s cultural image is largely tied to food and lifestyle, while more “formal” cultural assets—like traditional crafts or intangible heritage—feel distant to the general public. This made me realize that if I want to touch the core of the city’s identity, I need to find a way for stakeholders to express, debate, and even challenge these cultural symbols in their own language.
Surveys and interviews are useful, but they often stay at the surface. So I decided to try something more playful: a game-based intervention. The idea was to create a relaxed, equal space where stakeholders could engage in open conversation. In this setup, everyone has a voice—they can propose, argue, or overturn what they believe counts as a “Chengdu element.”
The tool I chose is a card game. Unlike traditional focus groups, the game reduces the abstractness of cultural talk and flattens hierarchies between participants. Through a process of “playing—challenging—negotiating,” stakeholders step into a dynamic cultural arena. Here, I can observe not only consensus but also the gray areas and tensions in how culture is perceived.
More importantly, the card game works as a cultural probe. It shifts the research question from “What is Chengdu’s culture?” to “How is it perceived, contested, and reconstructed?” This opens the door for me to track how cultural symbols evolve in people’s minds, not just identify them.
So, for this first Unit 3 blog, I want to leave you with a starting question: Chengdu needs a fashion identity, but it shouldn’t be defined by a single scholar, designer, or policymaker. It should emerge through participation, dialogue, and even disagreement. In the next stage of my project, I’ll share more about how I designed and tested the game, and how it revealed moments of “cultural misfit” and “fashion translation.”
Chinese version
在全球化的浪潮中，城市不仅是经济和文化的集合体，也逐渐成为“品牌”。当我们谈论巴黎、米兰或东京时，人们脑海中浮现的往往不仅是地理空间，而是一种独特的时尚身份。相比之下，成都的全球形象更多与“慢生活”“火锅”“熊猫”等文化标签绑定，但这些元素尚未被系统地转译为时尚叙事。我的研究正是从这里出发——思考成都如何通过本土文化塑造时尚身份。
在项目早期调研中，我发现成都的文化认知高度集中在饮食和日常生活方式，而对非遗、工艺等更“正式”的文化资产，公众的联结感相对薄弱。这让我意识到，如果研究要真正触及城市身份，就必须找到一种方法，让 Stakeholders（利益相关者）能以自己的方式去表达和挑战这些文化符号。
传统的问卷或访谈往往容易局限在表层共识，因此我决定尝试一种更开放的研究路径：利用游戏化的干预方法，为 Stakeholders 创造一个平等且轻松对话的开放式空间。在这里，每一位参与者都有机会提出、辩论、甚至推翻他们心目中的“成都元素”。
我选择的工具是卡牌游戏。与学术研究常用的焦点小组相比，卡牌游戏不仅降低了文化讨论的抽象性，也在一定程度上消解了参与者之间的身份差异。通过“出牌—挑战—共识”的过程，Stakeholders 被邀请进入一个动态的、充满互动的文化协商场域。这种方式让我能观察到文化认知中的灰色地带和争议点，而不仅仅是显而易见的共识。
更重要的是，卡牌游戏作为一种cultural probe（文化探针），帮助我把研究从“文化是什么”推进到“文化如何被感知、被挑战、被重构”。这为之后的研究打下了基础：不仅识别文化符号本身，还要追踪它们如何在公众心中不断变化。
因此，Unite 3 Blog 的第一篇，是一次问题的提出：成都需要一个时尚身份，而这个身份不能由单一学者、设计师或政策制定者定义，而是需要 Stakeholders 的参与与对话。在接下来的干预中，我会分享游戏的具体设计、执行过程，以及由此引发的“文化错位”与“时尚转译”的探索。
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