Wal-Mart Canada launches “Asian line” at some stores
Posted by chinesecanuck on October 15, 2008
The clothing line is cut to fit petite women 5’3″ or shorter with “Asian type” figures. I guess this means “boy shaped.” I’m not sure if it was a good idea for Wal-Mart to use the term “Asian type figures” though, since there are women who aren’t Asian who are small-boned too (just as there are many Asian women who are curvy). But yes, it’s more likely for Asian women to have that shape. The price-point is really, really affordable. What the news release DOESN’T indicate is the inseam length. I guess if they’re REALLY going for the stereotypical Asian figure, the inseam length would be quite short, perhaps even shorter than the “typical” petite inseam of 29 to 31 inches. The most stereotypical Asian female figure has a longer torso in proportion to legs. Maybe the inseam would be more like 27″?
The line, which is made in Montreal (not China, thank goodness), will be sold at 16 Wal-Mart stores in BC, Alberta and Ontario.
uglyblackjohn said
Really? Asian women have short legs? I gotta’ go look.
chinesecanuck said
Hahaha, John!
They say that Asians tend to have longer torsos in proportion to their legs. But this doesn’t seem to be reflected in the line. The pants have the standard petite 30″ inseam! Also, the clothes aren’t all that different from standard petite sizes – a medium is approximately 35-28-37, which works out to a size 6 or 8.
Late Night Laundry said
Funny… even Wal-Mart is noticing the exploding Asian population now…
It’s intriguing how major corporations pay such close attention to rising demographics.
As an aside, what do you think about politics? Did Canadians make the right decision in the elections? Does it surprise you that the leaders of the major parties are all caucasian?
chinesecanuck said
^^^
LNL,
If you search my site, you’ll find a few posts about my thoughts on politics.
thinkingdifference said
Such classifications are always dangerous because they hide away the arbitrariness of the category: there’s a variety of body shapes regardless of what we imagine as racial/ ethnic lines. But when such categories like ‘Asian’ are becoming ‘public’ ways of referring to particular things, they are essentializing what it means to be ‘Asian’.
Restructure! said
This reminds me of the “Latina Cut”.