In an era of globalization and migration, clothing plays a significant role in negotiating and expressing identity for immigrants. In addition to serving as a symbol of cultural heritage, clothing can also be used to assimilate immigrants and incorporate fashion trends into their assimilation process. Furthermore, clothing choices allow immigrants to express their individuality in their chosen culture. Based on previous research, this paper provides an overview of how immigrants construct or express their identities through clothing and outlines avenues for future research. 25 published articles from the three major databases namely Emerald, Sage Journal and Wiley Online Library related to clothing and immigrant identity were compiled and synthesized. Commonalities, contradictions, and oversights in the literature are identified based on research questions, sample backgrounds, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies and findings. The literature review reveals that acculturation and ethnicity have received considerable attention in previous research. Most research uses the bi-dimensional model and the four models of acculturation as theoretical foundations. Besides, while numerous research has used qualitative approaches to understand the underpinning factors behind immigrant consumption practices for clothing products, quantitative research dominates in predicting immigrant consumption patterns. Future research should combine various methods based on the complexity of identity. According to the study, inter-disciplinary research, glocal identity, identity disassociation, self-selected culture, and glocal marketing strategies can be investigated further based on prior research.

Authors:
Mei Lai Leung, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Li Li, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Mei Yu Yao, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Tracy Mok, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Jie Zhu, Tongji University, China

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Mei Lai Leung is a School Teacher/Instructor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong

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