The decolonial paradox: negotiating glocal identity in China's Lolita fashion subculture

This study examines the glocalization of Japanese Lolita fashion in China, focusing on its negotiation with coloniality, nationalism, and cultural hybridity. Drawing on qualitative interviews and ethnographic observation, it analyses how Chinese participants engage with Western and Japanese cultural influences through media, while developing localised aesthetic strategies. Particular attention is paid to Zhonghua Lolita, a culturally hybrid substyle that appropriates traditional Chinese clothing design. Far from being a passive replication of foreign trends, Chinese Lolita fashion demonstrates active cultural agency, facilitated by digital media and aligned with growing cultural confidence. This study argues that Zhonghua Lolita constitutes a form of decolonial negotiation – a third space in which aesthetic and political identities are simultaneously shaped and contested. The research contributes to debates on subcultural globalisation by revealing how young people in China mobilise fashion to assert cultural self-determination in the face of multiple hegemonies.