- Japanese mascot culture. Mascots have become a huge part of Japanese pop culture and are used to promote a place or region, event, organisation or business. They are characterised by their kawaii (cute) and unsophisticated designs, often incorporating motifs that represent local culture, history or produce. They may be created by local government or other organisation to stimulate tourism and economic development, or created by a company to build on their corporate identity.
- Parisian youth culture. France's economy may be flailing and its politics in stasis, but its youth culture is finally catching up with the rest of the world's. Something special is happening in Paris, for example the underground electronic music scene is nearly on the same level as Berlin, London and Amsterdam, thanks to the resurgence of Parisian youth culture.
- British football casuals / hooligans. This subculture is a subsection of association football culture that is typified by football hooliganism and the wearing of expensive designer clothing. The subculture originated in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s when many hooligans started wearing designer clothing labels and expensive sportswear such as Stone Island, CP Company, L'alpina and Lacoste in order to avoid the attention of police and to intimidate rivals. In more recent times casuals and hooligans hit the headlines during Euro 2016 when English and Russians frequently clashed, but are all football extremists like the ones we seen during the summer of 2016 or is they're a special story behind them.
- North Korea. The most secretive country in the world defiantly sparks a conversation and potentially this brief has the chance to evoke better cultural understanding of the lives of North Korean people who live under an evil dictatorship.
- Refugees. This is an obvious response to the brief as it mentions immigration and free movement in the opening sentences of the background of the brief. Refugees have been one of main news topics over the last two years and this brief is ideal to help express and engage refugees with the world.
- Hypebeasts. Quote from Urban Dictionary "Sneakerheads who only rock hyped up shit to get props b/c they got no self worth or sense of style" "A Hype Beast is a kid that collect clothing, shoes, and accessories for the sole purpose of impressing others. Although the individual may not have a dime to their name they like to front like they are making far more then everybody else"
Once we came back as a group we started to speak about which culture we through would be the most exciting and most appropriate for the Monotype brief. I came across a couple of videos that helped to explain the current underground music scene and youth culture within Paris these videos got the group excited about how we could show what happening in Paris now. By watching the videos we were able to start thinking about how it would work with the brief, they gave us many points to go from and start more in depth research into all sorts of areas from music, art, design, fashion, people the list is very long. At the point we thought it would be wise to divide up the research again, this way we would be able to find out a lot of information in a very small amount of time.
Paris music scene
These three videos showed me what was going on in Paris now, they don't just talka bout the music it talking about the people and how they have suffered over the past 10 years because mots Parisians don't care much about culture they are very self centred and sadly arrogant people that aren't open to change and they managed to turn their own nightlife into a parody of fun. But what these videos are explaining is that there is a very exciting vibe coming now with big changes coming from forward thinking people.
These three videos showed me what was going on in Paris now, they don't just talka bout the music it talking about the people and how they have suffered over the past 10 years because mots Parisians don't care much about culture they are very self centred and sadly arrogant people that aren't open to change and they managed to turn their own nightlife into a parody of fun. But what these videos are explaining is that there is a very exciting vibe coming now with big changes coming from forward thinking people.
I made many notes from these videos, these are all points that help shape what the current scene is doing and how people are changing because of new places to go and the right sort of people being there to enjoy whats happening, rather than the stuck up traditional Parisians that no open to change because they don't want to leave the what they know and whats comfortable to them.
In the videos is talks about how the Paris scene is not like Berlin and its not like London, its managed to create its own niche that people are enjoying and what to continue to enjoy but its not all taking part in the middle of Paris like it was years ago. The suburbs have become a popular place to hold parties as a lot of the people who are interested in the music are living in the suburbs of Paris making these areas a very important part of whats currently happening in Paris.
Youth Culture Paris
Fashion, art, design, film, music are all helping to grown youth culture in Paris. The younger generations of people in Paris have started to realise that there city is capable of much more than it currently is and they want to push the boundaries and make people understand that it can be just as good as London, Berlin, New York or Amsterdam.
Brands like Vetements are trying to reflect what they feel is going on around in Paris and the suburbs and it is catching on. The brand now has a massive following all over the word and its style which originates in Paris is encouraging more and more people to be themselves, specially in Paris as they feel like they are starting to represent the brand.
"Nightlife is where you can see the reality of youth and where people dare to be themselves without boundaries." - people are going out to enjoy the music and to be with there friends, there are now places that you are aloud to do this all day long if you want as previously there was a ban as having parties in the middle of Paris is difficult because of noise pollution as everything is so close together.
Racism is a problem in Paris and France in general. The biggest victims being Arabs. Paris is a very diverse country because of its lax immigration laws in the past this means there is a very wide range of ethnic groups in and around Paris.
"You have to stay true to your identity living in Paris" - it can be difficult to ignore some of the negativity that comes from the more traditional Parians but the reality is that there is a new wave of young creative people that are taking over and they don't want to live in the past nor the future, they want to live NOW.
North East Paris is where a lot of the creatives and younger generations like to visit and live making it become a more creative youthful part of the city.
Gender-vague style is popular, people aren't afraid to experiment with style and take to new trends. It may not be happening in the centre of the city but in the suburbs there is hope and people are learning about how to change the way things are now.
The suburbs are becoming cool for many reasons.
France has been culturally conservative in recent years and its time for change. New kinds of creative energy, it is becoming more and more popular for contemporary art and design movements because the younger people are fed up of what traditional Paris is and they have the power to change that.
Areas of Paris
Inner-city
Bastille (11ème Arrondissement)
In the 11th arrondissement, around the Place de la Bastille, is a busy, animated neighbourhood known for its hip bars and clubs. Here you can find beautiful hidden places like the charming Arsenal marina and the Promenade suspendue, a landscaped walkway built on the old railroad tracks of a viaduct. Underneath, in the Viaduc des Arts arcades, you can window-shop at exclusive art galleries.
Pigalle (9th Arrondissement)
Pigalle used to be the red light district. But now Paris's 9th arrondissement is home to a burgeoning scene of the coolest people, shops, eateries, and hotels in the city.
Suburbs
No go zones
"Tucked between the buildings in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, is the colourful Pigalle basketball court. Contesting the words of a Fox News reporter who labelled this area a “no-go zone”, director Cyprien Clément-Delmas and the Parisian youth have come together to show an alternative side to the story; a neighbourhood bursting with life, creativity and diversity."
This video is showing the vibrant youth of Paris and how alive their home makes them feel even after the bad that has happened over the last year. Rather than letting negative get to them the younger people of Paris are using this as an opportunity to express themselves and let everyone know that Paris is changing for the better. Although these areas may not be the safest neighbourhoods in Paris but it doesn't stop the good wanting to get out and to express itself and thats exactly what the young people of Paris are doing.
With a flourish in migration from the 1950s through to the ’80s, the city of Paris was inundated with modernist project housing that quickly became outdated. These buildings are a massive part of French history but they seem to go undetected and not many people seem to know about the vast amount of brutalist buildings build around the edges of Paris. They add a lot of characteristic to the areas and are becoming more popular as the price of housing in central Paris increases. Although the economic situation and other problems like crime and unemployment are a big part of these areas but this is like many other cities around the world but the people here mainly young creatives are utilising the suburbs as they want to get away from the traditional Parisian styles and way of life, these are the places where they are able to be themselves without being judged by others.
French Culture
Catholicism is the predominant religion of France. In a survey by the French Institute of Public Opinion, 64 percent of the population (about 41.6 million people) identified themselves as Roman Catholic. According to a 2010 survey by the Pew Research Centre, 7.5 percent (4.7 million people) are Muslim. Pew estimated that the Jewish population was 310,000; there were 280,000 Buddhists and 30,000 Hindus. Nearly 18 million people practiced folk religions, "other" religions or no religion ("unaffiliated").
The French take immense great pride in their nation and government and are typically offended by any negative comments about their country. Visitors, particularly Americans, often interpret their attitude toward foreigners as rude.
The French embody romance and passion, and there is an open attitude toward sex outside of marriage. Even the country’s top politicians have been known to carry out extramarital affairs without making an effort to conceal them.
Art is everywhere in France, particularly in Paris and other major cities and Gothic, Romanesque Rococo and Neoclassic influences can be seen in many churches and other public buildings. Many of history’s most renowned artists, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro, sought inspiration in Paris, and they gave rise to the Impressionism movement. The Louvre Museum in Paris is among the world’s largest museums and is home to many famous works of art, including the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.
Traditional French culture places a high priority on the enjoyment of food. Food is a huge part of French culture and the french are very proud of their cuisine this is due to the amount of interesting foods/wine they have available to them in different regions of the country meaning that they don't have to relay on imported foods. This is also great for their economy as most people will by fresh and local produce rather than imported foods. The summer months also encourages the locals to eat and drink well as the are able to eat outside in very beautiful places specially in the southern parts of the country. Wine is a massive part of the French culture as everyone knows, France is one of the oldest wine producing regions of Europe. France now produces the most wine by value in the world (although Italy rivals it by volume and Spain has more land under cultivation for wine grapes). Bordeaux wine, Bourgogne wine and Champagne are important agricultural products.
Along with Milan, London and New York, Paris is centre of an important number of fashion shows. Some of the world's biggest fashion houses (Chanel) have their headquarters in France.
The association of France with fashion dates largely to the reign of Louis XIV when the luxury goods industries in France came increasingly under royal control and the French royal court became, arguably, the arbiter of taste and style in Europe.
Demographics of Paris
The Parisian population has been steadily decreasing due to migration into the suburbs. The high cost of living in central areas alongside the gentrification of inner-city Paris has led to the formation of deprived neighbourhoods at the outskirts of the city.
- Population aged 0 - 14: 14.4%
- Population aged 65 and older: 14.1%
- Population aged 16 - 64 in the labour market: 75.5%
- Unemployment: 11.3%
- Immigrant population: 20%
Paris and its metropolitan area is one of the most multi-cultural in Europe. The Paris metropolitan region or "aire urbaine" is estimated to be home to some 1.7 million Muslims, making up between 10–15 per cent of the area's population. Paris has historically been a magnet for immigrants, hosting one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in Europe today.
France Main Ethnic Groups
- The Basque.
- The Africans.
- The Germans.
- The Jewish.
- The Muslims.
- Polish.
- The Roma.
- The Southeast Asians
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