Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
DOI
10.23870/marlas.404
Publication Title
Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies
Volume
6
Issue
2
Pages
54-77
Abstract
The NaCo apparel company out of Tijuana, Mexico, created a unique line of clothing and accessories in the late 1990s and early 2000s. With its success in Mexico, the brand chose to extend its reach into the lucrative US market. The company's focus on bicultural and binational images seemed a natural fit for a growing Latinx presence in the US. An analysis of the company's successes and failures in the new market highlights the continued importance of borders as separators of visual economies rooted in national histories and imaginations. Additionally, their experience reveals the complexities within Latinx communities that can at once divide and unite them. This pushes back against prevalent discourses that tend toward homogenizing the political and cultural beliefs in these communities.
Rights
© 2022 The Author.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license (unless stated otherwise) which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Original Publication Citation
Gordus, A. M. (2022). Textiled narratives: Branding, consumption, and Mexican American identity construction at the turn of the twentieth century. Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies, 6(2), 54-77. https://doi.org/10.23870/marlas.404
Repository Citation
Gordus, Andrew Michael, "Textiled Narratives: Branding, Consumption, and Mexican American Identity at the Turn of the Twentieth Century" (2022). World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications. 42.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/worldlanguages_pubs/42
Included in
Chicana/o Studies Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Latin American Studies Commons