How long is an appropriate time before a costly war becomes pricey fashion? In the case of the Vietnam War, which split Americans as it joined Vietnamese together as one nation, it has been just over thirty years since the end of the war and the beginning of Viet Cong chic. Dogma Vietnam, a gallery in Ho Chi Minh City, caters to nostalgia for the war of liberation that doubtless most of its customers have only read about in history books.
This “Home of Revolution” is also an online store specializing in urban fashion, posters, flags and patches. Perhaps it is no different than the “Army/Navy store culture” in the U.S. and Europe. But for anyone who grew up during the turmoil of the Vietnam War era, it is difficult not to experience a little unease seeing these posters on t-shirts and shoulder bags.
(Thanks to Johanne Daoust.)