1. Foreign Culture Influence on Cambodia
Fashion Sense
Institute : Limkokwing University of Creative Technology
Course : Communication Skill 2
Class : 2E
Group 6 : Tann Vouchlin
Thay Polyta
Van Linda
Reported to : Ms. Rolitess Galam Hourng
Date : 19 July 2016

2. 1
1. Foreword
This report is going to present about fashion sense in Cambodia and the purpose of this report are to
describe how unique and also how foreign culture influence on Cambodia fashion sense which it is
important for us to know where our design originally come from and how it get the other influences. In an
additional to that, this report will also emphasize how to improve Cambodian fashion uniqueness.
To successfully do the report, we had conduct our research on fashion sense in Cambodia by the internet
researching, literature researching and also through interviewing for more detail on the famous influencing
on fashion design and also for the reason that influence fashion sense in Cambodia. Furthermore, we
interview 2 people who are a veteran in a fashion design field in Cambodia to give us some opinion on
fashion sense in Cambodia.
This report is dedicated to our lecturer, whose name is Ms. Rolitess Galam Hourng, to future researcher,to
people who interest in fashion in Cambodia and also student who major in fashion design.

3. 2
Table of Contents
1. Foreword 1
2. Introduction 3
3. What are the reasons that influence the fashion sense in Cambodia? 4
3.1 The rise of Social Media 4
3.2 Stylish and easy to wear design 5
3.3 Importation of Foreign Fabric and Thread 5
3.4 Limited promotion of Local products 5
3.5 The appreciation of foreign culture in our culture 6
3.6 Interviews 8
3.6.1 Profile of the owner of Elite Laga fashion shop 8
3.6.2 Profile of the Fashion Stylish of AORM’s Tailor 10
11
3.6.3 Profile of Fashion Department’s student of Limkokwing University of Creative
Technology 11
4 Conclusion 13
5 Recommendations 14
6 Reference List 15
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 all types of Social Media 4
Figure 2 dresses from Elite Laga Fashion Shop 7
Figure 3 Elite Laga Fashion Shop 9
Figure 4 AORM's Tailor 10
Figure 5 Fashion Stylish and Head tailor of AORM's Tailor 11

4. 3
2. Introduction
Cambodia Fashion nowadays which has many developing and gotten influence by foreign culture for
long time. This prove Cambodia Fashion sense more effective to people who want to be fashionable and
feel so high by many reasons for all the increasing technology (brand name), stylish, and the founder ideas
of fashion in the world wide including Cambodian as well. This report going to tell you about how the rise
of social media affected the influence, how stylish and easy to wear foreign design is, how limited
promotion and lack value of Khmer local fashion products.
We are exposing about the decreasing of fashion sense which make our uniqueness fashion be more
down by how much foreign design affected us according to the interviewees whom got interview by us
about the fashion in Cambodia and the issue of fashion has happen nowadays in order to find and establish
what we can aid our fashion uniqueness to be more increasing and develops to become better and better.
This report can be useful for future researcher and people who are interest in fashion in Cambodia. We take
the important information that might help the research from database,useful and trustful website, books
and magazine, etc. As well as take note from what the interviewees said. Nevertheless, there’s also some
recommendation to persuade and encourage our local designers to enhance more ideas and creative more
styling to fashion style and promote or spread out to Cambodian and the foreigners who like fashionable
things to support our products that we make and be appreciated to our designer’s hard working to prove our
fashion industries to be worldwide by our own uniqueness.
All in all, we have as well as the figures to show the increasing of fashion, local brand name which
giving the value of making distinctive style by our local designers with very long and full of experience
and their ideas of fashion in Cambodia.

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3. What are the reasons that influence the fashion sense in
Cambodia?
3.1 The rise of Social Media
The social media also effective to our life style when people want to buy any production they
usually order through the internet. It saves time for people who don’t have any time for shopping they
can make pre-order and after next week they can get the product that they want. It easier for them,
before they buy the product they can check it in the picture and can make a good decision. Nowadays
in the first twenty one century social media is very popular to the people like Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, etc. The rate of follower has increasing day by day. For advertising the fashion style on
social media it can help to promote our product and make it to be famous. We can also post the picture
for promote new production or some special discount offer to customers that they can know and come
to our shop to help our marketing. And people can easier to check and know some information about
us like make pre-order they can find the location, address,and phone number as well.1
Social Media is
an effective wayto promote the product. It cause a little money, just be patient with time and the product
will be famous just as you advertise in a good advertisement company.2
Figure 1 all types of Social Media3
1 (Koo)
2 (Padar,2016)
3 (social media today, n.d.)

6. 5
3.2 Stylish and easyto weardesign
The crucial of fashion is style, considering Khmer style nowadays has also hybrid of foreign
style and Khmer style. Cambodian tends to choose traditional outfit for only wedding ceremony and
formal events. People are updating their life and need so much they need more casual clothing like
foreign influence clothing. The traditional clothing is too uncomfortable for everyday activity so people
demand trendy and easy to wear clothing which mostly inspired by foreign design. People now want
an elegant style, not complex, comfortable to wear and interesting to look.4
For intend different types
of fashion style, designer can actually design the best choice consumers prefer.5
3.3 Importation of Foreign Fabric and Thread
Before 1960s, Cambodia had opened our own cloth and thread factories. But then we fall into
the civil war, the factories never recovery and operate since then. Since, there are development, our
expectation and needed raise every day, too. To meet the expectation and needed, we have no other
choice but to imported the cloth and thread for foreign country. But something you to need to know, it
is not just the cloth and thread that coming but so is the foreign culture. Their style and design has come
a long with the cloth and thread. From Ministry of Commerce have report that Cambodia had taken in
1.5 million dollars’ worth of fabric and thread from China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.6
3.4 Limited promotion of Local products
The promotion of our local product can be also the reason make foreign culture influent to
Cambodia fashion scene. There are a lot of our Khmer production that our Khmer Designers establish
by their own hand or we can call “Handmade” and most of those quality productions are equalto some
foreign production, however, our production is still lower than the foreign production and most of their
production is well spread out than ours due to their advertisements are really strong and well known by
the world-wide. They have many ways to advertise their production by using the social media, use of
famous stars and also in some TV to spread out. Moreover, the brand name of their production also
effect to the customer that’s why their advertisement and promotion are really fast and noticeable for
people to notice quickly in the world, while our Cambodia Fashion Production marketing in industry is
still too narrow because most local producer have little knowledge about marketing and Cambodian
4 (Bonnell,2009)
5 (Clothingtrends in Cambodia,2015)
6 (Sophal,2010)

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consume the local product is still tight contrast to the foreign product advertisement. 7
The limited of
promotion is still stand as an issue of developing Cambodia Fashion scene due to the lack of
advertisement and not well spread out by industry. It doesn’t mean that they don’t have all of that, there
are also the advertisement and promotion in some of them in the social media and also the magazine,
but still all of those promotion of production are still lacking. The import production from foreign
country in our fashion industry imported from other country and most of the big shop also sell clothes
from our countries use bigger advertising like famous Television station and Billboard, etc.
Furthermore, there’re also some designers idea such as the designer who is the owner of Elite Laga said
that she doesn’t to spread out in wisely by using social media or using the model to advertise, she just
want her customers spread out by themselves about her quality of her shop.8
Nevertheless, like our
Khmer designers who design the traditional clothes, most of them said that the advertisement has to
spend more money and they just get some profit that cans not effort their advertisement. That’s why
the promotion of our production I still in a limit and unable to spread out well.
3.5 The appreciation of foreign culture in our culture
Foreign culture nowadays for instance American’s culture or Korean’s culture has become
universal and people know about it worldwide. People from foreign culture tend to travel a lot just like
one of our interviewees said so they take their education and expertise along with them in many
aspects.9
In additional to that, people love to try new things even Khmer people. Especially in Fashion
aspect alongside with many other countries, Cambodia is one of them all because we try to take it in,
observe it, learn about it and combine with our traditional style. Most designer will try to take to
introduce the growth and innovation of design to make people feelelegant and look elegant by mix and
match our culture with foreign culture that we cansimply appreciate it a lot. For that case,we talk about
how people wearnewdesign of mixing foreign look and traditional look for wedding reception atnight.
It like there are many appreciation of foreign culture in our culture but this always come with advantage
and disadvantage. So please appreciate the advantages and deny the disadvantages of foreign culture.10
7 (Quarles,2016)
8 (Laga, 2016)
9 (Sinoun, 2016)
10 (Makara)

8. 7
Figure 2 dresses from Elite Laga Fashion Shop
The purpose of this photo is to show that the clothes design in the shop is inspired by foreign culture.

9. 8
3.6 Interviews
We have conduct our research by having to interview some of well-known fashion shop, tailor
and our senior in our university. We asking question surrounding our purpose.
 The main question: What are the reasons that influence the fashion sense in Cambodia?
 The second question: What style do you think that Cambodian people mostly prefer?
 The third question: How much foreign culture influence our fashion design?
 The last question: How much our local designer promote the local product?
3.6.1 Profile of the owner of Elite Laga fashion shop
Elite Laga is a fashion shop that located in Phnom Penh Thmei Khan Sen Sok, Phnom
Penh, Cambodia. This shop is owned by the beautiful and talented young lady. It is shame that
we couldn’t get her name because she wantsto keepit private. It is classified as the high end shop.
Her design in the gown is fit for a ball, formal party, traditional wedding ceremony, dinner party
and modern wedding reception. From our interview, she said the clothes design in her shop is
mostly inspired by famous foreign design and also based on the customer preference but she also
said strangely her customer seem to prefer a little bit foreign style even it were to put on a
traditional dress.She also said the design that she design is also depending on age and also depend
on different people. The young generation seems to fall toward to for more foreign design which
the design is more vibrant and the older generation seems to lead to more traditional style which
the design is much simpler. Moreover, even that her design get foreign culture influence, she still
try to bring out her own uniqueness. Her own uniqueness is that the foreign style to too sexy so
she makes it less sexy and the base structure of the dress is still traditional. She make her design
really easy to wear where the outside look beautiful and the inside is comfortable to wear. Lastly,
from her point of view, she said even in a traditional ceremony where people have to dress
traditionally, there are still some people that sneak foreign design into the traditional dress. And
she tells us that it is a business, she has to design base on her customer preference where she can
give a little consultation to make the best.

10. 9
Figure 3 Elite Laga Fashion Shop

11. 10
3.6.2 Profile of the FashionStylish of AORM’s Tailor
AORM’s Tailor is a tailor that located in Pasteur Street, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is
also the shop that marks as high end too. This shop is owned by the famous TV host and TV
personality. Her name is Yok Chinda. We get to interview with her fashion stylish who are a
veteran in styling, work in fashion field for many years and also a head tailor in the shop. From
our interview, unlike Elite Laga fashion shop her clothes design is mostly inspired and based on
the traditional design with a little bit of foreign influence and the factor that just like Elite Laga
is that she also design base customer preference. Her design is focusing for people to attend
wedding rather than just formal party or a ball. Her design is basically lean toward to fit at the
traditional wedding ceremonywhere people tend to dressmore traditionally and also to fit modern
wedding reception where people wearforeign influence gown. She said there no doubt that people
will chose to wearmore traditionally during the wedding ceremony in the morning and dressmore
foreign in the wedding reception during the night. She said it is kind of mix and match of foreign
culture and Khmer culture. The base of her dress is traditionally forming fitting to look traditional
and she give a gives a little bit hint of a foreign feeling. For instance, even that she use foreign
design but the fabric that she uses have a traditional Khmer pattern.People feelthat foreign design
give more interesting look to the gown that is why people follow the foreign influence more. She
also said that before people would like more simple texture but nowadays people would like to
use more complicate and rough texture. She also gives that fact that there aren’t any big fabric
manufactories. So they got no choose but to import fabric from other country. That’s why the
design from foreign country tagged along.
Figure 4 AORM's Tailor

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Figure 5 Fashion Stylish and Head tailor of AORM's Tailor
3.6.3 Profile of FashionDepartment’s student of Limkokwing
University of Creative Technology
Sinoun is a student of Fashion Design department in our university. She is our senior. We
have asked her few questions about how the foreign culture influence on our fashion sense. She
gives us the idea of how the influence got in and she also gives us some recommendation. The
main reason that she talk about is the promotion of foreign culture become so worldwide and that
foreigner especially white people seems to travel a lot. It is the moment they take their culture
into our culture. She added that even the foreigner don’t force their culture onto us but there are
still some people who admire it and think it is fashionable and different then take to our culture
because people nowadays like different, fashionable, stylish and elegant things. She also think
that social media has an really big impact on the influence because socialmedia is widely known
and used for all class that it take the promotion of something to another level. Secondly, from her
opinion, she thinks Cambodian people nowadays seem to prefermore modern and foreign design.
She tells us that if the design of a cloth is simple, modern, fashionable and not too foreign not too
traditional these products will likely to sell out more. For instance, Cambodian people nowadays
prefer to wear clothes design from Thailand because of the casualness, stylish and reasonable
price. Thirdly, she said our Cambodian pretty much gives a lot of value to our own design even it
get foreign influence they still got traditional structure and pretty much look traditionally fit for
traditional wedding ceremony and formal party. She also recommend that we should try not to
look too much modern but try to bring out the traditional unique design to surfaces thenthe design

13. 12
could attract people even foreigner to try our design meaning to try fashionable, stylish, elegant
and different design.

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4 Conclusion
Everyone loves fashion sothey always create the new idea to make the cloth become modern. Cambodia
fashion has influence by foreign culture for long time it prove and effective to people who love stylish,
brand name, fashionable, and the founder ideas of fashion in the world wide including Cambodian as well.
Material hasalso imported from other countries, the price is lower than our local product and this is affected
to our local product. The important thing is style, considering Khmer style nowadays has also hybrid with
Europe style mixed Khmer style. These clothes are very popular for wearing in night party or join wedding
ceremony in Cambodia. Toward almost Cambodian want to be high-class they copy their fashion style
similar to original .They startedto change from Khmer custom Clothes to used Khmer material with foreign
style or sometime on the top Khmer style and bottom with the foreign style. In an additional, emphasize to
Cambodian fashion uniqueness design in the gown is fit for a ball, formal party, traditional wedding
ceremony, dinner party and modern wedding reception for that the foreign style to too sexy so makes it less
sexy and the base structure of the dress is still traditional, the design really easy to wear where the outside
look beautiful and the inside is comfortable to wear. That is why people feelthat foreign design give more
interesting look to the gown and they follow the foreign influence more.Moreover, the limited of promotion
on local fashion also importance side and we also have to prove on it in order to make our fashion sense be
more effective.

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5 Recommendations
Although the foreign culture has influent in Cambodia fashion sense has many positive side and it’s
also help our fashion industry to become more develop, however,there’sstill has the negative impact which
we have to change and improve our Fashion to be more effective and develop like fashion in other country.
To most our fashion designers they recommend that our Cambodian people should be reduce to use foreign
clothes little by little and especially in the big event that we must wear our traditional clothes or the clothes
that made by our Cambodian designers in order to spread out how beautiful and high value of our fashion
sense and also give the credit to our designer on their clothes. Moreover, to become more widely known
investor should study the value of local culture and it also gives the respect and support to the designer to
have more idea for their creativities in Fashion Industry. And for the customer, they also give the
recommend to prove our fashion be more effective that the designers should have their own creative not
the plagiarism from other designers of our countries because we should had our own unique style of Khmer
design. Furthermore, for the seller who opens the collection shop or online shop should import less a lot of
production from other countries because we also have our great production to invest in their business.
Nevertheless, the designers have to enhance their advertisement and their promotion of traditional aspect
wisely in order to let the world know that we also have a lot of designers and unique style not only for
Cambodian people other foreigners come from other country also can wear our clothes and share to others
as well. There are also the ways to create our Khmer brand name to improve our fashion sense and reduce
the import product from other countries.

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6 Reference List
(n.d.). Retrieved from social media today: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/3-social-
media-marketing-options-consider-2016
Bonnell, K. (2009, february). The Secrets Of Chic (& Simple) Style. 174. Retrieved july 18, 2016, from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA194313172&v=2.1&u=lkwuc&it=r&p=GPS&s
w=w&asid=98aea1340db8e29fffff018e695d7071
Clothing trends in Cambodia.(2015, april 5). Retrieved july 11, 2016, from QC link:
http://www.qclink.org/clothing-trends-in-cambodia/
Koo, C. (n.d.). The rise of Fashion Social Media. Retrieved july 11, 2016, from Simparel:
http://www.simparel.com/blog/rise-fashion-social-media
Laga, E. (2016, June 30). (T. P. Tann Vouchlin, Interviewer)
Makara,C. (n.d.). the effectsof foreign culture to cambodia culture.Retrieved july 11, 2016, from
chhanmakara: https://chhanmakara.wordpress.com/the-effects-of-foreign-culture-to-cambodia-
culture/
Padar,J. (2016, july 1). Start with small steps in social; Social media tools are one way to start
radicalizing your firm. 48. Retrieved july 18, 2016, from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA456730341&v=2.1&u=lkwuc&it=r&p=GPS&s
w=w&asid=a136bc2505c96c677b780716e38b6878
Quarles, J. (2016). Cambodia: From conflict to Consumerism through Chaos to Progress. In E. C. Alozie,
Advertising in Developing and Emerging Countries: The Economic,Political and Social Context.
Florida: CRC Press.
Sinoun. (2016, july 6). (T. P. Tann Vouchlin, Interviewer)
Sophal, C. (2010, march 29). Imports of garment materialshit $1.5bn.Retrieved july 11, 2016, from
Phnom penh post: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/imports-garment-materials-hit-15bn