Desolate Temple Introduction
Old House x Vintage. Music and Cats "The most unrealistic small shop in Chiayi." In February 2017, the abandoned house introduced itself this way on its Facebook page. A couple who love music and vintage clothes rented an idle lumber yard that had been vacant for many years, filling the space with "vintage" items. In a quiet corner, they displayed CDs from independent bands, and inside the house, there are two cats: a black cat rubbing against its owner’s feet, and a yellow cat lounging high up on a wooden ladder, occasionally yawning, as if saying: "What does the world have to do with me?". Kai Hong, who studied fashion design in college, has another career in music; selling vintage clothes is just a hobby. He is particularly fascinated by 80s and 90s Taiwanese vintage clothing and has searched through major flea markets across northern, central, and southern Taiwan. After collecting too many items, he had to open a shop to release some of them. He mentioned that back then, Taiwan was one of the world's major textile manufacturing countries, and many international brands came to Taiwan for garment manufacturing. During that era, the concept of copyright was weak, leading to many imitation products with the same designs and materials being produced by the factories, even labeling them with similar letters of that brand to deceive buyers. Those absurd logos, in retrospect, are all "beautiful mistakes." In Chiayi, vintage clothing is a niche market, and the Old House, with its focus on Taiwanese vintage clothing, is even more niche within that niche. Image source: Chiayi City Government Tourism Department | Photography: Ma Ge
