{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1282585"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1282585/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MG6650/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2019MG6650/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2019MG6650","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019MG6651","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1282585","accessionNumber":"CD.6-2014","objectType":"Brassiere","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Metal-free bra and non-underwired bra, 2013 collected on the occasion of the exhibition V&A in Shenzhen:  Rapid Response Collecting, staged at the 5th Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture, The Value Factory,  Shenzhen.\r\n\r\nThe metal-free bra and a non-underwired bra are the type worn by women working in electronics factories in and around Shenzhen. One bra is made with plastic supports, the other has no wire  support at all, meaning that they are not picked up by factory metal detectors at security checkpoints located at entry and exit points. The market for metal-free underwear has arisen because these garments allow female workers to avoid invasive (and possibly abusive) body searches from male security guards. Rates of abuse are high and access to help is limited. The choice of the type of bra worn is a consequence of the sexual politics of Shenzhen manufacturing.\r\n\r\nShenzhen, China’s first special Economic Zone is located at the tip of the Pearl River Delta. The city grew from a modest fishing town into a vast, sprawling metropolis of more than fifteen million in just thirty-five years, through  manufacturing, trade and relentless commercial energy. Today Shenzhen is the world’s third busiest container  port, with a population with an average age of the less than thirty and almost entirely composed of recent  migrants. \r\n\r\nThe invitation to participate in the Bi-City Biennale enabled the museum to engage with this fast-changing city and to road test the recently introduced Rapid Response Collecting strand. The museum asked more than sixty people in Shenzhen to propose a design object that told a story about their city and the result was an exhibition  of twenty-three things and twenty-three stories about the place. By exhibiting everyday objects, the show placed  centre stage the realities of urban life, of industry and of commercial and social change. \r\n\r\nSuggested by Ren Jue, an anthropologist and sexologist, Chen Yandi, founder of the Shenzhen City Shou Qian  Shou Worker Center and Guo Jiawei, a graphic designer, the bras reflect the role that women’s bodies play in  the economic development of Shenzhen.\r\n\r\nThe Shenzhen exhibition was the first opportunity to test Rapid Response Collecting. This new approach to  collecting is intended to make museum collecting more responsive to global events, and to situate design in  immediate relation to moments of political or social change. The museum opened a space dedicated to Rapid  Response Collecting in July 2014.\r\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"Metal free plasic underwired bra, pink padded with lace detail.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Nylon","id":"AAT14462"},{"text":"Plastic","id":"AAT14570"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Rapid Response Collecting","id":"THES262867"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"DAD","id":"THES260586"},"images":["2019MG6650","2019MG6651"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"74","id":"THES49720"},"free":"","case":"2","shelf":"PLINTH","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"bra","id":"x44217"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2013","earliest":"2013-01-01","latest":"2013-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Ren Jue, Chen Yandi and Guo Jiawei","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Metal free plasic underwired bra, 2013","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Who makes our products?\n\nDemand for cheap, trend-based fashion and consumer electronics puts pressure on manufacturers and their workforces across the globe. High street brands have faced criticism for the poor working conditions of those who produce their fast fashion and sportswear. In southern China, where many of the world’s gadgets and devices are made, metal detectors have been installed in factories to scan employees for security. Many female workers now wear metal-free underwired bras to avoid potentially abusive body searches.\r\n\nInexpensively made grey jeans 2013\nDesigned for Primark, UK \nManufactured in Pakistan \nMachine-stitched cotton \nMuseum no. NCOL.926-2013\n\nPlastic-underwired bra \n2013\nDesigned and manufactured in China \nNylon fabric, moulded plastic underwire and metal fastenings \nGiven by Ren Jue, Chen Yandi and Guo Jiawei \nMuseum no. CD.6-2014\n\nThe object sits in the 'Automation and Labour' section of the Design 1900-Now gallery opened in June 2021.","date":{"text":"2021","earliest":"2021-01-01","latest":"2021-12-31"}},{"text":"Ren Jue, an anthropologist and sexologist, Chen Yandi, founder of the Shenzhen City Shou Qian Shou Worker Center and Guo Jiawei, a graphic designer, have chosen objects that reflect the role that women’s bodies play in the economic development of Shenzhen. The bras here come from Shenzhen ‘factory girls’. One bra is made with plastic supports, the other has no wire support at all, meaning that they are not picked up by factory metal detectors at security checkpoints, so female workers are able to avoid invasive (and possibly abusive) body searches from male security guards. Rates of abuse are high and access to help is limited. The choice of the type of bra worn is a consequence of the sexual politics of Shenzhen manufacturing.\r\nSuggested by Ren Jue, sexologist and digital anthropologist; Chen Yandi, Founder of Shenzhen City Shou Qian Shou Worker Center; Guo Jiawei, graphic designer","date":{"text":"2013","earliest":"2013-01-01","latest":"2013-12-31"}},{"text":"Metal-free bra and non-underwired bra\r\n2013\r\nFactory workers are predominately female, but this ratio is balancing out gradually as young women born after 1990 prefer working in the service industry – in catering or retail.","date":{"text":"2013","earliest":"2013-01-01","latest":"2013-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["CD.6-2014"],"accessionNumberNum":"6","accessionNumberPrefix":"CD","accessionYear":2014,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-10","recordCreationDate":"2014-02-17","availableToBook":false}}