French
government regulations of 27 March 1858 introduced the blue-and-white marinière
to the French Navy's official uniform for seamen.
Sailors used
to say that the stripes made it easier to see men who had fallen into the sea.
From the 1950s the
marinière was worn by Pablo Picasso, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Brigitte Bardot, James Dean, Anthony Quinn, Rafael Alberti and many more. Much later, Sting and Madonna were part of a new generation adopting the shirt.
As China began to reform socially, culturally, and economically in the late '80s and early '90s, He Yong (one of three members of “Moyan Sanjie,” a nickname given to three of China’s early rock pioneers under the Moyan record label) adopted the “haihun shan” as his trademark. When He Yong performed on stage, he always wore the shirt together with a “young pioneers” red scarf to the delight of adoring, screaming fans. It wasn’t long before the “haihun shan” came to represent the power of the first Chinese rock movement. This was the starting point of a Chinese counter-culture fashion phenomenon. From that time on, this pairing of the classic “haihun shan” with a simple red scarf spread like wildfire among music fans, particularly Chinese youth, as a key symbol of Chinese rock ‘n roll.
