Electronic media is ruling the world in today’s age. With its widespread across the globe, most people tend to stay updated on the latest trends and fashions especially with respect to clothes and shoes. A person sitting in the remotest country of Africa or Asia might know about the latest trends in the US.
Moreover, with the boom of the E-commerce industry, all the latest clothes and shoes are easily available regardless of which part of the world you may reside in. This gives them the visibility to all the latest variety and the access to buy and wear them with a wide range of prices starting from some of the most expensive brands to the cheapest ones. However, the questionable part is that why do people from different regions wear different?
Women living in the west are found wearing skirts while those living in the sub-continent are seen in Saarhees or Shalwar Kameez. Similarly, western men would wear suits, pants, and shirts while those in the Middle East wearing Thawb. But can we categorize one as fashionable and another not? Just because those colorful and pretty Sarhees aren’t worn in most parts of the world, can we call them non-fashionable?
Cultures across the world vary from country to country & region to region including the way people dress up. Fashions are often influenced or modified as per the culture to gain acceptance from a specific region or country. Imagine in a country like Afghanistan or Pakistan where mini-skirts are strictly prohibited, Zara launches its new collection of mini-skirts. Would they succeed? We believe that would be a complete disaster and the brand might have to face retaliation from the public. Similarly, a woman wearing a Sarhi or Shalwar Kameez at a nightclub for a night out in Paris would look quite weird.
To cater to this situation, top clothing and shoe brands and designers come up with newer fashions and trends that resonate with a country or region’s culture. For instance, while western designers were coming up with shorter skirts and broader necks, those in the sub-continent incorporated the same idea by introducing shorter kurtis/kameez with broader necks. Similarly, while the western brands and designers came up with skinny jeans, ones in the sub-continent revived trousers and replaced them with shalwar.
Moreover, people are mostly accustomed to wearing clothes and shoes that they have been seeing and wearing for generations. They know how to carry them well. While having them wear something entirely different would put them in a tough spot. A western woman might struggle to carry a Sabyasachi lehenga just the same way an Indian or Pakistani woman who’s never worn a mini-skirt wearing one. Furthermore, their social circle might not respond in a positive way either which would disappoint her even more.
Clothes and shoes are often embedded in the culture depending on the region’s climate as well. People living in a country like Greenland that has extremely cold climatic conditions would struggle to survive in shorts or skirts or t-shirts. Hence, they prefer wearing their own cultural dresses like a fox or seal-skin pants or bead collars since those are more appropriate for such cold weather and represent their centuries-old culture.
However, there are still people in every part of the world that prefer mixing up different cultures (their own & others) while shopping for clothes and shoes. These are people whose buying decisions are not only influenced by their own culture but also others that they get inspired from through electronic media or online international stores. The only silver lining is where to wear what. For instance, a lot of women living in the sub-continent prefer wearing western outfits like jeans and tops while hanging out with their friends and switch to shalwar kameez or a sarhi when visiting their old school relatives. But this may differ from people to people & family to family.
Therefore, we can conclude that fashions and trends are majorly influenced by different cultures and one whether being the consumer or the seller cannot deny nor ignore this fact.
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