Fashion design is not confined to costume mapping and creativity. It is also a kind of art through which a designer can share their thoughts. A number of factors influence fashion trends, including social and cultural change, ethnicity, and current affairs. A great fashion designer should have the skill to be able to analyze the designs and interpret the social and cultural meaning behind them. In this article, we will shed some light on how cultural and social norms affect fashion design.
Globalization Led To The Fusion
In today’s digital world, designers benefit greatly from globalization. Jesse Keyes says that through digital marketing and social media, they can reach people all over the globe. This broad reach allows them to draw inspiration from different cultures and come up with new designs that target different markets, resulting in huge profits.
Types of Cultural Influence in Design
High Cultural Art: This refers to specific art forms like visual arts, music, modern paintings, and architectural designs. These art forms are important sources of inspiration for modern designers. Many big fashion brands work with experts in these fields to make unique and attractive designs. However, high cultural art tends to target sophisticated groups with more refined tastes.
Pop Culture: Pop culture includes designs that appeal to the masses, often inspired by popular music, movies, and TV shows. Thanks to globalization and platforms like streaming services, the influence of pop culture on fashion has grown. Designs inspired by beloved TV shows or pop icons are mass-produced to cater to a much larger market. Example: The TV show Friends has inspired many modern designers to create designs that reflect the nature of its characters.
Street Culture: Street culture takes inspiration from urban street life, such as graffiti art and the fashion of street performers. Many designers find inspiration in the styles of these "street people" and add these elements into their designs. When popular idols wear these street-inspired outfits, they become mainstream trends. While Japanese and American street fashion have historically been dominant, more recently, African and South American cultures have gained importance in global fashion.
Macrotrends in Fashion
The long-term fashion trends known as macrotrends are shaped by broader cultural values and ideologies. These trends can shape customer choices for 5-10 years. For instance, modern macro trends often highlight eco-friendly designs and reflect changing beauty standards and social movements like LGBTQ+ rights and feminism.
Microtrends in Fashion
According to Jesse Keyes, microtrends are short-lived fashion trends that have a rapid growth in popularity due to specific cultural phenomena, such as the rise of a particular pop artist or the success of a hit movie or TV show. These trends typically last 1-3 years and are closely followed by fashion enthusiasts through journals and blogs. Example: During the peak of rap culture in the USA, low-waist jeans became extremely popular and were mass-produced to meet the demand.
Retro Culture Resurgence
In recent years, designers have revived retro fashion trends from past decades. With the help of social media and the internet, vintage styles like bell-bottom jeans and high-necked tops are making a comeback. Social media influencers and independent designers play a significant role in reintroducing these nostalgic designs to a global audience, leveraging the internet's broad reach.
Overall, globalization has changed the fashion industry by allowing designers to access diverse cultural influences and cater to a global market. This interconnectedness has expanded the creative options for designers and enabled them to create culturally relevant designs that relate to a wide range of consumers worldwide.
Examples of Different Cultural Fashion
Different cultures around the world have different fashion styles that reflect their traditions and beliefs. Jesse Keyes explains by giving an example that, in Christianity, modest dressing is valued based on teachings like 1 Timothy 2:9-10, which encourage women to dress carefully without extravagant displays of wealth. This often means wearing longer skirts and sleeves.
Similarly, in Islam, many women choose clothing that fully covers their bodies, following religious guidelines. This can include outfits like the shalwar kameez, long maxis, or burqas and abayas.
Buddhist monks wear robes that cover them from neck to ankle as a way to live simply and focus on spiritual matters. Traditional clothing from different cultures includes the sari, worn in South Asia, which is a single piece of draped fabric passed down through generations. Another example is the Kente cloth from Ghana, known for its complex patterns and worn on special occasions.
Other cultural garments include the Japanese Kimono, the Korean Hanbok, the Scottish kilt, and the West African Agbada. Each of these represents a unique cultural identity and tradition. People take pride in wearing these traditional clothes, which are often significant in ceremonies and daily life. The fashion industry also needs to be aware of these cultural sensitivities to ensure respect and suitability when drawing inspiration from these diverse styles.
Wrapping Up
In fashion, culture plays a huge role. Designers get ideas from all over—art, music, street styles, and traditional clothing. Thanks to globalization, these influences reach people worldwide. Fashion trends reflect our values and what's going on in society, shaping what we wear for years. Lately, old styles are making a comeback, thanks to social media. Celebrating different cultures adds to the mix, making fashion more diverse and interesting. Fashion is a language that speaks to everyone, showing how we appreciate and understand each other's backgrounds.