The Moment, a New York Times blog, had a write-up on the Arab influence in some recent French fashion designs.
The writer argued the inspiration of recent designs was more on what Arabs actually wear, than what the stereotypes presume. While some of the examples in the photo show that, there is a dude in a hijab. And the alien-looking, imperial Bengali soldier thing has no resemblance to the Arab world.
He also argues this signals a greater presence of Arabs in French society, what he considers a post-colonial irony. For instance, while the West exploited Arabs for resources and colonized their lands, now Arabs own the most exclusive neighborhoods and places in Western European capitals. The writer misses the obvious point: the Arabs who do are a very small percentage and their wealth is the product of the continuing western domination of Arab natural resources.
High fashion has always been a bit amusing to me. I see it as too much of an elite sub-culture to really draw any interesting inferences from. I am much more interested in analyzing popular trends, such as the now-waning kuffiya kraze in the U.S.
[tarboush tip: Charlie Feathers]
Related posts:
- Kuffiya Kraze: The Fashion Industrial Complex Is Behind The Assasination Of Yasser Arafat
- 16 Arab Fashion No-No’s
- The Spitfire-side Chats: The Low Down on the High Value of “Low” and “Good” Numbers in the UAE and other Persian Gulf States
- Whitening Power: Colonialism in a Bottle
- So popular
What! A man in hijab?!
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Posted by Charise New Designer Fashion | December 8, 2009, 4:51 am