Fashion... is it looking fashionable, being on trend or having confidence in our appearance? These are the things we think about when hear and talk about fashion. We don’t think about relativity. Christopher Nolan conceptualised our understanding of relativity in the movie Interstellar but what does time and clothing have in common? Both relate to a frame of reference. In Nolan’s case, this means planets and space; in fashion’s case, it means place and the era.
For instance, a few decades back, what was considered a fashionable look might be a disaster today.
Yet, fashion is also a lot more than just the changing trends. It’s core is a fusion of fabric, apparel, and style interconnected with society's norms and culture.
Designers and manufacturers produce clothes and accessories according to the culture/norms specific to regions. For instance, women in Qatar wear fashionable burqas. In contrast, South African women would prescribe to the Xhosa dress or Tswana dress.
Therefore, beyond changing trends, one specific region's fashionable wear may be considered taboo in another.
However, the internet and globalisation blur the lines across cultures, creating what we call cross-cultural fashion.
Cross-culture wear is about mixing one, two or more cultures and traditions to create one's style.
Globalisation allows us to get a glimpse of how others live, dress, eat, work, and think thus we are naturally beginning to embrace these cultures and identities without needing to travel.
