Week 6 | "It's Hip to be Asian"

Rida Riaz
ASA 141
"It's Hip to be Asian"

This reading talked about the commoditization of the salwar-kameez which is a Punjabi ethnic wear and how over the years it became mainstream in Britain. When the salwar-kameez was worn by immigrant Pakistani/Indian women, it was looked down upon as a "poor" suit, but as soon as Princess Diana and Jemima Goldsmith-Khan started to represent it as well as wear the salwar kameez it automatically was viewed by the public as something royal and "high fashion." There's a quote in the reading that said, "these trends have recoded the salwaar-kameez suit from its stereotype of a dress-form of ‘low status immigrant women’ to that of a high fashion and couture garment," which has a huge impact on me since that is how this world works sadly as the rich set trends and make something unworthy look worthy while the minority is disregarded.  (pp.44)

Princess Diana in salwar-kameez 

Princess Diana and Jemima Goldsmith-Khan

Princess Diana and Jemima Goldsmith-Khan

(love my girl Diana though)

Another point in the reading that caught my attention was how various different designers use this British-Indian fusion to make an "exotic" fashion show theme by basically showcasing another culture as something trendy and different to consumers. The salwar-kameez isn't just a dress, but it tells a story about the immigrants' history, culture and migration routes and those people that choose to wear It even in a Western country are those that want to stick close to their ethnic roots. There is nothing wrong about Western women dressing up in salwar-kameez or any other ethnic wear in my opinion; however, what's wrong is looking down upon the immigrants that choose to wear their ethnic dress while looking up to those that are of higher prestige wearing that same exact dress.

Gucci Runway SS 18

Companies like Zara and H&M have been bringing out westernized versions of the salwar-kameez and even though they were just trying to be inclusive, I believe there was a better way to carry out certain styles that didn't seem offensive. So, H&M came out with a modest collection back in Spring 2018 and not only were the dresses crazy expensive, the styles looked exactly like salwar-kameez which is quite offensive to the Muslim community since the depiction of "modest" to H&M or Western clothing companies in general were restricted to an ethnic piece of dress. H&M had a very good idea about being inclusive by releasing a modest clothing line, but they could've put more thought and creativity in their styles since Western Muslim or modest women want to wear cute Western outfits they feel comfortable and beautiful in for day-to-day. Then, Zara always releases kurti (Pakistani tunics) in their summer/spring collections each year and the styles, colors and embroidery patterns is an exact replica of Pakistani ethnic wear while there's no mention of inspiration or credit to Pakistani fashion whatsoever. These clothing brands need to stop homogenizing a certain ethnic group and put someone else's rich, deep culture as a mere exotic trend. 

H&M Modest Spring Collection '18

H&M Modest Spring Collection '18 

H&M Modest Spring Collection '18