Tag Archives: fashion

Why Anthropology Matters to Fashion and Retail

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Fashion is far from frivolous. The location of dress on the borders of the body, facing both inwards and outwards, makes it something decidedly interesting and important. Its capacity to shape the body even as it is detachable from it, its portability and its distribution and consumption have made it a rich medium for studying the symbolic and material dimensions of self-formation, cultural interaction, human-object relations and globalization.  Fashion tells us about how we construct our place in the world, how we conceive of tools in various contexts and how we interact.  For retailers, those are pretty significant things that go well beyond price points and sales.

Anthropological studies of global fashion circuits demonstrate the many ways ideas of tradition and fashion are articulated and reworked. They trace how apparently traditional dress and textiles such as Scottish tartans or Indian home-spun cottons emerged at particular historical junctures as ‘”invented traditions”, redefining regional and national identities and ushering in social and political change. That means they come to demonstrate the strategic implementation of the classification ‘”traditional” by local groups as they adapt regional dress to suit cosmopolitan tastes for the indigenous, the exotic and the ethnic.

Using Asia as an example, fashion traces the multidirectional flow of ideas as designers in the West incorporate elements of Eastern fashions, contributing to the re-popularization of Japanese kimonos, Indian Salwar kamizes and Vietamese ao dais amongst Asians back home and in diaspora, some of whom also participate as designers and producers of Asian chic. In a postmodern world, where boundaries are blurred they tell us about how power is shifting and “culture” is a commodity. Some anthropologists interpret this as a form of self-Orientalism by which cultural differences become reduced to a performative fashion statement of Asianness; others see it as a sign that previously marginalized communities have become significant actors in the global economy by creating, wearing and marketing new hybrid Asian-inspired designs.

And from a business perspective, it means that there are opportunities and challenges that go well beyond the spreadsheet and distribution model.  It means that understanding the complex interplay between history, politics and culture factor into any good marketing plan and launch strategy. As retailers look for new markets and expand into new regions they need to be aware of how fashion represents identity or suffer financial setbacks.  China is more inclined to adopt Westerns brands as symbols of modernity and status, while India is more likely to stick with traditional dress.  While that may change, being aware of the reasons behind the current state and the probability of change are important if you plan to open shop abroad.

The Meaning of Style

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Human beings have always used their appearance as personal advertising – from the advent of the first tattoo to hairstyles used to designate tribal affiliation to “that little black dress,” visual style and fashion have been used as a sort of personal branding mechanism, a calling card signaling who we are and where we are at.  What has become perhaps most interesting in a postmodern world defined by mass media, the web and global “tribes” is the extent to which appearance has become a focal point for identity.

Rather than globalization fostering a one-sided, homogeneous construction of culture, however, the ever-shrinking world has allowed us to experiment and redefine ourselves in ever more creative ways.  As our world grows ever more complex and fragmented, the importance of appearance grows ever greater.  The Goth kid in London has as much in common with her counterpart in Argentina as she does with her accountant father – what it means to be from culture X is less important in many ways than what it means to belong to subculture Y.

So why does it matter to marketers, designers and retailers?  It matters because it means the traditional methods of segmentation used by men in khaki pants and pastel golf shirts don’t add up anymore.  Yes, we can break people out by zip code, income and age, but it is just as likely that you will find a tattooed, rockabilly mom living in the suburbs as you will the stereotypical mom.  And it is in those subtle reflections on and responses to the culture at large that the real insights lie.  If you want to develop real breakthrough retail experiences and modes of design, you are better off learning about what happens at the bus station, the museum or the food truck than you are analyzing mounds of statistical variables by zip code.

Fashion tells us more than what is trendy, what is “weird” and what is appropriate to wear.  It tells us what matters in a larger cultural sense and reflects on the world at large.  It tells us about possibilities.

What Subcultures and Fashion Teach Businesses

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Fashion and style are things that we often dismiss as frivolous, but in truth they are foundational to the structure of a society and tell us volumes about the underlying culture, or subculture, of a population.  We often forget that appearances are outward expressions of deeper internal truths.  This is particularly true of subcultures.  Interestingly, subcultures and their expressions of identity through fashion are often dismissed by marketers and management precisely because they represent something counter to the mainstream.  Our own cultural baggage gets in the way of identifying important elements of physical identity.  Even so, businesses often seek to capitalize on the subversive allure of subcultures in search of what is cool or trendy, which remains valuable in the selling of any product.   This process of cultural appropriation may result in the death or evolution of the subculture, as its members adopt new styles that appear alien to mainstream society. This process provides a constant stream of styles which may be commercially adopted.  It also means that there is a constant struggle between the creative-minded and those disinclined to see potential value in the inventiveness of subcultural fashion patterns.

But recent history is proof that past youth subcultures have influenced mainstream fashion, and youth subcultures are on the forefront of fashion change and experimentation.  Middle-class moms wearing Doc Marten’s boots, CMOs with elaborate tattoos.  High-end designer clothing and the outfits of celebrities will most certainly be remembered and preserved for the future (hence the “red carpet” moments at the Oscars), but these are not fully accurate representations of current society and youth culture, nor are they a full representation of the sources of fashion invention.  The collection and preservation of the actual garments and accessories belonging to youth subcultures, as opposed to the later knock-offs of these styles provide a substantial and meaningful documentation of society and its effect on mass fashion. They signal what is to be in the greater cultural dialog, not what is.

A subculture is a group of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden) which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.  A subculture is a subversion to normalcy. Subculture has been described as a word which means liberty of appearance, liberty of creativeness, liberty and ease of the chosen model for getting pleasure. The subculture is a sacred action, in which the only arbiter of values and belief, taste and preferences is the person or the tight, often small, group. The person with the autonomy of his own choice.  Between subculture and fashion there is a connection and it is very important. The subculture, the clothes that the young wear in the street, the ideas of the rock bands, the clothes in the clubs, etc., influence and transform fashion design. In turn, those influences reshape culture at large.  Store layouts are reinvented and behavior at home and elsewhere subtly shifts the definition of what is acceptable, meaningful and of value. And that kind of steeping in certain spirit from a given youth circle is important for the creative searches and findings of fashion designers. This spirit is especially precious with its freshness and roughness. The fashion invention is born and the progress of style is completed.

There is value in getting to know subcultures intimately.  They represent an  unlimited reservoir for ideas and motives in the art of designers of all stripes, be it in art, advertising or fashion.  The subculture attracts and charms with its spontaneity and incredible imagination. It may also repel, but in the process it leaves an impression. Censorship and standard do not exist for it, because the marks and symbols that it uses are born from the energy of the rebellion and disagreement with the already existing rules and restrictions. For fashion and indeed the retail spaces in which fashion is displayed, subcultures represent the need to experiment and to find personal meaning in a postmodern world that elevates the concept of the individual to an almost religious duty.

So where does this lead us?  Simply, it is a reminder that when we watch trends or fixate on the statistics that convey existing mainstream patterns of behavior, we miss the next opportunity.  That’s fine if your goal is to find a better way to push more of the existing products you have, but it tells you absolutely nothing about what COULD be.  It turns insights into simple regurgitations rather than identifying anything that will lead to breakthrough design, be it in fashion, retail or anything else. Similar to other misunderstood things, subcultural patterns are held anathema.  And yet they are the source of inspiration. It is not right to aggrandize unreserved the youth subcultures and to accredit to them with virtues, but it is equally not right to deny, repress or ignore them.  A company that does so is self-limiting and will be taken by surprise when the market changes.