Is Fashion Important?
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Why is fashion important? A couple of weeks ago I was watching a commercial. It was one of those ones where a person describes how it has been to connect with their heritage-their ancestry. I sat there and listened to a woman whom I have never met describe to me what it meant to her to find out more about her culture. She found out she is 26% Nigerian. In the next moment it shows her putting a Gele (a hat worn by women in Nigeria) on her head and she says this..."I put a Gele on my head and I looked into the mirror and I was trying not to cry because it's a hat. But it's the most important hat that I have ever owned."
As she described what she was feeling when she connected to her heritage, her culture through a hat-I got goosebumps- I still do even now! Why? Well because this is the positive power and effect fashion is able to have on us. As Ralph Lauren beautifully stated, "Fashion is about something that comes from within you." That is why she had so much emotion behind owning a hat-she connected with a part of her culture- a part of herself she never even knew about.
In the same regard, I was scrolling through Facebook one evening and an amazing video popped up in my feed. Title: Meet Iraq's hipsters. Well that automatically intrigued me, not to mention all the attractive men in the video. 😉 It went on to show how these men from Erbil- which is just 60 miles from the war ridden areas of Iraq- through their love of fashion, founded a gentlemen's club called Mr. Erbil last year. Why is fashion important to these gentlemen? They are using it as an internet platform to help their local community. The club promotes women and they are working to improve the rights for girls. They also support local tailors who make their outfits. Their hope is to start their own clothing brand and put Erbil on the global fashion map.
Is fashion important?
You are probably asking yourself, what's the big deal, why is fashion important? It can have such a positive impact for people all around this world. It has the power to quite literally change not only lives, but our perspectives. While these were two specific examples of two very different cultures having their fashion impacting the people of that country, if you think about it, we can have that same connection to someone else's culture as well-through the traditions of their fashion. This is the most important concept that I am trying to spread to the world.
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One of my favorite fashion quotes is from Rachel Zoe, She says, "Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak." I would even push the limits a little further and venture to say that fashion is a way to say who you are without having to speak. As Muiccia Prada once said "What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language."
The positive affect of fashion
Before starting Mariposa Skies, I asked myself, 'Why is fashion important?' To me, fashion is very much a neutral place to begin learning about another person. It can start with a simple compliment of "Girl, I love those shoes!" to knocking down barriers that societies placed so long ago. You may think that is silly, but a simple act can have a huge positive consequence.
'How' you may ask, 'does a compliment about a person's shoes knock down a barrier between people?' It doesn't, but it starts a conversation, it starts a thought, and that thought can be a very powerful thing. Because that thought can lead to an action and that action can lead to another thought for another person which leads to them taking another action. And pretty soon, you start thinking about those walls between us and how they must come down! You see, fashion can be just that, a place to start.
Why is fashion important to you?
Think about why is fashion important to you? How many times have you received a compliment on your outfit and think back to how that made you feel. How did that change your day, make it brighter, more cheerful? Did you then pay it forward to the next person you saw who had on a beautiful ring or necklace? That is the power of fashion. While you don't even have to speak because what you wear says it all, it does give others and yourself a simple way to connect to a stranger who you never would have thought to have spoken to before.
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Just last week, I went to an event and wore this amazing skirt. It was quite striking. Two things happened that night. The first was a group of women whose reactions were to look me up and down and flash some dirty looks (they were just jealous ;). The second was this beautiful woman, who I would not have expected a compliment from, stopped me and said, "I just have to tell you, I love your skirt!" Now while we didn't become best friends that night, I sure do remember it and it makes me smile. What I am trying to point out is that fashion can either have a positive impact or a negative impact depending on the way you look at it.
Together we can change the face of fashion
For a very long time in this country and many places around the world- we have been doing things one way and it is just not working. But, if we come together and connect, and creatively so, I believe we can change the world. This is where the creativity comes into play. Is fashion important? Yes! If we take the time to learn about each other's cultures through fashion it can have the ability to change our perspectives. Fashion is a way to express yourself-it's neutral territory "...a way to say who you are without having to speak." Fashion can bring color and light to one's life, as well as open up the doors to learning and caring about each other-if we are willing to take the time to connect to the power it holds.
Why is fashion important to you? Has fashion ever effected you in such a moving way? Please feel free to share your story with me in the comments below- I would love to hear from you!
If you would like to learn more about the culture and people behind the looks of Mariposa Skies' fashion checkout some of the artisans:
- Yuki Hasegawa, designer behind Ciclo from Inuyama Aichi, Japan
- Sofia Moranchel, designer behind Lanaria from Buenos Aires, Argentina
To connect to someone else's culture through the traditions of their fashion, you can also check out these fashions from Bali and Morocco:
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