The Power of Culture

Image Source: http://www.hongkonghustle.com/wp-content/photos/Nike_Power_One_Charity_art.jpg

http://www.powerofculture.nl/en/current/2009/february/fashion-week-sao-paulo

This is an article I read about today titled, "Fashion sector can enormously stimulate economy in Latin America." Although it quotes the headline about Latin America, I believe that the same goes for the rest of the world. The "power" of culture will always be around everywhere you go whether that place may be luxurious or in poverty. The influence of fashion is strong like the torch in the olympics, never dies out. Lala Deheinzelin, a specialist on this topic and also a member of the advisory committee of IN-MOD, the Instituto Nacional de Moda e Design, affiliated with the São Paulo Fashion Week says "A creative economy is based on three factors: culture, creativity and knowledge." This is absolutely correct and without one of the three, the bond would be broken. They create a chain of events which eventually leads to the power of culture, the influence and impact it gives on one's economy. And in the economy it includes the society/community, the market place which leads to sales/consumerism, teenage targets, and families that barely pass by every month but just love to dress up nice! In fashion, culture is not something that takes long to happen or change. It can impact you in just one day. For example, one day you may be walking on the streets or whatever and notice someone your age or so rocking a new trend or a style you never seen before but seem to be attracted to, BOOM, there you go, a new fashion and interest. Creativity and knowledge are mostly and heavily associated with the market place and those who determine their targets so they can make their productions in relation to the latest fashion culture. "Fashion is not only clothing: it is identity, attitude and socio-cultural communication." As written in the article, this quote is as real as it gets. I've been saying this throughout the months I been writing this blog because it is the truth. The fashion culture is similar to a toy that you can pick up when it's new and throw away when it's old to yet, find and purchase a new one. However, unlike a toy, it will always be there. Fashion is apart of one's self and as real as skin because it is one. It does not only enhance your image and appearance, but it describes who you are and what you are trying to express. What I am really trying to say is that, fashion speaks in a way you want it to because you pick it.

Image source: http://www.ethicsgirls.co.uk/files/Stella%20Atal%20Sun%20Suit_0.jpg

This image is strong in a sense and in every way you look at it because it is saying that "fashion speaks and sells itself."

Affluenza-fashion / consumption

Image source: http://www.hipsterwave.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/nike-dunks-mid-and-low-sneakers-obsession-1.jpg
This image doesn't exactly relate to what I wrote in the blog directly but it has a strong definition. Recession will not stop fashion especially sneaker collectors-check out the guy in the picture, everything in there is exclusive and extremely expensive! Hyp....

Today I read a article that was quite interesting to me and I found it on the web. According to the author, affluenza which is really describing something like a flu, can be also used to describe or relate to fashion and its' culture. I found a question in the article http://sweetpealovesgreen.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/the-recession-affluenza-and-kind-of-fashion/ that interest me and I was determined to dish out what I think. The question is "Could it be that capitalism can control our consumption so significantly through clever advertising and the media coverage of the recession enough to slow down or even stop our feelings of lack and dissatisfaction?" I think I would say yes to this question just because I am heavily involved with teenage fashion at the age of 18 and starting from the age of 14. Advertising and media coverage can and will completely hypnotize consumers even during a recession, primarily youths. On the web, I still notice many people (youth specifically) consuming items referring to sneakers and brand name clothing at a very high resell price. Re-sell meaning other people buying it for retail either having to line up for it, won/raffled it or somehow got it, and selling it back out online for a much higher amount of money than they payed for. This is of course to the seller's advantage and usually the buyer obviously knows their paying much more than retail for the item but they don't care. The reason is simple, because their desire and the demand for it is so high and even in the recession, they will still find a way to pull the money out of their butts to gain what they want. Those who still have a job at this time will dish out their monthly or weekly paychecks to get what they want, fashionwise. There is no way is stopping this but one's self which is extremely hard just like people's addiction to smoking. Fashion is a unstoppable force, supported by the barriers of advertising and media coverage!

"Yet whilst we are in this recession we are also being encouraged to spend. If we did not consume, capitalism would collapse, as we are currently witness to in the recession as it is the consumer who is being told to spend by the government to save our high street stores from administration." This is true but unfortunately, not happening. Resellers are generating their own little revenues on the internet while stores are making less and less sales, maybe at a moderate level. The government gave a little amount of money for people to spend, but instead, they saved and pay off their debts with the money they were given this time. People are learning to save and spend less during the recession, but when advertising with media coverage hits with "SALE 30-70% off or Buy one get one Free," it's over. Consuming will once again consume people's will to stop spending and save.

Although this article was consisted of opinion, it is very true according to my point of view as well because it's not only what I think but what I am noticing so far.

Affluenza will always be with a person who grew up with fashion, something that is not neccessary but one can not live without!

Source: http://www.centerstage.org/upload/htmlarea/09Season_IMAGES/fashion_WEB1.JPG

This image was captioned with: "Recession never affects fashion."

Fashion/Industry and Pop Culture's impact the society?

Image Source http://fashiontribes.typepad.com/main/images/kidrobot.jpg

Today I was surfing the net and found a very interesting question. Do you think the fashion industry/pop culture has a negative impact on young girl's body images? That's a little specific but a more broader one would be, do you think the fashion industry/pop culture has a negative impact on youths?
Well, after reading an answer that was given through this link http://www.akatoo.com/question.html?question_id=1280523, I was totally lured in to it. I not only agreed entirely, but asked myself the same question. "Absolutely.The outrageously unrealistic expectations set up by pop culture and the entertainment industry not only fuel young girls' insecurities and harmful behaviors, but they also give young boys (and grown men, unfortunately) unrealistic expectations about what women should look like, act like, talk like, etc." What they wrote here is so true because that is what we see in our society today. Fashion and pop culture definitely brings negative effects on the economy in ways such as this one. The person who answered the question also backs it up with a news article back in 1999. It is a unfortunate fact that these factors can cause results such as anorexia, depressed feelings -leading to suicide, eating disorders and even death! I can say for a fact that many youths had probably never even thought of this and victims probably won't even know that they were in certain ways, affected as well. However, I also have a different perspective on this topic as well. The amount and intensity of the effect of fashion/industry and pop culture can be controlled and to a level that you prefer or desire. Everything is laid upon your hands because the mind is always your own no matter what. No one can force you to take in the impact that certain things or factors give. Like myself for an example, the fashion culture especially sneakers are very strong on me. It has like this magnetic pull that keeps luring me to be the beast consumer that I am with the small amount of income that I recieve. I certainly buy a lot of sneakers and clothing, but I keep it to a certain level so that I can save money, have money to spend and not have a bunch of old clothing just sitting there. I only learned to control my beast within these past 1-2 years. Therefore I do have old clothing lying around that I once liked and bought, but no longer do. This is the part when you feel stupid and ask yourself "why did I buy this ugly shirt or pants?" or maybe "what was I thinking?" Sigh...this is how life is but always remember that impact is only a word and a factor that can't even control you because you have your mind. Mind can always overcome all effects including your body. Although fashion/industry and pop culture brings upon a negative affect on youths, it also has positive affects as well. That's if you let it, I mean these are todays advancements and we need them because we are adapted to it. Without it, I think it would be worse. Even though, shopping would be less (which would actually slow down the moving economy) and negative affects of those factors wouldn't even exist, life would be more terrifying without it. Results such as boredom which can lead to suicide, dull fashion, etc.

Negative impacts of television. Image source:http://shahriar08.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/375432047_da5a921c2d.jpg

Camo Sneakers influenced by the Military?

Who ever knew that cammo sneakers originated from the military. Although I always knew that the military or the army wore clothing and suits that had camo on them, I had no idea that they impacted even the fashion society. After coming across this article http://www.sneakerfreaker.com/articles/Sneaker-Wars-cammo/, I discovered the truth.

"Sometimes I think we all forget that cammo is designed with a purpose, namely so soldiers and equipment could hide in the jungle, snow, desert or urban terrain and not get popped so easy." This is very true and cammo finally became popular after "underground movement for a really long time." I remember looking at certain people, not sure if they were a soldier, in the army or whatever but the idea of them wearing cammo clothing and the style didn't really appeal to me at all in anyways. Honestly, I never thought about cammo like that, that it was used to help soldiers cammoflouge in the forests, snow, etc. I just thought of it as plain old army clothing. Anyways, eventually cammo style fashion makes a hit. I myself even bought some but only because they were able to make it in a appealing fashion. We know this brand as A bathing ape or Bape. After a while, this brand was able to grab mine along with thousands and thousands of other people who are involved in the fashion society. They used the cammo style in everything you can name of from sneakers to shirts to bottles to boxers and socks. Note that this brand not only originated from Japan, but it is very expensive. You can pay up to like 12 dollars for a roll of toilet tissue.I bought sneakers from them for up to 250$ a pair, hoodies at 300$+ a piece and t-shirts 80$+. However, this is not the only brand that uses the cammo style but it is one of the most expensive. Like I said and I'm saying it again, who knew cammo style fashion that started of from the military could've made such a big hit in the fashion world in our society today. It took quite a while to finally achieve some sort of success but it certainly made a strong impact. And come to mention it, I am wearing a pair of Armani Xchange white cammo shorts at the very moment. Funny how life and the fashion economy works. Also, at the very bottom of the article, it really did surprised me that some of the sneaker companies we buy our sneakers from also make boots / more advanced footwear or clothing for the military and other tactical forces like the SWAT team, U.S army and the Germany Anti-Terrorist groups.

So, the military which is also part of the government actually made a impact on the fashion culture which in chain events, led to us, youth and the targets of consumerism to purchasing products of the sort!

These are actually one of my favorites and a pair of batman bapestas that I have.

Image source: http://basicexpression.com/images/batshoe.jpg

Image source:

http://www.loudreams.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nigo-mercedes-300sl-camo-3jpg.jpeg

Fashion and Style's impact on the American Culture

Today I came by a short essay from this website http://www.stylephyle.com/experts/why.html. I think it is important for people especially teenagers to read this because it explains or makes one realize why are they really wearing the clothes they wear, rocking the style they rock.
The author wrote "We also use fashion as a sort of protection, or armor. We have power suits, favorite black pants, a special shirt--something that flatters or boosts our confidence or makes us feel powerful or safe." This is indeed, very true and I couldn't agree more. Sometimes or many times, people wear similar clothes/style to fit in with others or a group. Wearing the clothing you wear may sometimes or in one's opinion, shield them from a certain fear they may have, makes them feel just a little safer. And of course, style and trend clothings does make one have more confidence because they flatter themselves and have strength in the thought that they are able to impress others. Fashion can also make one feel powerful just like the author said. For example, notice a similar color and design of people who have authority? Yeah that's right, they all wear and have atleast the color navy blue. People like the President, police officers, soldiers usually wear navy blue because it's not only a powerful color itself that represents pride and honor to the nation, but it makes one feel more powerful, feeling like they have more authority than if they don't have it on.
The author also wrote "As far as preferring name brands or not, I like both. What matters most is the comfort (physical and psychological) of the clothes. When I find a name brand I like, I look for other things from that same line, because they're likely to have something in common--the fit, the fabric, the style, the attitude." This is however, only what she prefers or her point of view. Many people in the American culture buy brand clothings whether they are comfortable or not just because of the brand name itself. That is what I see.

Image: American Fashion Culture

Source: http://www.momist.com/uploaded_images/American-Fashion-740816.jpg

The Truth about Sneaker Values

Well today, I was amazed when I came by a fellow blogger, someone else who writes blog, about the same topic I am except more specific. This person wrote about sneakers and it's values and I couldn't agree more on what they wrote. Here's the article source/website if you want to take a look: http://www.sneakerplay.com/blog/ayanti/8968/.

"The sneaker exchange network (the constant buying and selling of sneakers) has certainly felt the effects as the closets are emptied and that sneaker that was once considered a grail is now simply a pawn to be moved." After I read this quote, I already knew how in-depth this blog post would be. It is so true, over the past years and as a sneaker collector, I noticed many things and this quote couldn't explain it more. When times of desperation comes, regardless if the sneakers were your grails (your favorite or most desired sneakers-usually took pretty long to get), you would let go and sell it. That's just how it is, when people go to college, need money for books, buying a car or simply need money because they no longer have a job, they would sell even their most prized posession sneakers. Honestly, I'm just the same, I have owned many pair of sneakers myself and a few of my favorite, but as I can clearly see, they no longer exist in my collection. However, sneaker collectors will always be sneaker collectors, no matter what they will come back to it because like I said in one of my earlier post, I was able to quit the sneaker game for a year or so, but eventually came back and became once again, hooked! I am pretty sure that a sneaker collector would buy their grails once agian when they regain that extra money they are able to spend upon sneakers. In this tight recession setting, a lot of people say that people take advantage by buying sneakers at low prices and selling it for high. This is however true, but not entirely. Buying sneakers for low prices and selling it for higher have always been the case for re-sellers of the sneaker society. What I've noticed, even during the recession, sneaker prices are still the same, they are not dropping what-so-ever. In fact, some are even higher. It's all about the hype and what the sneakers are associated to. The prices are not really made up by the seller, it is made up by the buyers or the consumers of the re-sellers because no one would buy it if their not willing to fork over such high amount of green. Therefore, the price doesn't drop but may even raise because other buyers who have that kind of money would start to outbid each other and give the sellers what they want, the price they desire! It's all about how much consumers are "willing" to pay. Otherwise, re-selling wouldn't even exist because the sellers could put up their price but no one would deal with it. It's unfortunate for those who wants the "hyped" up pair of sneakers but doesn't have that kind of cash to add on top of the retail price it went for.

Back to what I said about "what the sneakers are associated to." By that I mean like is the sneaker related to anyone famous, created by any popular artist, band or whatever the case may be, something exclusive. Take a look at the newly released hype series of Air Yeezy's. They run for about 210$ retail which required sneaker-heads or just people who wanted them or who wanted to make money to line up/camp out for days and nights before the store actually opened up and sold the officially. That's the kind of hype I'm talking about, even in cold wintery weather, these guys would still be out there just because of those sneakers and the one and only, Kanye West. Yeezy could care less if you rock his sneakers or not, sell his sneakers for a higher price or not, your only making him that much more famous and hyped. This is not a offense to any one out there who bought these, I'm just giving a example.

By the way, the arthor of the blog-post http://www.sneakerplay.com/blog/ayanti/8968/ had given examples such as the one I gave above so take a look. I would rate this like a 9.8 out of 10 for a blog grade. It really defines what sneakerheads do with sneakers.

For those of you who haven't seen the Air Yeezy's, take a look: image source:http://dimemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/nike-air-yeezy-closer-look-00-480x360.jpg



http://sneakersandshoes.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/nike-x-kanyewest-air-yeezy-lol-part4.jpg










http://nikeairyeezys.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nike-air-yeezys-black.jpg

Tokyo-New York Shopping Rebellion

Image source: http://www.spa.ucla.edu/up/webfiles/tokyo-shinjuku-45_4.jpg

Article Source: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/03/18/020318fa_FACT

In this article, it is mainly talking about the shopping rebellion/society in Tokyo and kind of comparing it to New York. They compare Takeshita Street, in the Harajuku district of Tokyo, to the Eighth Street in New York which is full of stores and places to go, the teenage fashion/interest world. These are the main attractions that bring the youth in every place, not just Tokyo and New York. There is nothing more interesting or fun than spending money and having fun in the teenage world. Top priorities are as such, appearance/fashion, fun-party, playing sports, etc and again, looking good! Anyways, talking about Tokyo, remember the movies Fast and the Furious, Tokyo drift. Pretty amazing right? Well, not from personal experiences but from friends and other reviews, it is as real as it seems. Tokyo is a really amazing place and I, myself are planning to take a trip up there myself. Japan as we all know and can see clearly now that they are one of the most advanced countries in the world. They have amazing technology and are well beyond many other places in the world and can/will soon surpass America. Talk about Sony, Lexus, A Bathing Ape. I mean the got top brands in everything from games to cars to clothing/fashion. Let's go back to talking about fashion, they are just rising up there. Check out my previous post, the image on the bottome where people are lining up for blocks just to get something from the Bape Store. That's how crazy it is, even over here in New York, the only Bape store on Greene street build up enormous lines on occasions when the release some exclusive fashion. It's pretty clear that Tokyo and New York has a lot in common because they have the same attractions and ideas. However, it's also like two different worlds and people with the same interests. Mentioning Soho in New York, Japanese brand-style clothing are also taking over, Uniqlo came out pretty strong. Don't lie for those youths' reading this. I know you guys went in there and probably even bought something. Myself, I'm not really in to the Uniqlo style but A Bathing Ape is such a good creation and idea. I mean a Ape idea with cartoons on a shirt, hoodie, cap, etc arose to a millionaire-billionaire state. So amazing. What I really want to explain is that the market place is taking over by youth advertising and interest and the only real way to make it big is to get in to entrepreneur meaning getting your own ideas and making it a success. It's all up to you. Fashion will never lose itself, not even in recession!