{"id":3335,"date":"2023-04-06T10:14:29","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T02:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cherry-insights.com\/media\/?p=3335"},"modified":"2023-05-23T16:09:34","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T08:09:34","slug":"the-outside-view-cultural-hybridity-and-the-future-of-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cherry-insights.com\/media\/?p=3335","title":{"rendered":"The Outside View: Cultural Hybridity and the Future of Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

https:\/\/wwd.com\/business-news\/business-features\/laurence-lim-cultural-hybridity-pharrell-williams-luxury-1235595425\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laurence Lim on how to keep the imagination and freedom of luxury and fashion alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pharrell Williams DAVID X PRUTTING\/BFA.COM<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rapper Pharrell Williams<\/a>\u2019 arrival as creative director of Louis Vuitton men\u2019s <\/a>completes the transformation of luxury fashion<\/a> into a cultural industry for some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others see it as a victory of celebrity marketing over creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In truth, it is a blending of the two, a tacit acknowledgment that it is hybridity driving luxury and fashion forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hybridity is the unexpected clash between dissonant worlds, cultures and imaginations as well as the reconciliation of tradition and innovation. And that is what allows the industry to remain resolutely creative, alive and anchored in today\u2019s changing and culturally mosaic world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global brands have no choice but adapt to our less and less Western-centric world. Demographically, Chinese and Indian people already represent 40 percent of the world population, white people will become a minority in the United States in 2045 and the world is growing more racially diverse as a result of increasing migration. Non-white ethnic groups will account for about 25-30 percent of the luxury spend in the U.S. market by 2025, versus 20 percent in 2019, according to a Bain & Co. report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western brands must anticipate the rising national pride and cultural confidence of developing countries like India, Brazil and South Korea. In China, national consumption is increasing and a brand\u2019s Western origin is not a key driver anymore. Emerging Chinese fashion<\/a> designers such as Chen Peng or Feng Chen Wang are acclaimed by the younger generations for their capacity to blend Western fashion with traditional Chinese inspirations. And young Chinese luxury consumers expect more collaborations between the two worlds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the U.S., minority consumption is on the rise and Black consumers show a strong preference for Black-owned fashion brands and brands that culturally resonate with Black culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global brands must face the growing racial sensitivity in the U.S., following the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the political controversies about the claim of African cultural heritage assets stolen by European colonizers (referred to in Marvel\u2019s \u201cBlack Panther\u201d movies). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our world is becoming a cultural hybrid and young people thirst for fresh alternatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n