Over the past few months on social media, there has been seen an influx of “new” trends that people are raving over. So many of these trends are being referred to as European or Scandinavian when, in reality, many are just copied and pasted from traditional Desi clothing but on a white person where they take on new meaning all of a sudden.
This isn’t just a recent thing either; people have been digging up their old two-piece prom dresses from the early 2000s and are now calling them Y2K when they’re virtually identical to Desi lehengas, an intricately designed two-piece dress dating back to the 16th century in India. There’s no problem with people having an appreciation for other cultures and borrowing some styles, but the complete erasure of where they come from and the new labels for them as something more Western in an attempt to make it more marketable is wrong.
One of the most recent incidents of this is people taking inspiration from sheer and colorful shawls and tunics and labeling them as a European aesthetic and “Scandinavian Summer,” of course, after this, many people immediately jumped online to correct this. So many of these shawls and scarves that are being admired as chic, effortless, and Parisian are basically dupattas from Desi culture but remarketed and rebranded in a certain way to make them seem new and more fashionable.
A fashion rental account, Bipty, was at the crux of this issue when they posted a video reviewing ideas for how to dress more European and classy for the summer. It showed many images of typical South Asian clothing and said it had an unidentifiable aura to it. They were immediately attacked online for some of the ignorance going into this video, and the founder of the company then published an apology video that, at its basis, was apologizing for offending people rather than apologizing for their own actions. It seemed like the apology was entirely built on the idea of saving face for the brand and also promoting the company’s future ideas, all while leaving the comments off, deleting the original video, and remaining unopen to a true discussion.
The erasure of South Asian culture persists, and many of these issues go by unnoticed when integral facets of Desi culture are remarketed as Western and sold to appeal to a predominantly white audience. This doesn’t just go for South Asian people either, but for people all across the globe as fast fashion becomes increasingly popular and the history and cultural significance and importance behind clothing and trends is forgotten.
