Ethnic Influences on Apparel Design

Ethnic apparel has a very big influence on apparel design across the border. The word ethnic means belonging to or deriving from a cultural, race, religion, or linguistic traditions of a people or country, such as ethnic dances. All of these things can introduce what a designer can base their collection on and the direction in which they want to go with it.

Designers and their teams are known to go across the globe to see what is going on in other cultures and incorporate that into their dress, which is a very good decision to make. Many different people from various places have come to the United States in the last few years, and this has had a positively ethnic influences on dress here. Designers have taken such outfits as the saree (right) and made it for their runway collection, such as the design at left at Anna Sui. She has made her Fall 2008 very clear that ethnicity and culture has made very strong influences on her collection, such as the Indian look.

Main Trends of the New York Fashion Week

Looking back at the new Spring 2009 fashion shows, the dresses created by various designers were all fabulously architectural. The looks were either ruffly, bondage-like, or had very strong shapes to enhance the average woman (or in runway sense, the average skinny girl).

Looking at Calvin Klein's show, there is a very distinct emphasis on architecture and white dresses, as is common in his signature look. The juxtaposition of the soft silk fabric laying across sharp edges really made for an interesting collection. A big trend that also made its way into spring shows was the look of flowy dresses which were long, luxurious and beautiful, such as Carolina Herrera's line. But at Herve Leger by Max Azria for example, the look was very tightly fitted, showing off curves and long legs.

Another trend that popped up in a lot of places was that of color and fun! At Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson the girls were smiley and happy walking down in pink and blue print dresses adorned with mega jewelry.

The trends for Spring 2009 runway shows are looking amazing and definitely more womanly and fun for us; now if there were a way I could actually see these collections up close and front row, I could die in peace.

Organic and Environmental Friendly Clothing

I believe organic clothing is very important today in our society. I think it is very crucial for us as the people to start doing something about the current crisis at hand, which is global warming. Everyone around the US is doing their part to help out with the "Go Green" movementand it has become a very trendy time.

Many people and companies are joining together to do something, even small, to make a difference. For example, famous actress Natalie Portman, has designed a Vegan Shoe line for Te Casan, and has gotten a good reponse. She has used her celebrity for good things and I think it says a lot for something so little.

Another popular line for a big name store is the Lulu Canvas bags sold at Target. By using this way to reach out to the public, Target has a more realistic way to get the word out there that we should go green, but on a smaller scale.

In the end, I believe global warming is a serious thing and will eventually affect us for the worse. By doing our part, and by purchasing these items I talked about, we really can make a difference before it becomes too late.