With the development of the internet and other electronic mediums it is a fact that fashion is now global. Trends that would once pop up in a city and then slowly migrate around the globe are now available on a world wide scale within hours of them developing. This said each continent, country, city and town around the globe will still have local trends that are prevalent.
Over the last three years the Asian fashion market has begun to spread its wings and its influence can be seen in many high end collections that take the runways from New York to Paris. Here are a few examples:
Marc Jacobs
Incorporating a bamboo backdrop into his Spring 2009 collection it was easy to see Jacobs was influenced by the Asian culture when putting together the runway show. The models all sported geisha style hair and make up while strutting along on Japanese style sandals.
Michael Kors
Kros has said that he goes to Asia every year for Christmas and sited these trips as the influence for this 2010 Resort collection which embodied many Asian style prints. There was also the presence of built in sarongs, bamboo and satin.
Donatella Versace
With a plenty of bright colours and vivid designs the pre-fall 2010 collection from Versace has a very Asian feel with a vibe that has been described as Japanese Techno mixed with lots of leggings and Asian prints there is no denying there was a significant Asian influence on this collection.
And this is just the beginning, given all of these designers are getting their inspiration from the ancient Asian trends surely it is only a matter of time until they use the modern Asia as mush as ancient. It is still interesting to see is the fact that all these designers are turning to the east for inspiration, and all around the same time? Coincidence or cultural shift?
