Fashion discourses: the influence of east dress on European fashion

Abstract

Generally, the term “Fashion” is used for European dresses. Fashion is a fast-moving industry in Europe that caters to consumers from the high-street towards haute couture (High Fashion) market level. The European fashion industry drives with seasonal trends which show rapid changes every two weeks. European fashion consumers are a stakeholder in the cycle of desire that is created by trendsetters of the Fashion Industry. East dress simply does not consider seasonal changes as fashion. The dress of the East resembles mainly the culture. Sustainability, heritage, cultural norms, and values, national identity is key in East dress which shows ethnic identity which enables gives exotic clothing tastes to European consumers. Practically, the East has been embraced by Europe as a visual delicacy, creating concrete issues of dress in Fashion academia. It is expected to analyze the Western interpretation of East dress by comparing dresses created by Western Fashion designers who were inspired by East dress characteristics. The research is qualitative data analysis. The reliability of data is much concerned. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. Selected designers from the history of Western fashion were studied. Original dresses which were created by European fashion designers that are displayed at the world museums were observed. East dress characteristics are discussed according to Sri Lankan historical dress examples. Selected dresses of Asia, Saree, cloak, Kimono dress details, and their inspiration power are discussed. Scholarly written research papers, books, websites, fashion blogs were read and collected relent data. It was found that the East dress has achieved a different interpretation in Europe. Actual usage has been excluded in Europe. It was noted that European designers pay more attention to asymmetric, fluid drapery effects of East dress. East dress became an art piece in Europe. It can be identified as a unique selling point of Asian dresses.