Ethnicities and Their Influence on Apparel

Let's use our imaginations for a bit. Envision two different ads, for two completely different stores. First ad, a black woman stands on the street at night, wearing stillettos, leggings, and a long satin tunic. She is accessorized with a huge bronze belt and bronze sandals. In the second ad, there is a 40-something white female. She is dressed in a white skirt and polo shirt holding a tennis racket. These two ads portray two separate lifestyles, with different goals, and different ambitions. These are two completely different people, portraying two completely different ethnic markets entirely. A strong, sexy, confident African American woman would prefer to wear a brand like Baby Phat. A conservative 30-something white female would step out in something more similar to a Talbots ad. Market researchers and merchandisers work hand in hand to study and figure out how these women think and how they want to portay themselves through fashion.
The apparel designers take this valuable knowledge and show it in their runway shows. Baby Phat is operated by Kimora Lee Simmons, for example. Her ex-husband, Russell Simmons is an extremely influential character in the hip-hop world. She, as a designer, catered to women who she saw herself as. She wanted to target her designs to a strong independent black or Asian woman. A woman who embodied the hip-hop lifestyle.
The woman in the second ad that we mentioned, is a woman of the upper middle class. She is probably a republican who attends bridge games and garden clubs. A store such as Talbots would cater to a woman of this particular lifestyle. A merchandiser working for this store would want to know what is hot in the world that she lives in, which is by far, at the opposite end of the spectrum from ad number one. All the women in the world don't look the same, and we don't like to look like everyone else. How we were raised and the environment that produces us, influence how we decide to dress ourselves. With such a plethora of communities and races and ethnicities, it will always influence the way the designers dress us.