Pir Mehr Ali Shah,

ARID Agriculture, University, Rawalpindi.

A Synopsis on

Impact of Fashion on Youth Today

Supervisor

Dr. Aneela

Submitted by

Sara – 1932
 Dedicated to

“My beloved parents”

Table of Contents
- Introduction

- Fashion: Global Perspective and Developing Countries

- Fashion Sense

- History of Fashion: A Cursory Look

- Pakistani Youth

- Trends

- Fashion Awareness

- Hypothesis

- Statement of Problem

- Industry of Fashion in Pakistan

- How Youth take Fashion

- Justification

- Plan of Work and Methodology

- Place of Work and Facilities Available

- References

- Bibliography
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank to my supervisor of this project Dr. Aneela for the valuable guidance
and advice. She inspired us greatly to work in this project. Her willingness to motivate us
contributed tremendously to my project.

Besides, I would like to thank my University of ARID, Agriculture, Rawalpindi for providing
with a good environment and facilities to complete this project.

Finally, an honorable mention goes to our families, classmates, students of colleges,

universities, workers of offices and whoever whose support had been brought in for
completing this project.
Introduction
Fashion is a term, which is referred to as a state of mind. This word comes from Latin word,
which means, "to make." Fashion is most commonly associated with clothing, but it even
applies to anything from interior architecture, to models of toys. It is a spirit, where an
individual is comfortable with his mode of apperance and converts this comfort into a
personal style. It is a way of measuring a mood that can be useful in many aspects,
culturally, socially even psychologically. Perhaps the most distinctive quality about the
fashion since the early times is that it is increasing in simplicity.

However, fashion is commonly used to describe a style of clothing worn by most people of a
country. Thus, as the word goes, fashion is generally associated with, textile, garments and
trends. The word textile refers to woven cloths. It is a way of celebrating the diversity and
variety of the world in which we live. A fashion remains popular for the period of time that a
large segment of society accepts it; that could be for a few months or years. However, it is
normal for the fashion trends to change according to the seasons. For instance, during
summers the common colors worn are the pastel shades and lighter fabric. Come winter and
the preferred color ranges are the darker and brighter ones and the fabric is heavier.

Each season does bring into fashion a particular color and style. The trend of the sixties and
seventies are in, with the gypsy style being a preference. Fashion is not just limited to
female fraternity even men have been taken over by the fashion world. They have become
more conscious of what is in and what is not. They pay more attention to their appearance
than hey did earlier. Children are also aware and prefer to wear what is in fashion. While
seasons are a major contributory factor, the glamour world of modeling and acting are the
actual fashion leaders. Fashion houses endorse the latest trends through the media. So to
know what`s happening and what`s not, you need to keep a keen watch on what models
and actors are wearing, what kind of makeup do they have on and even their hair-do
depends on the present fashion trend. So who said that keeping in times is difficult?
Expensive maybe, but yet not beyond one`s reach!

For centuries individuals or societies have used clothes and other body decoration as a form
of nonverbal communication to indicate occupation, rank, gender, locality, class, wealth and
group affiliation. Fashion not only embraces clothing, but also hairstyles, body art, shoes,
bags, jewellery and beauty products all constitute today`s fashion trends. Fashion in all its
forms from a tattooed and pierced navel, to the newest hairstyle, is the best form of
iconography we have to express individual identity. As far as clothes are concerned, fashion
is based on fabric, color and cuts.

Fashion is something we deal with everyday. And one thing certain in the fashion world is
change. The collections in Paris, New York and Milan, and now London, typically set the
stage for the industry one-year in advance. Fashion stylists too get new fashion ideas from
music, videos, books, television and even movies. Even the street is the real barometer of
style. More and more designers are drawing their inspiration from life on the street. If a
particular clothing or accessory is depicted by famous personalities, it definitely becomes a
trend for the people to follow the same. Films have become catalogues and people are
copying from the particular style of actors and icons. Actors are considered as the
trendsetters for the youth.
Normally, any society has about three categories of fashion aficionados.

• The hi-class, people who are fashion conscious and who go for labels and name.
Instead of the budget, they are more interested in designer clothing.

• The upper middle class people who are fashion conscious and who make it a point
to stay up to date with the ongoing fashion trends.

• The last and final category consists of the youth, corporate group, who look out for
regular wear clothesline and are budget conscious.

What we wear and how and when we wear it, depicts our personality for changing situations.
It is from the physical apperance a person bears that we get our first impression of
personality. They provide mental clues to a person`s status and occupational role, as well as
being a means of conforming to peer group expectations. Fashion is important to everyone
specially to youth because it`s a means of self-expression. It helps to identify ourselves with
a group of others like us--whether it`s a lifestyle, a religion, a profession, or an attitude.
Thus, there are many reasons for adoption of latest fashion,

Protection From cold, rain and snow: mountain climbers wear high-tech outerwear to avoid
frostbite and over-exposure.

Personality Identification Those with high status occupations will wear the clothes they think
others expect them to wear They also act as an aid to modesty or immodesty as the wearer
so desires.

Physical Attraction Many styles are worn to inspire "chemistry."

Emotions We dress "up" when we`re happy and "down" when we`re upset.

Religious Expression Orthodox Jewish men wear long black suits and Islamic women cover
every part of their body except their eyes.

Identification and Tradition Judges wear robes, people in the military wear uniforms and
brides wear heavily embroidered and expensive dresses.

In this project, I am going to discuss impact of fashion on youth. Fashion is pervasive in

today’s world that has never been so. Why are some things "fashionable" and others not.
Things considered fashion 50 years ago are no longer today, but they don't look any
different than they did then so what is it that draws youth to "fashion"? Is it simply liking
something because most other young people do and therefore acceptance is the goal, or is
it something else?

Why do youth do it? Is fashion exclusive to clothing or is that just an aspect of social
behaviour, for instance, Native Americans wore feather head dresses as part of conforming
with cultural fashion, but some tribes also participated in battlefield rituals such as scalping.
Is the root cause of behaving in these ways the same? All just an act of conformity, or vanity
for youth?
Fashion: Global Perspective and Developing Countries
In recent years, fashion has been introduced as a prominent taste which is imposed by
owners of this industry to the society. Recently change of consumption patterns have been
increased rapidly world-wide, while changes in fashion industry have also changed industries
and economies of countries across the world. Through changes in global relationships and
structures, omitting industrial concentrated production style, presence of multi-national
companies, sophisticated conditions of competition in the world and generation of new
methods for capturing the market, developing countries are in deep challenge in the field of
fashion Industry; a lot of their economic resources would be used for cultural behavior of
their middle class in order to access global brands and fast fashion systems.

In contrast and in continuum of these changes in economic and trade relationships, those
countries have tried to change patterns of consumption and entering the competition
through foreign investments; however these countries do not have the potential to compete
with this phenomenon through industrial Production-consumption cycle. This research does
not aim adapt those mentioned methods with the conditions of developing countries, but
some common conditions and real situations are considered in which the potential for
competition with other countries is restricted and fashion in these countries are under
dominance of brands. That is why this research tries to investigate the reasons for
generation of current situation in its historical context and study past activities in the related
domain.

The result of such a study would be in the shape of recognition of design strategies for those
countries, possibilities of participation in those industries and present resultant strategies for
limited competition in the domain of fashion design. The result of this investigation shows
that by entering the Globalization and Post-Industrial era and by importance of personality
which generates a system together with presence of sub-cultures, the need to personal
expression and taste has been increased rapidly and current industries cannot fulfill such a
need for all the people in the world. As a virtue, such a change would enable developing
countries to design production systems without a need to shape industrial infrastructures
and they can develop their production plans based on domestic industries and through
support of small and creative work stations. In the design phase, approaches like
participatory design and increasing role of consumer in design and production of fashion,
would let them involve more in design process and would also increase their skills and
knowledge.

The needs of customers, such as differentiation and eye-catching design would also be
involved to the product and new roles for the designer would be shaped; roles such as
facilitator, generator and assistant of design process for idealization of personal aims. This
would result toward a specific fashion style , which can be named as Slow Fashion and can
generate a dynamic economic organization which could compete with increasingly speedy
current fashion system ( namely Fast Fashion), which tries to fulfill the market based on
ready and unified style design.
Fashion Sense
What exactly does fashion sense mean? To each person, fashion is a representation of their
personalities. Even if you are looking at the runways, every signature design tells of the
personality and concept behind the designer. People usually own their signature look and let
their fashion sense shine.

History of Fashion: A Cursory Look

If modernity refers to the social relations associated with the rise of capitalism, the rise of
the fashion industry and its continuing legacy is a byproduct of this historical shift. The
products of the fashion industry extend beyond expanding sheer numbers in individual
articles of clothing created. Fashion refers to popular styles, current trends and even
prevailing styles in behavior. Prior to the mid-19th century, most clothing was custom made
and tailored to individuals. Though varying widely in quality, individual articles of clothing
were either produced in the home or ordered from dressmakers and tailors.

Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the
amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. However, it wasn't until
the 1830's when sewing machines were welcomed into a newly developing ready-made
clothing industry on both sides of the Atlantic. The manufacture of sewing machines was
responsible for its immediate practical application to the burgeoning ready-made clothing
industry.

With the rise of global capitalism and the development of the factory system of production,
the proliferation of retail outlets such as department stores, clothing had increasingly come
to be mass-produced in standard sizes and sold at fixed prices. Although the fashion
industry developed first in Europe and America, today it is an international and highly
globalized industry, with clothing often designed in one country, manufactured in another,
and sold world-wide. For example, an American fashion company might source fabric in
China and have the clothes manufactured in Vietnam, finished in Italy, and shipped to a
warehouse in the United States for distribution to retail outlets internationally. The fashion
industry has long been one of the largest employers in the United States, and it remains so
in the 21st century. However, employment declined considerably as production increasingly
moved overseas, especially to China. Because data on the fashion industry typically are
reported for national economies and expressed in terms of the industry’s many separate
sectors, aggregate figures for world production of textiles and clothing are difficult to obtain.
However, by any measure, the industry accounts for a significant share of world economic
output.

The fashion industry consists of four levels: the production of raw materials, principally
fibres and textiles but also leather and fur; the production of fashion goods by designers,
manufacturers, contractors, and others; retail sales; and various forms of advertising and
promotion. These levels consist of many separate but interdependent sectors, all of which
are devoted to the goal of satisfying consumer demand for apparel under conditions that
enable participants in the industry to operate at a profit.
Pakistani Youth
Pakistan youth is the reflection of the energy that drives Pakistani fashion industry. Pakistani
youth's adoption of fashion and it's participation in fashion related activities have been
aggressive and progressive. Deepak Perwani, Amir Adnan, Zaheer Abbas, Danish Wakeel,
AIFD, Warda Lawn, Irfan Ali, Sanya Maskatiya, Hira Lari, Nida Azwer and Arugam Bay are
good market leading designers of fashion. Pakistani youth have been enthusiasts in
parcipation of modeling. Amna Khan, Imran Ali, Imran Abbas are a few names in modeling.
Pakistan fashion industry is full of talent and experience and is taking this industry as a
whole to new heights.

Trends
Pakistani Fashion has become identification of Pakistani culture on International fashion
ramps. The culture of Pakistan has always been the focal point for all fashion designers in
the Pakistani fashion industry. Whether it is dress or accessories, Pakistani fashion industry
has always kept the aspect of pertaining to our traditional roots and heritage that are
actually the main identity of Pakistan.

The main focus of the Pakistani fashion industry nowadays is the fusion of South Asian and
Central Asian fashion styles along with the delicacy of eastern touch. We all have seen the
flowing frocks to rule the fashion trends 2010, as many cultural practices have been
inherited from Mughals and adopted by the Pakistani fashion industry for both summer and
fall fashion trends. It is undoubtedly the hard work and efforts of Pakistani Fashion designers
and the whole Pakistani Fashion industry to introduce the pure eastern culture throughout
the world. Through the exclusive creations and attractive presentation of Pakistani Fashion
industry, the fashion trends and culture of Pakistan gained appreciation and positive
reception from many fashion events around the globe.

Fashion Awareness
Today people have become so particular about their lifestyle and fashion goods that they
can pay a huge amount to buy anything for us. But people are spending money in a proper
sense? How to choose their garments? Will that complement them? There are lots of
questions moving in people's mind everyday in adopting or buying fashion.

Following points depicts well fashion awareness,

• Considering latest trends according to height, body curves, postures, size and shape
while going for fashion

• Selecting good brands

• Thinking of purpose to wear: casual, semi casual, office wear, party wear, beach wear
etc.

• Adoption according to season: spring summer, winter, rainy days etc.

Hypothesis
Fashion tends to be all about social validation, it's the blind leading the blind. Youth who
follow fashion tend to all do it for the same (or similar) reasons, and no one really stops to
think about it. It's a similar effect as when you take 20 and let them run though a busy
crowd yelling danger together; and in no time you'll have a hundred more following them; or
vice.

For youth, fashion is like a lifeline. It's part of what gives that first impression so to many
young people it's important. It conveys you or who you want people to see. Plus if you look
good you feel good. Well this isn't always entirely true (and nothing ever is I guess) there is
some truth to it. And if you want to be accepted by certain groups of people you'll do
whatever it takes to be apart and that would include dressing as such.

So when the environment dictates what is trendy, popular or cool, youth do the exact same
thing and follow blindly.

Statement of Problem
Dressing in a "hip hop fashion" for instance conveys a certain type of personality that is
differs from other fashion trends, and categorizes you in a certain group of people. A person
who dresses this way draws an identity from it, he will most likely also adjust his behavior or
personality more to fit into it; and as a result this person often becomes more accepted by
others who are taking on the same identity "template" and follow the same fashion trend.
This is usually just the result of insecurities, self esteem issues, not knowing who you are or
who you want to be, or lacking social needs such as good friends.

Fashion seems like a magical fix for many of those problems. You are given somewhat of a
pre-made identity that comes with the social validation and behavioral code you need. The
only problem is that fashion trends can never be personal, they can never be your taste, so
no one fully identifies with them; rather, people make themselves identify with them. For
instance I used to be a goth, but I wasn't into black clothing and gothic music to the extent
that I wanted to dress like that per se, the reason I wanted to do that was because of the
perks that came with it: I would have a clearly defined identity and I would belong to this
sub-community.

Industry of Fashion in Pakistan

The rapidly growing fashion industry of Pakistan is the result of involvement of youngsters in
a variety of fashion related activities which allow experimenting to promote traditional and
contemporary lifestyles.

These views were expressed by model and actor Maria Khan. “The fusion of conventional
and modern trends (East and West) created interest for fashion lovers of different cultures
and invited investors to support the fashion industry in Pakistan,” she added. “The dying film
industry of Pakistan sacred away investors but the flourishing fashion industry is bringing
them back as Indian, Arab and other foreign designers feel pleasure to hold shows in
Pakistan,” she said. Talking to APP, Shanzay, a leading designer, said, it was risky to hold a
show because of security problems and lack of interest of people. “Pakistani designers are
known in international markets now and many international shows feel proud to invite them
which not only improves the content of their runway but also projects the soft image of the
country as a talented young generation,” she said.

She said the enthusiasm and interest of young generation in the fashion industry could bring
about a revolution to the dying film industry of Pakistan and gain the attention of foreign
and local investors again with new ideas.

“People related to fashion and film industries want to promote fashion, art and
entertainment in Pakistan to portray the softer image of our country all over the world. The
fashion industry can play a big role in the current economic situation of Pakistan to spread
our culture and traditions to other civilizations across the border,” she said.

The creations and collection line-ups of Pakistani fashion industry, that are purely culture
oriented, received warm acclamation and gratitude from the fashion ramps from all over the
world especially the western countries. The basic intention behind promoting Pakistani
culture and Pakistani fashion trends through products and dresses is to mark our
individuality in the fashion industry worldwide, tied along with our tradition and style.

As the other fields in Pakistan, including entertainment, medicine and information

technology, are building their own identification all over the world, our Pakistani fashion
industry is also going higher with the dedication of Pakistani Fashion designers to mark their
importance in the world of Fashion.

How Youth take Fashion

One thing is for sure; fashion ignites a passion in people. A trend can divide or bring people
together. It is both unifying, because everyone is entitled to an opinion on fashion, and at
the same time individualistic, because it shapes the way we present ourselves and is often
used to make a statement.

For stylish youth fashion is more than just the clothes, it's a lifestyle.

Few demographics are more concerned with their image than youth. For them, fashion is a
social currency. It can be provocative - seeking a reaction from friends and peers - and also
life-affirming - for the super stylish a few positive outfit comments are downright
motivational.

But fashion is about more than being socially accepted. People, especially the stylish youth,
use fashion as a voice to express themselves to the wider world, and social hubs such as
Facebook, facilitate this. Young tastemakers can show off new purchases, spread awareness
about favorite designers, share their style icons and even incorporate what music they're
listening to.
Justification
The reason to consider impact of fashion on youth today is as fashion industry is playing
vital role in economic development of Pakistan. Whether it is modeling or designing, youth is
taking it to new horizons and thus creating soft image of Pakistan across the world.

Plan of Work and Methodology

After thorough analysis, questionnaires were fabricated to collect data. Questionnaires will
be distributed to be filled by youth who may belong to colleges, universities, offices, etc.

For data collection through questionnaires, survey will be conducted in different timings.

Qualitative Analysis
For capturing qualitative data and performing qualitative analysis, surveys will be
conducted through the use of questionnaires.

Quantitative Analysis
Upon qualitative data, statistical techniques will be performed to analyze the
statement of problem. The process would include defining of independent,
dependent, nuisance/intervening variables, computation of interval scales and ratio
measurement (ratio measurements would include along with others; age,
weight, height of attendee of surveyor).

Place of Work and Facilities Available

Colleges, universities and offices may be used for this study. Facilities could be easy access
to colleges, universities, offices internet, transportation and youth cooperation.
References

en.wikipedia.org

www.google.com

answers.yahoo.com

http://ipowerproject.com/forum/topics/the-impact-of-fashion

Fashion industry projects soft image of country - http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Bibliography

Guidelines for Synopsis and Thesis Preparation, National Defence University, Islamabad-
Pakistan

Economy’s Impact on Fashion (http://www.australianscience.com.au)

The Impact of Fashion Shows – (http://www.ehow.com)

Impact Of Fashion On Teenagers Essays and Term Papers – (http://www.oppapers.com)

Fashion Design in Developing Countries Investigating The role of - University of Tehran

Electronic Journals Database