Be a leader not a follower

Mariam Nihal

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH- Commercial is commercial for a reason. Fair enough. Guaranteed, the pop industry has its following of masses that believe in the same thing. As for the Middle East, pop culture, fashion, movies or even a Youtube comedy show tend to be emulated and hyped beyond their potential. Once upon a time, everyone was a rapper, then we had a huge increase in the teenage brigade lining up to be the next Tiesto, as DJing still remains to be a hobby for many self-proclaimed professionals. Now we have a generation of photographers, with any DSLR, fashion designers and of course artists. The insurgence of trends is met with an overly popular demand to advertise these trends. Of course those who are able to meet the greater demand of oblivion and supply facets reap the benefits. Apart from the engaging interest in popular careers, it is imperative to shed light on how fashion in the Middle East plays a similar role. From Turbans to T-shirts, once it’s a hit, you see it on everyone. If seen worn and adorned by a fashion blogger on Instagram, you instantly know it is the next big thing. Not long ago, everyone was catering cupcakes; now everyone’s a fashion boom baby.

Saudi Gazette spoke to a local designer and stylist, Nour Kelani about the trend. “It might be a shame.” She was kind enough to say the new breed of fashion designers and stylists may be “doing good” for the masses by educating them about international fashion trends. However, “It shows they are not creative enough to come up with originals. The trends have been brought in from abroad and all that happens is channeling of ideas.



Fashion is the new cupcakes here. Everyone is a fashion editor, stylist and fashion designer these days.” Since Saudi Arabia has a huge population that host different backgrounds and shades of classicism, the disadvantage is that the new fashion breed may be targeting a certain class only.



“The trends setters we have here, have probably seen the trend somewhere in the world and brought it here. It is about creating your own trend. Not copying others.”



She said it is easy to see the concept of “copy-paste” in a market where personal identity is overlooked by trends.

“The term haute couture is protected by law in France, unlike here where everyone claims they are the next big thing even if they started yesterday. Having a 30k following on Instagram is no definition of success or creativity. If success is getting followers, then guaranteed yes,” said Jehan Akeel, a 21yearold Saudi fashion student in Jeddah.”



“But to think you are a fashion designer, blogger and stylist because you are an innovator, is absolute nonsense. There are thousands of users like you who do the same thing, replicate the same designs and strike the same pose. You are nothing special. Unless you innovate and become the trendsetter, unlike a follower which everyone is used to doing because it is easier to do in Saudi,” she added.



Since the discovery of Youtube, comedians, artists and fashionistas along with many aspiring populists have used the new unoccupied Saudi market to optimize their potential or build their portfolio through social media skills. Saudi Arabia is reported to have the world’s highest Twitter and YouTube usage per day. So at least there is no denying the proficiency of our generation when it comes to social media.



But as long as awareness is not deeply rooted in our system, more unqualified and inexperienced self-proclaimed artists will keep walking into the industry replicating their idea of foreign trends and turning them into a fad in the region. Until we reach the saturation point and the bubble bursts, only then can we expect the calibrated class of artists to evolve and abolish adopted trends.