Understanding Youth Culture: Fashion and Trends

• Importance of Fashion and Trends: Young people use fashion and trends as a means of expressing their identity, affirming their belonging to a group, or distinguishing themselves from others. Style trends heavily influence these expressions.

• Influence of Social Media: Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat have become integral to the propagation of fashion trends among young people, enabling them to idolise celebrities' styles, and giving greater exposure to new styles and ideas.

• Bollywood Impact: The influence of popular culture, notably Bollywood films and Punjabi music videos, plays a major part in establishing fashion trends and culture among Punjab's young populace.

Causes and Effects

• Fast Fashion Culture: The rise of the 'fast fashion' culture, its relation to consumer behaviour, cheap production and the drive for frequent trend updates. Acknowledge how it leads to environmental and social challenges.

• Gender Dynamics and Fashion: Explore the way fashion and trends often reinforce traditional gender norms, or can be a means of pushing back against these norms. How does this aspect present in the context of the Punjabi youth?

• Role of Tradition and Innovation: Study of tension between preserving traditional Panjabi styles (kurta, shalwar, Punjabi jutti) and the adoption of globalised, western fashion trends amongst the youth.

Deep Dive: Subculture Styles

• Punjabi Hip-Hop Subculture: A rapidly growing subculture, where fashion statements often include elements such as oversized clothing, gold jewellery, streetwear brands, and traditional Punjabi attire to create a unique blend.

• Punjabi Folk and Bhangra Subcultures: These subcultures link fashion to traditional Punjabi culture. Elements such as Phulkari embroidery, Patiala shahi turbans, and traditional dance attire are common.

Critical Evaluation

• Consumerism and Materialism: Consider the implications of a consumer-driven fashion culture, the association of brands with status, and the materialistic values it may potentially foster among the youth.

• Sustainability: Evaluation on the impact of fashion trends on environmental sustainability, particularly in light of fast fashion and its contribution to environmental devastation.

• Work Conditions: The ethical implications tied with cheap, fast fashion such as child labour, poor factory conditions, and unlivable wages in some parts of the world, including Punjab.