Arab designers stitch together uniform for fresh identities

What we wear says something about us. What style says, however, is not entirely up to us. Cheap garments communicate poverty but even the aspirational brands worn by the working class often underline class rank. In the 90s, the popularity of Lacoste among the French lower class, especially those of North African heritage, transformed the brand into a kind of uniform for the immigrant banlieues and reinforced, rather than masked, marginalisation. Style can convey wealth, aspiration, and exclusivity. Multinational brands, however, have made the primary purpose of style more elusive: the sense of…

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