American Jeans As Harbinger of Peace?
What the diplomats and politicians can't accomplish, perhaps teen fashion will. Anti-American sentiment may be running rampant in the Middle East, but Middle Eastern teens are buying American clothes. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Tween Brands has started opening Limited Too stores in the Middle East, including 5 in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia and birthplace of al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden. With a Kuwaiti partner, Limited Too operates 19 stores in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates with more planned.
We've seen it happen before. American jeans fascinated Soviet teens, leading to an increasing appreciation of Western culture despite the cold war. It's a little hard to push the "Evil American" line when your country's youth are clamoring for American brands. Limited Too caters to girls ages 7 to 14, an age when Middle Eastern girls typically wear jeans and shirts on the street. Older teens and women wear full-length coverups and head scarves in public, but may wear whatever they want with friends and family.
American clothing is well-made and has an undeniable coolness factor. Fashion may represent only a toe-hold of changing attitudes, but it is a beginning. The Middle East is slowly embracing western ideas. Music, fashion and fast food are the front runners of change. The younger generation that embraces them will be more disposed to other western ideas in the future. Change is coming to the Middle East. Slowly, surely, unstoppable. Today it's American jeans; tomorrow it may be detente with Israel.
We've seen it happen before. American jeans fascinated Soviet teens, leading to an increasing appreciation of Western culture despite the cold war. It's a little hard to push the "Evil American" line when your country's youth are clamoring for American brands. Limited Too caters to girls ages 7 to 14, an age when Middle Eastern girls typically wear jeans and shirts on the street. Older teens and women wear full-length coverups and head scarves in public, but may wear whatever they want with friends and family.
American clothing is well-made and has an undeniable coolness factor. Fashion may represent only a toe-hold of changing attitudes, but it is a beginning. The Middle East is slowly embracing western ideas. Music, fashion and fast food are the front runners of change. The younger generation that embraces them will be more disposed to other western ideas in the future. Change is coming to the Middle East. Slowly, surely, unstoppable. Today it's American jeans; tomorrow it may be detente with Israel.
