Culture isn’t a colour palette. It isn’t a costume. And it definitely isn’t a seasonal trend.
Yet time and time again, fashion treats culture like a mood board — something to borrow, remix, and discard once it stops selling. The problem isn’t inspiration. The problem is extraction without understanding.
When fashion gets culture wrong, it doesn’t just miss the mark — it erases meaning.
Culture Without Context Is Just Decoration
Too often, cultural elements are lifted for aesthetics while the people and stories behind them are ignored. Symbols get stripped of history. Language gets softened. Meaning gets diluted until it’s “safe” enough to sell.
What’s left looks nice — but feels empty.
Culture is lived. It’s layered. It carries humour, struggle, pride, contradiction, and history all at once. When those layers are removed, representation becomes shallow, and people feel it immediately.
Why It Hits Harder Than People Think
For communities that have spent years being misunderstood, misrepresented, or overlooked, seeing culture flattened into a trend isn’t flattering — it’s exhausting.
It sends a message:
We like the look, but not the lived experience.
That disconnect matters. Because culture isn’t just what people wear — it’s how they survive, communicate, and see themselves reflected in the world.
The Difference Between Influence and Exploitation
There’s a difference between being inspired by culture and exploiting it.
Influence comes with respect.
Exploitation comes with shortcuts.
Respect means listening. It means understanding context. It means knowing when something isn’t yours to simplify or sell. Exploitation takes the surface, ignores the substance, and moves on once the trend fades.
And people notice.
Why Honest Representation Matters
When culture is represented honestly, it builds trust. It creates connection. It allows people to see themselves without distortion or performance.
Honest representation doesn’t need permission. It doesn’t need to be explained. It just exists — confidently and unapologetically.
That’s why it matters who tells the story, how it’s told, and who benefits from it.
Choosing Better Isn’t Complicated
Fashion doesn’t need to stop engaging with culture. It needs to engage better.
That means:
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Giving credit where it’s due
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Creating space for lived voices
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Avoiding stereotypes and shortcuts
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Understanding that culture isn’t universal or interchangeable
Doing it right isn’t about perfection. It’s about intention.
Why We Do It Differently
At SKUNTVILLE, culture isn’t something we borrow — it’s something we live. The humour, the honesty, the edge — it comes from experience, not observation.
We don’t clean it up to make it easier to digest. We don’t soften it for trends. We don’t translate it for comfort.
Because culture doesn’t need to be “fixed” to be fashionable.
It Matters Because People Matter
When fashion gets culture right, people feel seen.
When it gets it wrong, people feel erased.
And that difference is everything.
Caribbean Energy. Unfiltered.™