Ethnic influences on apparel design have become more popular recently. A lot of the patterns some retailers and designers are choosing to use are patterns from african, chinese, hispanic, and indian cultures. I think these different patterns are becoming so popular now is because eveyone is tired of seeing and wearing the same old things over and over. I think that these patterns and designs are not completly from other cultures but they have definetly inspired designs for apparel a great deal. I personally like the new patterns and have a few things that have ethnic patterns and I just think its really good to have variety in what you wear and what you see in stores; it keeps things a lot more exciting that way!