Saudi Arabia celebrate Valentine’s Day or Valentine in a different way. They roll up displaying underwear (lingerie) is red in the shop window.
Ahead of Valentine’s Day, sales of colored clothes increased. However, not a single word ‘Valentine’ appears in the midst of this phenomenon.
“The management has asked us to decorate the window displays with red lingerie, but without any Valentine’s Day devotion anywhere,” said a salesman at one of the malls in Riyadh, who did not want to be named, citing AFP.
“We can now place the red shirt comfortably, and even see it in the window view,” said another seller.
According to him, many consumers ask for red lingerie on Valentine’s Day.
“We are giving a discount at this time, but we are not mentioning it as a Valentine’s Day promo,” said the seller.
However, not everyone is comfortable with the display of red clothes in shop windows.
“This [lingerie merah yang dipajang] bothering me. But, there are people who like it, and this is a freedom of their choice,” said one woman, who also asked not to be named.
Traditionally, Saudi Arabia does not celebrate Valentine’s Day. However, recently many people have begun to celebrate it.
“There is a lot of demand for underwear in this Valentine’s Day period, and consumers sometimes ask for red clothes,” said one seller, Khuloud.
This saleswoman also said lingerie Red is the most sought after during the Valentine period. The shops also offer discounts on perfumes and makeup.
One of the buyers, Reem Al-Qahtani said, Saudi Arabian people are slowly accepting Valentine’s Day, although not explicitly. They just celebrate it, without calling it Valentine’s Day.
“Right now, we are celebrating [Valentine] quietly in cafes and restaurants, but we hope it will gain traction in the next few years.”
Previously, Saudi Arabia was known to be quite strict against Valentine’s Day celebrations. The religious police have even cracked down on sales of Valentine’s Day paraphernalia and people wearing red clothes.
(asr/asr)
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