The Old World

Before the Exodus, the world consisted of countless nation-states, with hundreds or thousands of years of history and culture. This was the Old World; a place of beauty and chaos, of war and inefficiencies, of nations and governments. To be frank, it was a mess. But now that time has passed, with most of humanity safely situated (or imprisoned, depending on your perspective) within Megacorpolis - efficient, tolerant, cosmopolitan, corporate Megacorpolis. Even so, the Old World remains, and people long for those days of sporadic wars, borders, and division. As with everything else, the corporations are happy to oblige the feeling of nostalgia for anyone who can pay for it.
Old World Merch is the shameless appropriation of cultures from around the world, from Europe to Africa to America and Asian. Nowhere is safe from the grasping talons of capitalism. Just because people can no longer go to most of those places doesn't mean those places can't come to people, for the low low price of $99.95! Yes, no matter what culture you're fascinated with, there's a brand from that. To Americana-Punk to Japan-themed, from Zulu-appropriated clothing lines and Egyptian-style make-up, the Old World is ripe for cultural plunder.
Fascination (and thus market trends) in different Old World cultures tends to come and go in waves as movies, games, and even books direct people's attention. This year, Bronze Age Ur is all the rage, and entire corproations have risen to prominence and profitability by riding the wave.
Most of the time, the obsession is pretty harmless, but every now and then someone gets the bright idea of resurrecting their particular piece of favorite soil. Such nationalist groups are a great way for Corps to first sell weapons, then sell security to whoever the groups decide to attack. The megacorporations themselves have no favorites - under the almighty dollar, all are equal(ly screwed).

by Midjourney