It's quite simple. You see as human beings we are constantly subjected to the idea that our lives are finite. A result of this combined with our self awareness is that humans can and will fall into a never-ending cycle of fear, hatred and depression over this inevitable and unavoidable fact. As such certain individuals find it helps to overcome these feelings by focusing their attentions on the acquisition of items that display certain positive traits as monetary worth and stylistic understanding. This is particularly prevelant in western countries as people's attentions are diverted away from everyday pursuits of survival since many have food, medicine and housing provided without much hardship or strife. In other words people are obsessed with clothing because it allows them to live their lives without falling into depression over death.