Fashion can be the ultimate form of self-expression. For many, it’s the manner in which we choose to present ourselves to the public. With so many different colors, styles, and options, the clothing world beams with possibility. Throughout history we’ve seen that fashion can be utilized for a variety of purposes, including conveying political messages, displaying social status, or making a cultural statement. In this way the industry of fashion, and those who create within it, have the opportunity to use fashion as a tool for advocacy.
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I was able to speak with Rachel Kinnard who is a faculty member in the Center for Creative and Cultural Industries here at Chapman. Graduating with both a BFA and an MA from the Parsons School of Design, Professor Kinnard is uniquely suited to speak on the subject of fashion and activism. She has worked as an educator, cultural producer and clothing designer, in the fashion industry. This eclectic background and experience has lead to collaborations with filmmakers, photographers, technologists, and activists. Professor Kinnard emphasized that fashion activism can really mean multiple things. It can allude to acts of activism within the fashion industry, but it also can point to those who use the garments themselves as a form of activism. Though the intent behind these is often similar, the two branches of activism can be quite different in implementation.
Let's begin by discussing activism within the fashion industry. As of 2023, The fashion sector is currently valued as a $1.7 trillion dollar industry which employs approximately 430 million people world wide. With that much money at stake, it is not a surprise that around the globe unethical corporate practices around fashion have been able to develop and in some cases thrive. It is well noted even within the United States, by such industry groups as models and garment workers, that the fashion industry can be exploitative. It should be noted however that there are individuals and groups that are using activism to make a positive societal change across the fashion industry for the groups that have been exploited and abused. Sara Ziff, an American model and the founder of Model Alliance, has been steadfastly advocating for fairness in the modeling industry over the past number of years.
Model Alliance was instrumental in passing the Child Model Act of 2013.
Prior to that children working in the modeling industry in the state of New York did not have the same protections as other child artists, which could include limiting working hours for child models, and protection against sexual abuse. Model Alliance worked with former New York State senators at the time to present legislation that was designed to provide child models with the same rights as other child performers.
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Following the passing of the Child Model Act on November 20th, 2013, Model Alliance has continued their commitment to improve the fashion industry. In November 2020 Model Alliance published a study titled the Disordered Eating Behaviors and Sexual Objectification During New York Fashion Week. The study, which was produced in collaboration with researchers from Northeastern University, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Lapeyronie University in France, was designed with the intent of evaluating if new policies regarding protections for models were proving successful upon implementation. Model Alliance hopes that with their and others' continued advocacy in the global fashion industry, the next ten years could see the end of the egregious abuses that models have faced to date.
Still, there are other abuses being perpetuated within the fashion industry that need to be addressed. In order to sell apparel in its quickest and cheapest form, employees frequently suffer abuse at the hands of their employers. Wage theft and extreme poverty pay are exceedingly prevalent in the United States. Research supporting the FABRIC Act found, “While many American garment workers earn a middle class living, as a group they still suffer the second-highest rate of wage theft of all workers, with some earning as little as $2.68 an hour, far below the federal minimum wage. Some factories abuse the piece rate system of pay, by which workers earn pennies per garment sewn rather than the minimum wage.”The fashion industry in the United States is almost exclusively privatized meaning that depending on what state the business is registered to and set up in, different wages and regulations may apply, and with this there has also been no shortage of worker abuse. Garment workers unions have long been in existence but can vary in power and number by region. To try and address the matter from a top down approach current New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the former Representative for New York’s 12th congressional district, Carolyn Maloney introduced The Fashioning Accountability and Building Real Institutional Change Act (FABRIC Act)on May 12, 2022 . The FABRIC Act would safeguard garment workers across the United States by ensuring fair compensation, placing workplace protections, and increasing transparency of brand practices. The FABRIC Act website encourages the public to think about reform within the industry with the goal of creating jobs with dignity, because as they state, “We all wear clothes. Where and how they’re made matters.”
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Moving on to fashion as a form of activism. The ubiquitousness of global fashion, can lend itself to a strategy for advocacy. People see the same slogans and marketing campaigns repeated all over the world, this repeated exposure can in theory be used to enlighten the public to inequities and even atrocities happening not only in the fashion industries, but the creative industries at large. In addition, a style of dress may be adopted by a group in support of a political or social movement. In this way an individual may visually share their political opinion without verbally commenting on it.
An example of this could be seen in 2017, when the state of Texas introduced Senate Bill 4, which targeted Latinos and abolished sanctuary cities' ability to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation. Fifteen young Latina women inspired multitudes when they dressed in quinceañera gowns to march down the steps of the Texas capitol building to protest this discriminatory law. In many Hispanic cultures the quinceañera gown is significant because it is part of celebrating the milestone for young women where they begin moving from girlhood to womanhood at their fifteenth birthday. This spectacular cultural protest used a colorful Mexican tradition to speak out against injustice.
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Another example is the shirts we’ve all seen with phrases such as Time’s Up and Vote. These messages urge us to consider the subject and realize that the words on a shirt can become something much more powerful than a slogan. Since fashion transcends the boundaries of a wide range of industries it allows popular campaigns to reach a much wider audience. Statements like these are used to raise awareness about a range of political, social, and economic topics. One such example is the gown designed by Brother Vellies that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore to the 2021 Metgala. The white couture gown featured the words “Tax the Rich”printed across it in bright red. AOC is known for aggressively tackling social and political issues, so her choice to use this article of fashion at the singular fashion event of the year to raise awareness of wealth inequality was not out of character. Despite the criticism she received, it could be claimed that her message was successful. It sparked conversation.
Professor Kinnard notes that due to the internet's influence over globalization it has made it possible for us to stand in solidarity with people all around the world. The Green Wave was a pro-safe abortion campaign that had its start in Argentina where participants made a statement by donning green clothing. The movement shook the nations of Latin America and even achieved its full potential in Mexico. After years of fighting for abortion rights, Mexican law makers finally legalized abortion in a country not known for women's equality.
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As long as people have been able to effect social and political change, fashion has served them as a tool of activism. Fashion has a long history of playing a part in social and political change. A garment can come to represent more than a style. Color and details can have layered meanings. Gold, white and Purple worn on the streets of England in the early twentieth century would have certainly alluded to support of women’s suffrage. Within recent years you might have seen women in the US dawning power suits exercising their right to vote and known that it was a dig at the patriarchy.
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But what’s next both for activists and the fashion industry itself? What direction is this global behemoth of commerce headed? And more importantly, what role do we have to play in the future of this creative industry and how it treats the creatives that work within it? Whatever that may be, it is certain that fashion will play a part in its own critique.