Fashion Politics: Fashion as a Voice for Change? The UK’s General Election is fast approaching.
In the build up to 7th May, we’ll be discussing fashion and politics – two subjects some people may not expect to hear in the same sentence. We’re going to be thinking style AND substance, to talk about what role fashion can play in politics and why fashion matters. We’ll also be giving tips for the fashion conscious and politically conscious about voting and how to get involved in the issues which matter to you.
‘I Stood Up’, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion and students from LCF talk fashion and politics at the House of Lords. It’s time to consider: how can fashion be a force to better in all of our lives – from the wearer to the producer? Only last month, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) placed the spotlight on fashion’s ability to be a voice for change with ‘I Stood Up’. Anna Fitzpatrick from the CSF told us about the event and what it inspired: Topshop Gets Called Out For Unrealistic Mannequin Body Standards.
By now, it seems as if most retailers have been involved in some sort of controversy.
And while some have been because of tasteless graphics, or hypersexualized advertisements, one thing we continue to see over and over again—and frankly, we're tired of it—is the ridiculous body standards reinforced by the mannequins that model the clothing. Topshop, the popular British brand that boasts collaborations with stars like Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevingne, has come under fire after a shopper noticed that the store's mannequin had extremely thin legs. The mannequin was wearing the retailer's popular "Jamie" jeans, and the shopper, Laura Berry, voiced her concerns that the figure was not an accurate representation of the average female form.
"Perhaps it's about time you became responsible for the impression you have on women and young girls and helped them feel good about themselves rather than impose these ridiculous standards," Berry wrote in a post on Topshop's Facebook page. Debate: Does Fashion Have A Place In Politics? Dress codes: can there be a productive relationship between politics and fashion? Is Margaret Atwood a feminist?
That’s what I’m trying to work out during our lamentably brief time together squished around a table in the back of a promotional booth at a comics convention in California. Obviously, you might roll your eyes, Have you read The Handmaid’s Tale? Certainly among fourth wave feminists, many of whom, in the UK at least, studied the book as part of the National Curriculum at A-level, Atwood is lionised, especially on Twitter, where she enthusiastically interacts with her 1.27 million followers on a regular basis. But what many of them forget is that Atwood, who is now 76, grew up on the cusp between first and second wave feminism, a time when women were fighting for tangible goals such control over their reproductive rights rather than the right to publish nude selfies without criticism.
“I, as a female person, don’t have any trouble reading Moby Dick. “Wonder Woman was read by everybody,” she continues. Angel Catbird is out in the UK on 8 September. Is Fashion a Credible Platform for Protest? LONDON, United Kingdom — Last week in Paris, Chanel appropriated the visual signifiers of feminist protest for its seasonal runway show.
In a finale led by Karl Lagerfeld, a bevy of supermodels took to a catwalk christened “Boulevard Chanel” holding signs with slogans such as “History is Her Story,” “Make Fashion Not War,” and “Tweed Is Better Than Tweet.” On the same day in Hong Kong, a genuine protest was underway. Protesting for the right to democratically elect a candidate of their own choosing, tens of thousands of Hong Kongers formed crowds that throbbed and swelled in the city’s streets. Playing out against this backdrop, the “faux-test” staged on Boulevard Chanel rang especially hollow, repackaging political riot as a light-hearted, Instagram-savvy performance.
The show did, however, demonstrate the power of high profile runway events to attract enormous media attention. We think it can. Sometimes, the brands that support real causes are the ones that don’t shout about it. London Fashion Week 2015: From catwalk to High Street. 24 February 2015Last updated at 19:03 ET By Harriet Hall BBC News Inside London Fashion Week Twice a year, London's grand neoclassical Somerset House, welcomes a tumult of fashion designers and their models dressed in their finest gladrags.
The courtyard becomes the centre of London Fashion Week - a far cry from the building's sober past as home to the Inland Revenue. This year sees the event's 61st year, during which more than 250 designers will showcase their collections for autumn and winter to a global audience. For those outside the fashion industry, it can be difficult to appreciate why this week is so important. Indeed, watching the crowds teetering on vertiginous heels, heads topped with designer sunglasses, arms toting handbags and hands clutching smartphones, it is easy to understand why.