Vogue: Anna Wintour and Political Fashion | Joseph Weissman In 2010, Syria was perceived by much of the Left, as a nice country helping the Palestinians, which is becoming modern, has an English connection, and is generally a great place. In 2011, people began to realise that Syria is actually quite nasty, because it has a murderous dictator who frequently committed massacres and war crimes. It is tough to keep up with fashion trends - none more so in politics. Vogue magazine ought to be a leader in the world of fashion and style, yet it was caught out in 2011 when it tried to portray the Assad family as a modern, open, 21st century family. "glamorous, young, and very chic--the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies...a thin, long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement." Last year, Vogue published the infamous "Rose in the Desert" piece on Asma al-Assad, in February 2011. Vogue deleted the article after noon on the 30 April 2011, over a month after publishing the piece.
Why Brexit is good for the fashion industry | British GQ On the eve of the EU referendum in June during London Collections Men it wasn’t hard to gauge which direction the fashion pack was leaning. Unsurprisingly, thanks to factors such as the EU support of many of the initiatives of the British Fashion Council (BFF) and the fact that myriad young designers work with factories and suppliers from Lithuania to Lisbon, the community is an outward-looking and inclusive bunch. Indeed, during the campaign the BFC reported that of the near-500 designers it polled, 90 per cent planned to vote for Remain. Now the world has changed and in the face of a probable Brexit, whatever individual’s feelings may be the UK fashion industry has to start accentuating the positive. An obvious short-term silver lining is the weakness of sterling on the international markets has made London a bargain bonanza for shoppers paying in dollars, euros and yuans while reports are that e-tailing is booming. Astonishingly, the effects were almost instantaneous.
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. Yet while it may look like a big party to outsiders, the week is a crucial one for the industry. Some catwalk fashions may seem outlandish or frivolous.... Trickle-down trends “Start Quote
Fashion’s most iconic political statements As the date of the UK election draws nearer, politicians have turned their attention to fashion and pop culture in an attempt to wrest the youth vote. David Cameron has claimed Kardashian kinship, Nick Clegg has starred in an “Uptown Funk” election anthem, and the Labour Party has channelled Katharine Hamnett with their “Hell Yes” slogan tee. These recent antics come as no surprise – fashion and politics have long been linked. Last week we paid tribute to Dame Vivienne Westwood’s best protests, one of the great masters of using fashion as a vehicle for social commentary. Now we turn our attention to other designers who have used their clothes to shine a spotlight on important issues. From men’s skirts, anti-terrorist slogans and Pussy Riot films, to penises on the catwalk, feminist runway protests and reflections on wartime hardships, here are the most memorable political statements in fashion history.
The seaside fashion shows Politics is all style and no substance, right? Well maybe, but at least at this year's party conferences there was a bit of style on show. It's been a competitive time in the party politics and fashion stakes. And it's been confusing for newspaper readers who, deluged with fashion images and acres of copy from places as diverse as Blackpool, Milan, Brighton, Bournemouth and Paris in the last few weeks couldn't work out what was truly in style. The messages, most of which they'd heard before, were as confusing as ever. This is what happens when the much reported Party Conferences collide with the much reported International Fashion Collections. There was a moment this week when I picked up an evening paper and thought God knows the Tories are desperate but the purple exposed nipple on the little beige two-piece outfit just is vulgar and silly and frankly isn't going to win them any votes. Betsy Duncan Smith - a dead ringer for elegant Lady Helen Taylor - looked ravishing every day.
People and Politics at Prada | Fashion Show Review, Ready-to-Wear - Autumn 2016 | BoF MILAN, Italy — For all that it was a triumphant return to form, Miuccia Prada's menswear show in January turned out to be a mere appetiser for the deeper, richer women's collection she showed tonight. That was partly a reflection of her own feelings: "A woman is so much more complex than a man. She has to be a mother, a lover, a worker, a beauty..." But it was the way the clothes mirrored those multi-facets — and the emotional states that accompany them — that made the show a tour de force. Longtime collaborator Frederic Sanchez’s soundtrack of female singers ran a full drenching gamut, from the fierceness of PJ Harvey, to the pain of Piaf to the chill anomie of Nico, by way of sterling accompaniment. Tears flowed backstage. Her men were mariners, drifters. Some had tiny, padlocked books slung round their necks like pendants. Why? On her catwalk, Mrs P. offered her own vision of a polarised world: the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor.
The Political Logic Behind Hillary’s Horrible ‘Pantsuit T-Shirt’ | News & Analysis CHICAGO, United States — By at least one metric—fashion—Hillary Clinton’s campaign appears to be off to a terrible start. Last week, Twitter was abuzz with pics of the “Hillary Pantsuit T-Shirt,” a fashion travesty currently selling for $30 a pop on her campaign website. Of course, no one would don a pantsuit T-shirt expecting to look beautiful—the purpose is entirely ironic. But behind the tacky campaign merchandise lies an economic and political strategy, pioneered by the Obama reelection campaign, which Clinton is imitating. In 2012, at the behest of Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Obama’s campaign manager, Jim Messina, agreed to produce an Obama fashion line that eventually came to include everything from Tory Burch handbags ($75) to Thakoon Panichgul scarves ($95). It worked. But the merch team made a surprising discovery: It was often the tackiest stuff that sold the best. Clinton may eschew the idea that she’s running for Obama’s third term. By Joshua Green; editor: John Homans.
Political Movements in Fashion Can fashion have a political conscience? The question is a recurring one, and the answers are all too often clichéd. Examples of the industry’s insensitivity and lack of sympathy (or knowledge) towards social and political realities surface regularly in the media, and stories about blackface editorials and articles praising the “beauty” and “philanthropy” of the wives of Middle East dictators make the movie Zoolander look like a realistic take on the fashion world. However (and contrary to popular belief) fashion is just as often used as a social commentary. When, in 1906, Paul Poiret freed women from the corset, the couturier was immediately hailed as a pioneer of the Women’s Liberation Movement. "In an ultra-connected world where news goes instantly global thanks to the Internet, it has become impossible for designers to ignore their political conscience" “I’m not politically outspoken but I make statements regularly in my work” — Pam Hogg But do any of these questions have an answer?
From the Archives: Political Powerhouses in Vogue As the U.S. team heads to Rio in pursuit of its sixth back-to-back gold, all eyes are on Elena Delle Donne. By the time their daughter was standing two heads above her fellow kindergartners, Elena Delle Donne’s parents knew she was an unusual child, and were not terribly surprised when, aged ten, Elena joined a basketball team and led it to place third in the national championships. Recently voted Most Valuable Player of the Women’s National Basketball Association, Elena is currently poised to lead the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team to collect its sixth consecutive gold in Rio. “She is a once-in-a generation type of player,” says NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum. “She’s a Steph Curry.” In an unlikely twist for somebody with Marvel-comic physical gifts, Elena’s life has also been shaped by extreme physical disability. The two sisters are extraordinarily close, often literally so. After lunch, mother and daughter retreat to the Delle Donnes’ 35-acre, multi-home property.
Fashion, Politics to Dedicate 2017 to Women - ASHARQ AL-AWSAT Haute Couture Autumn Winter 2016-17 by Lebanese international fashion designer Elie Saab. London-While all Parisians have transformed into political analysts talking about Brexit and its repercussions on lifestyle and fashion, fashion designers and the U.K. said that the coming years will be dedicated to women. Britain has made its decision and appointed a woman, “Theresa May,” as a prime minister for the first time since Thatcher. Fashion, on the other hand, celebrated femininity through romantic outfits shining with optimism, drifting away from a reality burdened by economic regression and terrorist attacks around the world. The fashion shows of Dior, Atelier Versace, Armani, Ralph & Russo, Giambattista Valli, Elie Saab and others have transformed Paris into an oasis to escape; not only from the sad, complicated reality, but also from the trending “sports fashion”. Inspired by the fifties, designers have gone above and beyond to meet the demands of today’s classic women. Related