To drive change & bring fashion into the 21st Century
London, United Kingdom
Fashion is political. The gender queer uses it to challenge our conceptions of gender. Feminists have used it to re-assert their control over their bodies. Activists have used it to push the boundaries of sex and sexuality. Natalie Portman used it to make a statement about sexism at the Oscars. In recognition of this, activists are increasingly turning their ire on un-inclusive brands and labels. Equally, as companies have rushed to adapt to the world’s growing social consciousness, embracing woke causes, questions have begun to be asked about their motivations.
If the rainbow flags that engulf the major stores on Regent Street during pride month are motivated by a genuine sense of solidarity with the LGTBQ+ movement or by the profits they can extract from them. London Pride does not go by without an ever-growing debate about its commercialisation. There is a debate to be had over the morality of fashion brands pursuing woke causes in order to win over millennials or liberals or the pink pound but is it a debate worth having or a fact worth harnessing? Perhaps as consumers, rather than question whether brands are aligning with causes for the right reasons, we should use the fact they are to drive more to do so.
How, you ask? By choosing where we spend our money! So next time you go into a clothing store take a moment and look at the mannequins, the advertising, the store itself and:
“Ask yourself is that a conception of beauty you are happy with, look at the models and ask if they represent you. Are the clothes environmentally friendly? Are they accessible? Is the store accessible?”
Fashion is political, the clothes we wear say something about who we are and the brands we shop at say something about the values we hold dear and if you want brands to change - let them know. You can write to them, tweet at them, start a petition online, even boycott them. You can be the change you want to see in the world, you can drive that change. It is not just leading fashion brands that have a responsibility to be inclusive and forward thinking, we to, as consumers, have a responsibility to reward the brands that hold our values and encourage those that do not to embrace them. In the age of social media and the internet, individuals have the power to drive change like never before, to start movements and to bring backwards brands into the 21st Century.
All of us have the power to drive change because as consumers we have the power to decide where we spend our money. So, it’s great to question the morality of why some brands embrace causes but perhaps it would be better to question the morality of which brands you chose to spend your money on. So that the brands that thrive are the ones that are inclusive. Because it doesn’t matter what their reasoning for doing so is, ethical or not, the end result is the same. The New Edit embraces this mantra through the designers it lists and by providing a platform for a diverse and inclusive range of voices with the values we hold dear.
Samson Royston, February 2020
