Last week I encountered a tweet about 1794 French Guillotine earrings and a story about a Barney’s “Antifa” jacket from Alpha Industries selling for $375. I heard cheers for the first item and boos for the second. I had the same instinct, so it got me thinking why? Why is some political fashion celebrated and other items criticized? Can we have hand crafted political fashion in current times?
If we think about how wearable items were made in 1794, I have my first hint as to why this piece is different. Items were all hand made by the individual or by a crafts person. Clearly to have these earrings made you would need to have some money, so I would assume the owner was of the upper class. Where as now even high fashion goods like you would find in Barney’s are mass produced in factories. They may not be produced at the quantities that you would find in H&M, but it’s the same system of production. But again with a $375 price tag this piece isn’t for the majority of folks, at a time when the wealth gap is increasing with historic speed.
Starting with Vivienne Westwood putting the “protest T-shirt” on the runway in the late 70's, activist fashion at all price points has increased. Most major stores will have something from vaguely political “the future is female” to outright “destroy capitalism”. Which has lead to things like the tweet below. People (white people) adopting the clothing of resistance without the work and commitment to those principles.
I am trained as a fashion designer and have always experienced clothing as a way to express myself and views. I have often found myself defending high price tag items, and the weird fashion pieces in social justice circles. For garments to go from concept to execution, they pass through many hands and take a lot of labor. So, if I embody my commitment to workers dignity and yes even anti-capitalism, then I must support higher cost fashion.
But this jacket is cheap and insulting.
What sets these items apart for me is the craftsmanship involved. It’s the intimacy of the item, I know someone who took great pride in over throwing the French bourgeoisie crafted those earrings. And I can imagine wearing them like one would wear a Medal of Honor. But the jacket? It is cheap and insulting. It co-opts an on going movement and minimizes the way activists have hand crafted their own uniforms of resistance.
Whether made by an individual or organization I wonder can protest fashion exist without being inherently problematic? The thing that has changed in the last 200+ years is capitalism. And the way in which capitalism has learned to market movements back to themselves while continuing to stay in power.
I will buy a protest Tshirt from an organization, or individual doing resistance work. But I also know that act is problematic. The labor experience before arriving to said organization is typically over looked. Additionally, the minute an established brand or corporation sees an idea doing well they replicate it with little to no consequences. And we wind up seeing anti-racist shirts on white people using the N-word.
So far, despite a strong desire, I have left most making and selling of protest fashion alone. But I encourage everyone to pair up with a crafts person or use your own skills to create your own uniform of resistance that speaks to your beliefs, your heart, your victories.