ISSUE 01
the social identity issue
“Just about managing”
We need to realise that value does not lie in the value of the clothes we wear but in the individuals themselves.
Creative director ELLE ROBINSON featuring BETH MARIE BOMAN wearing [shoes] REEBOK CLASSICS [jacket] ADIDAS
The working class are castigated with labels from rude boys and chavs to lager louts and hoodies, yet the fashion industry continues to rip off their inherited styles for profit. It’s time to give credit where credit is due and put a stop to the appropriation of working class culture. What is fashion for if not to inspire, borrow and reinvent? However, class is not a costume, it cannot be borrowed nor reinvented. According to Alexander McQueen, the fashion industry considers clothes of other cultures as “costumes.”“That’s mundane and it’s old hat, let’s break down some barriers,” he said. Today, modern fashion continues to take aspects of working class culture with little acknowledgement of heritage. Recognised in one form or another since the 80s, the working class have been influencing the very sector of society that so openly disdains them. The success of designers such as Nasir Mahzar and Astrid Anderson have emancipated the high fashion circuit, and now wearing a tracksuit and trainers is considered stylish, as opposed to ‘chav’. Whether it’s through the rebellious UK punk scene reinvented by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren,
Gosha Rubchinsky promoting his brand using jeans tucked into socks, Britpop, lad culture, the 90s revival or the ‘sports luxe’ trend, the working class are at the forefront of the high fashion scene. In spite of this, they are categorised as merely inspiration, as opposed to outright trendsetters. Thanks to fashion’s blessing, edge is now prized over elegance, overlooking the fact it is a product of the grit and resilience of the working class. Class is not a product for fashion to deem ‘on’ or ‘off’ trend, yet overnight, views of the working class have transformed from ‘scum of the earth’ to ‘salt of the earth’ in fashion’s opinion, throwing fashion’s credibility into doubt. “Business is something we can’t escape, we all need money, but there is a certain level of respect that needs to be given to the originators of it all,” says Frendy Lemorin,
“Buisness is something we can’t escape, we all need money, but there is a certain level of respect that needs to be given to the originators of it all”
‘ in an industry Inequality is everywhere, and so focused on aspiration, even the prejudices have become unequal, with snobbery too often overlooked by an industry, ironically, so focused on wealth. “You only have to look at everyone wearing jeans to see our influence. a New-York-based fashion and culture blogger, We were the influences - just working “They are dictating everything, setting class lads from a council estate, we were trends in fashion to revamping outdated influencing whole communities and even business models. What a time to be alive!” generations to come” says Brian Robinson, a 51-year-old painter from Liverpool. Certain aspects of communities have been latched onto by the fashion industry creating Dating back to Cinderella when all it took a blurred line between appreciation and was a change of dress to be elevated, blind appropriation of culture. Class is not clothing has created unwanted class something you can try on, it is a way of life, divides. From Jeremy Kyle to Little Britain’s yet for decades the working class has been Vicky Pollard, the working class have been abused by the industry and used as a prop to reduced to one hate-filled word ‘chav’. propel the elite. “If you have a model in an expensive dress standing on a construction Yet today, with street wear back in abundance, site, it’s clearly stating the message that the the working class style once deemed as garment will make the purchaser seem way ‘scally’ is now respected and flaunted by the more superior than the mere ‘peasants’ upper class. It wasn’t long ago that these working blue collar jobs” says Frendy. British youths nearly crippled elitist Burberry.
“We created our swag with whatever we had, making the best of everything in life, not only in a fashion sense”
Nowadays, high fashion is making way for new age of ‘chav’ the ‘Roadman’ a term once used to describe a drug dealer is now considered ‘spot on trend’.
Vetements tracksuits, to a £100 plain white Yeezy T-shirt. The industry has does nothing to acknowledge the true cultural roots, causing the clothes to become out of touch with their originators. “If the product 20-year-old painter Yozza (Gary Hughes), represents an aspect of the working class, from Liverpool, says “It’s a uniform, a then unique looking individuals from that street uniform. All lads wear it, the same particular group should be showcased. way the police wear their uniform. This They have to give back to the communities is something to be proud of, it shouldn’t they were inspired by,” says Frendy. be disrespected by people who have never walked in our shoes. Like when The fashion industry sells the idea of you see a kid who’s been to private “yeah you look cool but remember your school and spent ridiculous amounts place,” explains Brian. “In the 80s, there of money to look like he’s signing up was a massive north/south divide, with for the dole. It’s disrespectful because high unemployment in the north and they don’t get stereotyped like we do.” not in the south. We’d go the match on a Saturday and they’d wave ten and twenty Frendy explains: “We created our swag pound notes at us, so we made it our with whatever we had, making the best mission to wear the best gear. We were of everything in life, not only in a fashion there to assert our identity, putting our sense.” Sadly, this notion has dissolved stamp on a south more concerned with into a price tag with the explosion of high price tags than the rawness of clothes. fashion street wear ranging from £600
“You only have to look at everyone wearing jeans to see our influence, we were the influences - just working class lads from a council estate, we were influencing whole communities and even generations to come�
“We went in a heartbeat from bombers and boots to lemon tracksuits. They took our style and attempted to put their twist on things, it didn’t work, it was too pristine. Our style was street, but the best of the street. They see these trends set through the working class, even now, they recognise were doing something cool but say it’s not cool enough, until they make it their own. It happened back then and it’s happening now.” It is not that we shouldn’t wear these trends, we absolutely should, but moreover we should be proud to
wear them and celebrate their origins and culture. When we live in a world of widening class inequality, we need to have empathy with the social and political roots of how we dress. Fearing a further political move to the right, the fashion industry has a pivotal role to play in eradicating class inequality, blending boundaries as opposed to creating them and in doing so, actively becoming part of the solution.
TEXT ELLE ROBINSON
Our Style
street.
was street but the best of
Creative Director ELLE ROBINSON featuring CHRISTIAN ATHERTON ADAM WEBB SEB PRAXITELOUS LUKE RYAN AARON DYSON ERIN SCOTT SAMANTHA THOMAS MOLLIE MCNICHOLAS wearing ADIDAS ELLESSE LACOSTE KAPPA HUMMLE DKNY ADMIRAL POLO JEANS CO.
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