COMMON PEOPLE - The fetishisation of the Working Class

1

I WANNA LIVE LIKE COMMON PEOPLE fashion’s fetishisation of the working class

contents

2

06 tracksuits 07: the working class aesthetic 08: celebrity influence

09 04 introduction 04: overview 05: what is a ‘chav’?

conspicuous consumerism 08: burberry 09: gosha rubchinskiy 11: dean davies

3

15 workwear 16: anti-thesis of high fashion 18: carhartt 19: uniform 20: calvin klein

21 poverty porn 22: rob bremner 23: ‘teenage kicks’ elle

magazine march 2021

25 hello, my name is capitalism 26: gosha rubchinskiy ss18 27: vetements ss20

404

overview Young and influential designers are beginning to unapologetically borrow from the working class aesthetic and changing patterns within consumption have resulted in designers now actually fetishising said working class.

Many romanticise the working class, seeing it as a pure, anti-establishment full of people who have not been sold or bought. They are seen as people who will fight the system and claim what is theirs, unlike the jaded middle class.

505

chav noun [ C ] UK informal /tʃʃæv/ an insulting word for someone, usually a young person, whose way of dressing, speaking, and behaving is thought to show their lack of education and low social class.

6 06

tracksuits

707

the working class aesthetic These days, tracksuits are a trend-led staple but years ago those who now lust after the latest Nike tracksuit wouldn’t have been caught dead in one. Those who did not sport them were negatively stereotyped. But whether you were called a chav, hood or threatening, the sentiment towards trackie wearers was clear unless, that is, you had hundreds to splash out on a designer tracksuit.

This Is The Uniform SS16 campaign

If you were visibly affluent, you avoided those stereotypes. Now, this false urban working class aesthetic is being monetised, with labels and celebrities adopting the idea that ‘slumming it’ and appearing poorer than you are is cool.

808

celebrity influence It appears as though that many new modern trends have seemingly made fashions and practices, that were, and still are crticised for their working-class connotations, are now praised for their stylish aesthetic when worn by those who are not themselves working class and make appearances in high-fashion publications such as Vogue.

For instance, tracksuit bottoms, which are often labelled as ‘chavvy’ can now be worn by Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Billie Eilish and are described as “high-fashion”.

909

conspicuous consumerism

10 10

burberry The pinnacle of this reworking and reappropriation process of its origins arrived totally unexpected in Christopher Bailey’s penultimate collection as creative director. For their FW17 show, he reversed the chav conception of the brand and instead celebrated its heritage by bringing back on the catwalk the beloved, but also hated, check pattern.

The tartan print covered caps, trenches, tote bags, sweaters, skirts and vests, becoming a sophisticated and upper-class pattern. The collection, one of the best-selling collections of all time, comes full circle: Bailey ended his path at Burberry with the same element he began with.

11 11

gosha rubchinskiy Christopher Bailey’s decision of coming to terms with the past, in particular with a culture initially seen as not “enough” for the higher fashion world, has an important effect also on other brands and designers.

For Gosha’s SS18 collection, the designs take inspiration from the football world and are essentially a love letter to the 90’s. The check pattern is back, on caps, polos, shorts, bomber jackets and trench coats.

Rubchinskiy first became familiar with the pattern, unjustly maligned in the UK for its associations with the working class, after seeing it in 90s club features in magazines like The Face. (Russia’s equivalent of the Burberry ‘chav’, the tracksuit-wearing ‘gopnik’, has been another identifiable influence in the designer’s output.)

His thought process for bringing it back? “St Petersburg was always like a window into western culture in Russia,” he explains. “So I started to think, ‘What was going on in England (during the 90s)? What was the most iconic thing?’

And, of course, it was Burberry. It worked perfectly with 90s nightclubbing and rave culture.”

Tom Emmerson / Gosha Rubchinskiy FW16

Gosha Rubchinskiy has always drawn inspiration from the post-Cold War Russia where he grew up, as well as youth culture & subcultures, sportswear & hooliganism.

12 12

Dean Davies: ‘Manchester Girls’ / 2019

13 13

people in the upper classes of society feel that they can pick from anything; that everything is available to them, and that there aren’t necessarily consequences.”

Emma McClendon

14 14

15 15

workwear

16 16

anti-thesis of high fashion In recent history, the upward flow theory which says that trends begin with younger, low-income groups are then adopted by high-income groups has become the most prevalent theory of fashion adoption.

But as the utility and workwear trend follows this pattern, it’s hard not to notice the irony in it. The trend is arguably the opposite of luxury high fashion. High fashions adoption of workwear juxtaposes symbols of blue-collar livelihoods into leisure for the rich.

Sirius Film (Danika Magdelena) @ Trellick Tower, London / PAUSE Mag (2016)

17 17

“high fashion is, at least recently, obsessed with authenticity ... it’s always fighting the sense that it’s an exclusive product for an exclusive group of people” - andrew luecke

carharrtt The Carhartt jacket is a piece that crosses socioeconomic, geographical and political lines and age demographics. Celebrities such as Kanye West, Kaia Gerber, Bella Hadid and Robert Pattinson are amongst the many that are frequently photographed in Carhartt branded clothing - the very same style worn by farmers and ranchers in rural America.

It appears extremely obvious that none of these high fashion spins on workwear are actually meant for labour.

The 2017 Carhartt x Vetements shirt jacket retails for just shy of $1,000.

‘Manchester by Me’ / 1-nf-diary (2012)

When high end brands (such as Vetements) capitalise on styles originally purposed for working class labour practice, it takes away from the often grueling work behind blue collar jobs and only makes light of the large economic gap between the working class and high fashion consumers who are most commonly upper class.

18 18

uniform The current utility/workwear trend has evolved into the adoption of what often resembles the highvis garments you might see on a construction site.

It seems as though that streetwear culture have taken elements from construction site styles with the adoption of utility vests, carpenter pants, cargo pockets, decorative hardware, reflective panels, and neon colour palettes.

19 19

20 20

calvin klein For their FW18 collection, Calvin Klein included a look inspired by the uniform of a fireman - a showcasing neon orange utility vests, coats and heavy-duty gloves and other personal protective equipment.

In recent history, the upward flow theory which says that trends begin with younger,

low-income groups are then adopted by highincome groups has become the most prevalent theory of fashion adoption.

But as the utility and workwear trend follows this pattern, it’s hard not to notice the irony in it. The trend is arguably the anti-thesis of luxury high fashion. High fashions adoption of workwear juxtaposes symbols of blue-collar livelihoods into leisure for the rich.

21 21

poverty porn

22 22

‘80s Liverpool Lads’ / Rob Bremner (1980s)

rob bremner British social and documentary photographer Rob Bremner started to photograph the Everton and Vauxhall areas of Liverpool during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, then the third most deprived area of Britain, being terrorized by recession and the brutality of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government.

His work at the time seemingly not only captured the mood of these times, but also the everyday life and spirit of the people.

They captured the crumbling infrastructure of a city, juxtaposed with the pride of its people in a time of turmoil.

With Rob being from a working-class background himself, it is mortifying and completely hypocritical of him to produce the photographs that he has for the March 2021 edition of Elle Magazine. In the images, the council estate is fetishised, and there seems to be complete lack of respect for what style & fashion means to working class kids. They’re searching for the sense of belonging or expression that they’ve never had to finely balance for fear of a kicking if it goes too far in one direction.

Using back drops of trouble and hardship to sell to consumers as a ‘trend’ within fashion editorial for monetary gain is apalling. The idea that poverty is an aesthetic or a trend, whilst paying over £1,180 for a jacket to look the right kind of ‘dishevelled’ is fetishisation at it’s finest - exploiting the working-class whilst simultaenously neglecting them from said trends due to their exclusive and absurd price tag.

23 23 19

24 24

25 25

hello, my name is capitalism

26 26

gosha rubchinskiy ss18

27 27

vetements ss20

28

THE CHIP STAINS AND GREASE WILL COME OUT IN THE BATH