Powerful Protest Fashion

Protest fashion

HOW PROTEST FASHION PROMOTES CHANGE

Written by Zack Zens, Fashion Staff Writer Photographed by Luc Marchessault, Staff Photographer, and Claudia Chan, Contributing Photographer Modeled by Phoebe Smolan and Noah White Makeup by Riley August, Makeup Director

Protest fashion For as long as history has been recorded, humans have sought strength and protest through clothing, jewelry and other canons of fashion iconography. Fashion’s ties to the movements of humankind are so linked that their two forms are essentially indistinguishable from one another. Ultimately, protest fashion’s development and rise are starkly tied to the cultural, social, political and intellectual movements of its respective time. #The act of protesting is constantly evolving as the world’s tolerance for issues evolves and runs thin. From racial injustice to equal pay, protest fashion has always been at the forefront of movements for equality and change. Two branches have formed in protest of fashion’s evolution—namely, the practical and theoretical. Fashion has always been practically implemented, serving primarily as symbology for larger political, social or cultural movements. The practical nature of protest fashion is achieved through its iconography, whether it’s clothing, accessories or otherwise, these elements become a characterized symbol of larger political, social or cultural movements. The color white has been a tenant of practical protest fashion for centuries, rising most in prominence throughout the Women’s Suffrage Movement.1 The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, a foundational moment in the movement for women’s suffrage, saw many members wearing all white almost 60 years before wearing white clothes was normal and women’s suffrage gained national prominence.2 Just 50 years after women’s suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement began gaining traction, and with it, practical protest fashion in the form of formal dressing became a powerful symbol of Black resistance.3 The phrase “dressed to the nines” was coined because Black protesters would dress up in their best

¹ Irina Grechko, “From All-White To Sunday Best: The Meaning Behind A Century of Protest Uniforms,” Refinery 29, Sept. 1, 2020. ² Ibid. ³ Scarlett Newman, “A Brief History of Protest Fashion,” Teen Vogue, Nov. 27th, 2020.

clothes for sit-ins at “all-whites” facilities. This form of protest exemplifies the sheer cacophony of inequality present within the United States, then and now.4

Modern movements have continued in the tradition of practical protest fashion as a tool for communicating humanity and the need for change. The modern women’s equality movements have adopted a protest fashion, too. Notably, a pink knitted hat featured at the 2017 Women’s March, colloquially dubbed the “Pussyhat,” which was meant to represent a reclamation of pink and the strength of femininity.

It’s important to note that modes of fashion protest can also be critiqued within movements themselves. After the 2017 Women’s March, many raised the concern that “not all pussy’s are pink” and that the “Pussyhat” emphasized sex and biology potentially making transgender folks feel discluded from the movement. The creators of the pink hat have since come forward to share the meaning of the hat was never intended to be harshly correlated with race or gender identity.5 Nonetheless, this serves as an important example of the discourse and collaboration that happens in political movements through fashion.

Protest fashion has also been at the center of several movements for racial progress and representation. Organizations such as Black Lives Matter have adopted protest fashion in the form of black clothing featuring bold white text. These pieces often communicate pressing issues in the fight for Black rights and equality, like the resounding phrase “Say Her Name” in light of the killing of Breonna Taylor by a police raid.6

On the other branch of protest fashion—the theoretical, defined by designers’ use of their collections as a catalyst for change and issue-aware-

⁴ Ibid. ⁵ Julie Compton, “Pink ‘Pussyhat’ Creator Addresses Criticism Over Name,” NBC, February 7, 2017. ⁶ Kyra Mcconnell, “Protest as Fashion, Fashion as Protest,” CR Fashion Book, June 4, 2020. ness, remains a relatively modern phenomenon. Some designers, like Demna Gvasalia, founder of Vetements and creative director of Balenciaga, use protest fashion as an ethos for design and creation.

Vetements’ Fall/Winter 2021 collection prominently featured clothing besmeared in blue paint in reference to the Hong Kong protests for civil rights and freedom of expression.7 While this collection garnered some pushback, with critics calling the collection derivative and a cash-grab, its ultimate goal of raising awareness for the crisis present in Hong Kong could be achieved through positive and negative media coverage alike.

Many have drawn attention to the disparity between fashion as protest and the meta criticism it offers. Judith Thurman, a tenured journalist at The New Yorker, permits an ire towards AOC’s Aurora James 2021 Met Gala gown, which scrawled the message “Tax the rich” on the dress’s train.8 AOC sought to bring awareness to the vast financial disparity present in the United States through a space that best exemplified inequality manifest. Thurman, like others, notes that the dress’s haute couture heritage, accompanied by the 30,000 dollars apiece Met Gala ticket, falls painfully short in both its efficacy and self-awareness.9

As long as humans have the desire to create and need for progress exists, protest fashion will continue to define movements for centuries to come. The present age is rife with looming problems from anthropogenic climate change and poverty, to racial injustice and discrimination; nevertheless, humanity’s inexhaustible curiosity and limitless potential can surely rise to the task of tackling these issues outright. In the end, protest fashion, much like humans, will evolve to meet whatever obstacles lie ahead. ■

⁷ Casey Hall, “Vetements Courts Controversy With Fashion Inspired by Hong Kong Protests,” Business of Fashion, Jan. 27, 2020. ⁸ Judith Thurman, “What Counts As Protest Fashion?” The New Yorker, Sept. 17, 2021. ⁹ Ibid. MARCH 2022 %