fashioning narratives:

NOW MORE THAN EVER, WE ARE READING FASHION AND WEARING LITERATURE. BY ENGAGING WITH LITERATURE THROUGH A SARTORIAL LENS, WE CAN SIGNAL CODES THAT MAKE UP OUR IDENTITIES AND FASHION PERSONAL NARRATIVES.

By Alexandra Citra

Now more than ever, we are reading fashion and wearing literature. Clothes imbue the inner self with material reality, granting us the power to choose the identities we represent. The creating and wearing of dress are intrinsically human, where the pieces of clothing we choose to interact with can serve to articulate our ideas and beliefs. Thus, it should come as no surprise that fashion can be a manifestation of literature as clothes become signifiers for our beloved literary figures and works. Where literature translates the human experience into words, fashion transmutes and reflects it back to us. How do you view the world? How do you want the world to view you? Perhaps the answer to these questions can be found in the intersection between the literary and sartorial realms.

Whether classical or contemporary, the written word has always been a bottomless well of inspiration for those in the fashion industry. However, it is evident that literary interests have been particularly in vogue in recent seasons. A giant scroll containing text from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road unfurls, heralding the beginning of Kim Jones’ Dior men’s runway. Model Kaia Gerber, who started an Instagram book club in 2020, flaunted a paperback of Richard

Powers’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Overstory in front of the venue for Prada’s autumn/winter 2022 venue in Milan. Fashion maverick Jonathan Anderson draws inspiration from literature once again, with the late Irish Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney’s oeuvre at the core of the naturalistic set design and novelist and essayist Zadie Smith sitting front row at Loewe’s autumn/winter 2022 show. But that’s not all. Sound designer Michel Gaubert created a soundtrack featuring a reading of Sylvia Plath’s posthumously published poem Fever 103°, which aligns with the transcendental, surrealist motif of Anderson’s collection. “Pure?” a voice intones ruminatively. “What does it mean?”

Models Sammy Biondi Makeup Saya French Stylist Deepti Rema

The literary spell the fashion scene has fallen under also includes the active participation of some of the most celebrated contemporary voices. A heartfelt letter from author and journalist Mary H.K. Choi that mentions award-winning poet Ocean Vuong is printed for Peter Do’s spring/summer 2023 collection. We’ve even seen contemporary American writer Ottessa Moshfegh, best known for her 2018 novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation, walk for Maryam Nassir Zadeh at New York Fashion Week and pen a short story titled Where Will We Go Next? for Proenza Schouler’s autumn/winter 2022 collection. “We’d considered working with someone who could help formulate our thoughts and ideas into the written word,” say Proenza Schouler’s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. “We were blown away by how she managed to conjure the mood of what we were trying to say but in a completely abstract and personal way.” From supermodels curating reading lists to designer campaigns spotlighting authors, performative or otherwise, the fashion industry integrates literature into its corpus.

The emergence of this bookish mode in the fashion industry can be attributed to the “aesthetic of bookishness,” a term coined by Jessica Pressman in a 2009 essay to define the display of literary production and consumption in the online media environment. “Books become aesthetic objects that blur the boundaries between reality and fiction by connecting their bookbound body to the virtual world of digital information,” Pressman writes. The romanticization of literature and academia on social media, especially TikTok, is an obvious manifestation of the aesthetic of bookishness. The physical book is far from obsolete, pervading the digital world as both reading material and a definitive display of culture and intellect and providing a stark contrast to the ever-shifting ephemera of accelerated trend cycles. In fashion, the book exists as both an accessory and a tangible token of ideas and beliefs. communicate meanings–to embody concepts and fashion narratives.

That being said, this literary trend, just like any other trend, can be harmful if excessively participated in. Trends comprise curations of commodities which are assigned philosophies, granting people access to a sense of collective identity or belonging to an internet subculture. As cultural critic Charlie Squire wrote, “Radical principles of joy are misunderstood; the fetishization of the commodity is mistaken as an expression of self-love and the cohort of consumers within a trend is mistaken for a group bonded in solidarity.”

In a noisy online environment oversaturated with short-lived content, it is natural to seek something of substantial value to represent and hold on to. To many, this is literature, fashion, or both. What does the book convey about the reader? What do the clothes convey about the wearer? When uninterrupted, rapid-fire consumption becomes the norm, we must extricate ourselves from the looming, almost irresistible desire to pursue whatever is newest and shiniest. By engaging with objects that hold symbolic value, we can signal codes that make up our authentic identities. In this regard, both fashion and literature enable us to crystallize abstractions and

The acceleration of trend cycles raises concerns for mindless consumption and the accumulation of textile waste, the minimization of which can only come hand-in-hand with the recontextualization of our relationship with clothing. Sartorial codes are arbitrary and fluctuating, never fixed. A certain article of clothing may communicate a specific meaning now, but it will undoubtedly signify a different message in the future. Now that trends gain and lose momentum at an unprecedented rate, it is imperative that we partake in them mindfully so as to prevent lasting environmental consequences and the excessive flattening of cultural movements.

The mindful consumption of fashion also endorses authentic selfexpression through the curation of one’s personal style, which entails associations and signifiers behind how an individual presents themselves to the rest of the world. Instead of blindly subscribing to fleeting trends, those with developed personal identities and style move with intention, investing in pieces they have a personal connection with and can reimagine if need be. By honing in on a wardrobe that holds personhood, you can break free from the algorithmic echo chamber and honor your exploration of your individuality and philosophy. Your wardrobe will never go out of style as long as you wear and care for pieces that move you.

When fashion meets literature, we see the merging of two different yet deeply intertwined forms of self-expression and expand our intrinsic power to communicate with others and ourselves. As the literary and fashion worlds collide and distinguished doyennes play a part in each other’s creative visions, we must consider our associations with various sartorial and literary ideologies, interactions with identifiable cultural signifiers, and how much of our wardrobe aligns with our ethos. In an ecosystem of unceasing impermanence where concepts and objects alike decline in value more rapidly than ever, molding a personal narrative you hold close to your heart is an unyielding act of subversion. Now more than ever, books do make looks, but whether or not you choose to engage should be your decision to make. How will you rewrite your relationship with your wardrobe? How will you fashion your narrative? Be it through the written word or fabric, you can create the self you seek to represent and honor it in your lived reality.

A WINDOW INTO UNDERSTANDING GENERATION Z AND THE EVENTS THAT HAVE SHAPED US. WE STRUGGLE UNDER THE BURDEN OF THE WORLD AROUND US, UNDER THE BURDEN OF KNOWING TOO MUCH AS A RESULT OF THE DIGITAL AGE. AND THOUGH IT’S EASY TO FEEL UTTERLY HOPELESS, WE ARE USING TECHNOLOGY TO OUR ADVANTAGE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. WE MAY HAVE INHERITED A BROKEN WORLD, BUT WE WILL FACE THE FUTURE WITH EMPOWERMENT AND OPTIMISM.

By Gianina Fan

It’s easy to dismiss Generation Z. Oh, they’re just mentally ill kids glued to their phones and making TikToks. Too busy making BTS fancams and starting Twitter wars. And maybe, they’re not necessarily wrong. But let’s take a moment to dissect the factors that have shaped our generation and why we will be the ones to turn the tide.

For starters, we have all grown up in a post 9/11 world. We’ve never known an America where the unthinkable is impossible because it’s already happened. Safety has never been guaranteed and while this provides a moment of reflection for older generations, Gen Z shrugs it off. Call it cynical, but this is all we know. Soon after, America launches into war abroad in Iraq and Afghanistan. War has been a constant.

Then, fast-forward to the release of the very first iPhone. Suddenly, the clunky family computer is transformed into a handheld piece of metal that fits in your pocket. It’s a turning point in the age of digital technology. Soon, we’ll say goodbye to VCR tapes, MP3 iPod players, and BlackBerry flip phones.

Then comes the revolutionary election of the first Black president Barack Obama. Funny enough, we grew up thinking having a person of color as head of the state was nothing special; eight years later, we’ll come to realize how wrong we were. But in the meantime, we endured the worst economic crisis since World War II in 2008’s recession. We’re still children, but the state of the world is not lost on us. In a landmark case, same-sex marriage is legalized with Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. And to think, we grew up in a period where not all people could marry who they loved.

2016 marks another turning point. Now, many of us are equipped with smartphones of our own. Google is our best friend. We’re acutely aware of the world while we spout off Vines: two bros chilling in a hot tub…five feet apart ‘cause they’re not gay (ultimately, Vine meets its demise in 2016). We watch in horror as voters elect Donald Trump to the presidency. To come of age knowing a former reality star has the power to push the button is a terrifying experience. We’re too young to have any real say so we hold our breath for the next four years. At the same time, we’re being gunned down at school. Safety was truly never a guarantee.

We’re much older now, and much more mature. And then–time stops. We’re hit with a global pandemic and suddenly, all that we know is turned upside down. We’re introduced to a new phenomenon: Zoom. The days blur together. Catholic priests bless people with holy water guns. Businesses close. And millions of people die. At the cusp between adolescence and adulthood, we learn how to live with it and what a new normal means. Meanwhile, Asian American elders are being targeted for a racist rhetoric supported by our very own president.

Summer rolls around, which means it’s time to take down systemic racism. And don’t be fooled, we’re still living in a pandemic. The murder of George Floyd sparks a revolution, providing fuel to stand up for the things that matter. The Black Lives Matter Movement charges forward, full-force and we’re left to seriously contemplate how we got here. The Civil Rights Movement was a mere 50-60 years ago (although in grade school we were all led to believe it happened in ancient times and that all has been love and peace since) but we’re still fighting for those rights today.

Trump’s presidency finally comes to a close and we can all let go of the breath we’ve been collectively holding. Of course, this is naive thinking. In 2021, we all watch as an attempted coup takes place in the White House. At this point, we are all utterly numb to the Trump presidency. We’re shocked but then again, are we really that surprised?

Meanwhile, we watch on our phones as Syria endures its long war, Russia invades Ukraine, and Iran kills women. We watch in horror, but then again, nothing truly sounds shocking anymore. It’s just the way it is.

Bodily autonomy is stripped away with the repeal of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Rights we grew up with are suddenly lost. The “land of the free” is suddenly looking not-so-free but of course, it never quite was.

Not to mention, we’ve been witnessing the demise of our global environment all our lives. It’s happening right in our backyards.

We have had a front seat to all these world happenings growing up in the explosion of digital technology and media. All information is right at our fingertips. We’re overwhelmed because we know too much. The demise of our environment, of American society feels unstoppable. It’s hopeless. When we hear about another shooting, I’m not even sure that we truly process it anymore. We’re desensitized to traumatic events. People probably hardly remember that 60 people were killed and 413 wounded in the Las Vegas shooting of 2017. The social media-powered news cycle moves quickly and with it, so does our memory.

But in conjunction with the birth of Gen Z, we have seen a new phenomenon: young people showing up and making their place in the world. Political movements by youth isn’t something new. Young protesters fought against American involvement in the Vietnam War or for action during the HIV/AIDs crisis. But there’s something different this time. Though many would regard our generation’s use of technology with disdain, we have been able to weaponize it and make our voices heard. We have the power to start a a revolution right at our fingertips.

Older generations wonder why Gen Z seems to be riddled with mental health issues or why more of us are queer. But we simply have the awareness to incite cultural change, to put down harmful stigmas of

mental illness and homophobia.

We’re not all that different from other generations; but, we are different in the way we choose to be unapologetically ourselves.

And, we’re only just getting started. Young people showed up at a historic rate to vote in the 2022 midterm elections. Finally equipped with the right to vote, we played a significant role in preventing the so-called red wave. We elected the very first Gen Z member to Congress, Maxwell Frost. We can use our voice on social media to make change because we have to, because we inherited a broken nation, and because we might not even have the chance to grow old amidst growing violence and the climate crisis. We have to stay vigilant and we have to make the effort to turn off our desensitization to injustices no matter how exhausting it is. We have to remember the humanity in each other because we are the last line of defense. It’s time to show everyone who Gen Z is.