Fashion: the mouthpiece of cultural change

Since Vogue and Coco Chanel in the 1900s, traditional expectations of gender have been gradually challenged, blurred and ignored. Society as a whole is becoming increasingly aware that gender is not one or the other, and we’re gradually being given the freedom to transcend traditional concepts of ‘his’ and ‘hers’.

But while we’ve seen the “Gender Freedom” cultural current grow and expand its presence in recent years, there’s still a way to go. We can see evidence of this in the fashion industry – just think back to the last time you were in a children’s clothing department and were surrounded by pink for girls, and blue for boys. These distinctions reinforce traditional gender roles that have largely become redundant. If we look at how things currently stand, how many companies are accommodating anything other than a ‘male’ or ‘female’ definition of its customers? Fashion is the outward sign, but the inner person wants to be acknowledged too.

As with all cultural shifts, societal change takes time as new thought plays out through early adopters and gradually becomes mainstream. But what we have seen is that Gender Freedom is a powerful current, and fashion is at the forefront of expressing the change that we’re feeling as a society.

Fashion and the mood of discontent

"Fashion has a unique ability to represent the mood of the time, and it forms an accessible mouthpiece to illustrate underlying social currents. As a unifier of people, fashion holds a significant role to create real change and an opportunity for brands to be part of the movement."

Just as we are seeing fashion push back against traditional notions of gender, there is a similar movement against entrenched political systems. Fashion is a powerful voice to capture the thoughts and mood of a group – we’ve seen this play out multiple times through history, most recently with Brexit and Trump.

Looking back to the 1970s and 80s, we have evidence of fashion acting as a mouthpiece for a marginalised group. The UK’s skinhead movement was adopted by disenchanted youth seeking comradery against social alienation. Characterised by their buzz cuts and tattoos, skinheads stuck to working class clothing such as Dr. Martens boots, braces, high-ankle straight-leg jeans, and simple shirts. Their anti-establishment clothing was easily recognisable, and effectively communicated their discontent with the class system.

Fast forward to 2016. Three weeks before the Brexit ballot, Gucci shows their new season resort collection at Westminster Abbey. Amidst intense political turmoil and uncertainty, the fashion label sent models down the runway in clothes with strong references to British history – think the iconic Union Jack, traditional Scottish tartan, bleached denim and knuckledusters referencing London’s punk scene – combined with broader European influences. This mesh of cultural references was a sartorial nod to the fact that a nation’s culture does not evolve in isolation. In calling to attention Europe’s influence on British history and subculture, Gucci designer Alessandro Michele made a bold political statement saying “You are part of the culture of Europe”.

But merely a month later we saw the emergence of the safety pin as a symbol of solidarity in the aftermath of the Brexit ‘leave’ vote. The symbolic safety pin would again emerge after the Trump presidential election. These momentous global events signaled to many that racial minorities were in danger of becoming even more marginalised. The safety pin became a powerful statement of protest, and support for those who felt threatened by the voting outcomes.

We can see fashion’s power to express an undercurrent of fear and unhappiness, and also unite people in times of uncertainty. Fashion has a unique ability to represent the mood of the time, and it forms an accessible mouthpiece to illustrate underlying social currents. As a unifier of people, fashion holds a significant role to create real change and an opportunity for brands to be part of the movement.

Fashion and the authentic voice

As we assess these big social question marks around gender and politics, where does moral conscience fit in?

Globally there is a growing desire for products with meaning and integrity. First world societies have hit “peak stuff” and there is an undercurrent of fear around where the world is heading. We’re now seeing a demand for minimalism, ethical business, locally-sourced materials and products with meaning. No longer reserved for hippies, this cultural current has hit the mainstream.

We really saw the authenticity movement emerge onto the fashion scene in the late 1990s with Naomi Klein’s book No Logo which questioned consumerism and corporations producing goods in cheap labour markets with shocking working conditions. Since then, consumers have become increasingly aware of the footprint of consumption to the point that ethical and authentic business practice is now an expectation.

Part of this movement is the drive for simplicity and a clutter-free life. How many of us hold onto clothes that we haven’t worn in years, in the hope that they may one day come back in fashion or fit us again?

Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has been urging people for years to “Buy Less. Choose well. Make it last. Quality not quantity. Instead of buying six things, buy one thing you really like.” Buying things just for the sake of it is now seen as irresponsible (which poses real challenges to brands whose number one goal is to sell stuff). However, this is this mindset that has begun to pervade the world of fashion. Slow fashion is the newly emerged movement of creating and buying clothes for quality and longevity. It urges fair wages and conditions, zero waste, and minimised carbon outputs. As the remedy to fast, cheap, disposable fashion it is helping to ease the clutter of too much stuff.