Fashion is political

Fashion, an institution born at the end of the Middle Ages, emerged with a playful and aesthetic vocation.In this sense, he was born as an apolitical institution.What has changed since then?

From the nineteenth century, clothing and appearance have been used to express political and social ideas: the beard and long hair of young bohemians and romantic poets, and later, in the 1960s, the nonconformist attireof young people who rebelled against the system.But fashion has also served to advance women's emancipation.This is, in particular, the meaning that Chanel's revolution had in the 1920."There is no more beauty than the freedom of the body," said Chanel.

This fashion politicization process has accelerated.In fact, we are at a time when many brands are committed to humanistic political and ideal causes.It is demonstrated by those who fight to combat racism against blacks or gypsies, or those who denounce the lack of diversity in fashion and the shortage of color models in the catwalks of the parades.Gucci and Prada have recently launched some projects focused on diversity and inclusion.The will to fight against the racism of designer Kerby Jean-Raymond has a more radical political character: his collections are accompanied by images or even hard videos that show scenes of police violence against blacks;The models, exclusively black or mestizo, wear shoes that seem spotted with blood.In the same way that the political commitment now has glamor, in our time militants have emerged that defend visible minorities.

Other firms are dedicated to free women from beauty stereotypes that ruin their self -confidence. A la zaga de Dove, Zalando, Mango o H&M, tratan de promover una belleza plural, todos los tipos de mujer.New forms of communication with muses are emerging without depila.The Victoria’s Secret lingerie giant has hired a large model of size and also the first trans model.LVMH and KERING are committed against too thin or too young models.More and more brands offer inclusive collections that have large -scale clothes and gender clothes.Our time has witnessed the success of the body positives (positive bodies) that values all types of human bodies, of the emergence of inclusive fashion that no longer excludes anyone, which celebrates bodies so far considered lacking charm and notThey could access the glory of the catwalks.

Inclusive fashion, which aspires to recognize all categories of beauty to pay tribute to the various forms of femininity, is in democratic essence.Driven by the imaginary of equality, expresses the rejection of any elite, any aesthetic-corporal hierarchy.This advance of the democratic ethos is linked to the increase in the desire for autonomy and personal authenticity characteristic of the new hyperindividualist dynamics.Currently, the right to be oneself triumphs everywhere, to obey only the law itself, to live according to personal aspirations and not according to impersonal norms imposed from the outside.The so -called inclusive fashion is one of the manifestations of the democratic consecration of the individualistic ethics of personal authenticity, according to which all must express their singularity in order to achieve its fullness.Calvin Klein signs: “Be good.Be bad.Be yourself";Lacoste: "Become what you are".

Since being oneself enjoys almost unanimous social legitimacy, we must no longer exclude from the scope of fashion and beauty to certain categories of people (the disabled, fat, black, older women).How to continue belittling a whole set of feminities when full personal fulfillment is imposed as an indisputable value?From the moment there is nothing more important than being oneself and fully realized, it is essential to reject all the old discriminations related to the age, color and aesthetics of people.The triumph of the democratic ideal of personal authenticity is what has caused the disqualification of the stereotypes and the dictates of beauty (thinness, skin color, etc.), as well as the recognition of diversity in fashion.

But also the ecorresponsible commitment of brands illustrates the new political moment of fashion.More and more brands announce their intention to manufacture accessories and collections from recycled or natural materials, in order to reduce its carbon footprint.Thirty large textile groups signed in 2019 a fashion pact for the environment in order to achieve zero net emissions of CO2 in 2050.Some brands guarantee that the dyes used are ecological, with Oeko-Tex certification.Others decide to work with local artisan cooperatives, with fair trade certification. H&M y Marks & Spencer organizan colectas de ropa usada en sus tiendas.Patagonia proposes to repair clothing in case of wear.A new form of competition is emerging: who is the greenest.The stylists promise neutral carbon parades;Yves Saint Laurent uses biofuels to feed the projectors on their catwalks;Gucci announces that it will be completely neutral in carbon in 2025.Now the outstanding trend is sustainable development.

It is important to emphasize the radical novelty of taking into account the ecological paradigm in the fashion universe.This phenomenon is a real break with the spirit itself of fashion.From its origins, this world has been on the side of the superficial, the futile, the appearances.It was affirmed, under the sign of light fantasy, as a kind of aesthetic and playful scope, oblivious to any ethical objective.This has changed with the claim of the green and supportive paradigm.For the first time, fashion is under the sign of an ethical and ecorresponsible commitment.Since it is the second most polluting industry, causing a third of ocean plastic pollution and 10% of CO2 emissions worldwide, the fashion sector now intends to ratify itself as responsible and sustainable.

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The ostentatious waste of fashion was vindictive and prestigious;It has become guilty, shameful, a crime against the planet and the future.Fashion only knew the euphoria of the present;Now care about future generations.For the first time, fashion wants to be virtuous, ethical, responsible.It is no longer just about creating lovely news, it is about respecting the biosphere in the name of a responsible ecological citizenship.Some brands (UNIQLO) collect used clothes and then distribute the garments in good condition between needy families and refugees.

The time has come to hybridize frivolity and ethics, aesthetics and ecology.After the era of carefree creativity, the era of ecorresponsible creativity has come.So a new gravity, a serious climate, surrounds the fashion world.He had associated it with fantasy, fun, the pleasures of the ephemeral;She now is on the side of sustainability and civic sense.Hypermodernity has given rise to a new oxymoron: sustainable and responsible fashion.

The link with the question of responsibility is also manifested on the consumer's side.The most striking example is in Sweden, with several neologisms that go stern wind.They have invented two concepts: Flygskam, the shame of traveling by plane, and Köpskam, the shame of consuming and, above all, of buying new clothes.Now it is to buy used and used clothes.Dressing in second -hand stores has become fashionable, it is a way to be fashionable while it is ethicological.

Today, some consumers seek meaning to the act of buying.It is no longer just the pleasure, the aesthetic improvement of the person, but must have a sense for oneself and for the world in general.Buying a garment is much more than a behavior that seeks private enjoyment or social and cultural positioning;is to defend a set of values, help improve the present, prepare a better future.In this context, dressing becomes a form of ethical and political commitment, a means to affirm some values and reject others, a way of acting for the common good.Dressing has a political significance.Buying a coat is presented as an act of civism.The consumer wants to be an active consumer, an ethical and political actor who no longer obeys the dictates of fast fashion and marketing.

This new ethos is inseparable from the environmental challenge, but also of the consecration of the ethics of individual authenticity, of the greatest demand of individuals to be themselves, to affirm themselves as autonomous subjects.If on the one hand the culture of being oneself favors frantic consumption, on the other it leads to buy in a responsible way, to be involved in consumption according to the value system itself, to consider the fact of buying a garment a civic behavior, a way to participate in social and political life.

The press does not cease to repeat it: fashion brands are beginning to seize the principles of the circular economy, and consumers expect a plus of responsibility and ecology by industries.But what is beyond the statements of intentions?While the waste of fashion is denounced in the name of respect for the environment, rapid fashion and excessive consumption of natural resources triumph.Fast fashion giants promise that they will soon have sustainable collections and commit themselves to clothing recycling, but their collections are renewed every two or three weeks, in contradiction with sustainable development.

Meanwhile, world clothing consumption has doubled between 2000 and 2014.

This does not mean that the demand for ethics is illusory;simply their power to dictate the behavior is less than the one that surveys imply.Consumers vote for ecorresponsibility, but the crazy fashion career is accelerating;American consumers renew their wardrobe about five times more than in 1980.The useful life of clothing is shortening and, on average, a garment is only used seven times before discarding.In practice, priority is given to the cheapest and few people buy fair fashion: between buying a cheap garment made abroad and a more local manufacturing garment, most choose the cheapest.Let us keep that the new fashion consumer has become a paladin of virtue.The rhetoric of civic responsibility is the undisputed queen, not the ethical buyer.Fashion consumers, make another effort to be civic.