Blog 1
Fashion is a life force of human togetherness as well as being a system and visual judgement of capitalist powers that affect our togetherness. People are usually drawn to the good side of fashion however there is also a dark side. There are many different players who hold the power and the responsibility : designers, brands, government and consumer. This shows that there is a balance in who holds the power and its change between each player equally.
There are different interpretations of what power is. Fashion itself and clothing is powerful, it is a silent but a very visual representation of one’s identity and how we present ourselves has the ability to communicate different messages to different audiences. I think that fashion gives us an opportunity to showcase who we truly are and who we want to be seen as by others.
Fashion has been used to portray power since a very long time ago, looking back at royalties as an example. They would wear handcrafted textiles and luxurious jewellery to represent and showcase their wealth as well as their status. Another example of power in fashion is the military dress, it was always loaded with symbolism and often emphasised masculinity by creating broad shoulders and sharply tailored structures. They often had symbols and embroidery of stars and eagles which represents power.
In terms of fashion, it would be ideal to trust the power of creative vision however that does not reflect the complicated nature of fashion. Power creates a divide between people working in the same industry through wealth. The fashion industry has given the opportunity for some people to become very wealthy while virtually enslaving others. Large companies that sell big volumes of clothing also employ millions of people to make the clothes however they don’t earn enough to pay for basic necessities. This has been a big ongoing issue within the industry which needs to change as fair pay should be a fundamental human right. Despite this politicians say raising wages will drive companies to produce clothes wherever cheaper. This really shows how the inequality gap is strong and massively influenced by many elements, therefore we should use our togetherness in fashion to overcome issues and find compromises which create equal and fair lives for everyone involved.
We also have the power as a consumer as we are the ones who decide where and how to spend our money. We drive the new trends and speak through buying an item of clothing, each purchase is a vote. As a consumer we should be engaged in who makes our clothes and under what conditions they are made, so we can really understand what money is being spent on, otherwise, we are contributing to the exploitation of others.
I believe that power plays a big part in the fashion industry as it controls and it depends on how a lot of changes happen. The idea of power has a strong effect which can be good or bad, however since we know what capabilities it has we should change how we use that power to create a better place for every one taken part in the process of fashion.