THE WORLD IS ON FIRE FASHIONISTAS
“How do you beat the superficial allegations when you’re standing there trying to figure out what to wear, when the whole damn ship is sinking?”
I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot; I heard it last week from Yola (@yszwnska), a content creator on TikTok, where she confronts the guilt she feels pursuing a career in fashion, whilst acknowledging its irrelevance in comparison to all the issues in the world right now. Last Sunday, the Met Gala amplified this heated topic. Whilst all eyes were on Loewe looks and sand dresses, the brutal assault on Rafah commenced. It does feel quite dystopian living in a world where the first image you see is Zendaya in Galliano and the next is airstrikes on children and hospitals. How dare we care about what people are wearing when people are being murdered? Whilst the outrage is just and understandable, I think the role of fashion and beauty in the world we live in is a much more nuanced conversation than often presented.
There’s this a section from a Substack post by Jessica Defino called “Terror and Mundanity in a Makeup Bag” which really hit me:
“Being so immersed in the beauty space, there is one image from Gaza I can’t get out of my head. Pictures have surfaced of Israeli soldiers looting civilian homes in Palestine. They hold up lingerie that belonged to women who were forced out of their houses at best or killed at worst, and they smile for the camera. The soldiers sometimes bring the spoils back to their wives. One of them posted a snapshot of her stolen presents to social media, including a plastic bag overflowing with makeup— eyeshadow, eyeliner, blush, foundation, lipstick. She called the products “gifts from Gaza.” …It is beyond defence. It is dehumanisation — reducing a person to a product to a trophy. It is the obliteration of the Palestinian people — stealing not only their lives, but the tools they used to craft and care for and adorn those lives; killing not only their bodies, but the spirit infused in all the things that touched those bodies — like lipstick that once pressed against a mouth that breathed and ate and spoke and kissed and prayed and screamed.”
My problem before reading this is that I failed to see people past their pain. The women of Palestine, Tigray, Sudan, Congo had a routine in the morning; a way they’d like to do their hair or headscarf, a favourite colour they liked to wear on their lips or body, a favourite piece of clothing. They might have had a favourite artist or brand. It’s hard to imagine joy in the context of so much suffering, but the right to expressing their identity, heritage and culture has been taken away. Fashion and beauty as an expression of identity must be fought for as it is a celebration of their humanity. To state that fashion is only a tool exclusive to those with wealth and fame is an ignorant notion that misrepresents the importance of it in resistance movements and grassroots communities. The popularisation of the kaffiyeh for example, has become a universally recognised symbol of solidarity and freedom. Fashion has never and will never be exclusive to the 1%, if anything it’s always been more powerful as a tool for the people.
Now I’m not saying you must have a deep meaning behind every item you own, or that you can’t indulge in fashion for fashion’s sake. We live in a different world where the commercialisation and industrialisation of fashion has impaired our capacity to consume it as an art or a form of genuine communication. But those that do it for the art really care about it, because they appreciate fashion and beauty as tools we use to craft and care for and adorn our lives. We should not shun this, and it is why occasions like the Met Gala are important to fundraise and support those lucky enough to pursue and discover this passion. But such events are empty without addressing problems in the wider context of the world. I could blab way more about this (I didn’t even touch on climate and fashion but that’s a whole other rant) but essentially, as an industry that is all about being on trend, it must do more to conversate with the trends in our world right now.
this.
Just found this post via your tiktok! You articulate so perfectly the confusion I feel pursing a fashion career in this world. Thank you for this incredible post!