Katie Ferrero wonders whether we’re taking prioritising one cause over another.
Radical motions taking place within the fashion industry are more relevant than ever. From LGBQT to environmental concerns, designers have considered global issues and projected their own support through the fashion industry. In response to the recent London Fashion Week, PETA posted an article showing that 95 percent of designers have chosen to go fur free for their 2018 Autumn/Winter collection. Motions such as these have skyrocketed designers popularity and favorability in regards to sustainability. Though the act of eliminating fur in the fashion industry is a major step forward, it is essential to consider other elements that prove to be a step backwards.
Fashion Week represents a time of new beginnings for the fashion world. Designers have worked to intricately plan their collection and dictate where the fashion industry is soon to be heading. Whether you are a show attendee, an Instagram influencer, or one of the many at home glued to their phone screens constantly refreshing your feed, you at some point have experienced this rush of consumerism. From any position you are in, you will feel the anxious, excitement as an indulger in Fashion Week. A sense of need overcomes you as you scroll through Instagram, glance at a magazine or even turn on the television. This overindulgence and exposure through social media provides an accessibility to fashion week trends more than ever before.
Here is where both the beauty and destruction of the industry occurs. The mass demand for designer statement pieces is recognised and then reproduced into high street fashion.
Mimicking the latest fashion of top designers like Chanel, Balenciaga, etc. leads to the overproduction of luxury products. An obvious example of this would be the sudden fascination in this plastic like, clear material that has taken over high street stores directly after the introduction of Chanel’s Spring Summer 2018 ready to wear collection.
Considering the impact environmentally and the knowledge of this high street production pattern, is it ethically progressive for the fashion industry to promote a material such as this?
The issue of over-production was confronted head-on by Vetements in their window display at Harrods. Upon request for all employees to provide pieces of unwanted clothing, a pile was created and put on display in one of the most influential windows in London. The unconventional appearance of the display sparked reactions, igniting the precise response of sustainable awareness the fashion industry needs.
Image credits: Matthew Gallop; Daniela Nutz; Hortencia Caires Casazola; Ashley Hutchinson; Kelsey R.
