How can fashion overcome the colonizer mindset? From fashion shows, exhibitions, and design, independence doesn’t look as long-lasting as we need it to be
The fourth of July keeps acknowledging the independence
One of the most challenging topics to talk about is independence. Its symbols are uncertain, conveying the idea of freedom and an expressive identity. It is one of the attributes we need the most protection of, something we own with care and assertiveness despite hostile attempts of uniformity. It’s hard to see what true independence looks like, nonetheless. Total liberty is as harmful as any extreme ideal.
Every fourth of July, United States citizens blast their music and embrace their patriotic nature in celebrations, fireworks, and parades. White, red, and blue became synonyms for empowerment on what took the name of Independence Day. Commemorating the liberation of the thirteen colonies under the British Empire in 1776, the celebration is a loud reminder of how a state can be self-governed. But how did this spirit evolve in time? Can we still speak of the same embrace of democratic forces, or was the
Declaration of Independence the first Public Relations stand to advertise a country breathing on sugar-coated dreams. The document states that «all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed».
Was this a way of becoming unruled or a choice of being ruled differently? Since Fashion and art play with codes better than any other discipline, they create a social compass of the length to which independence can extend.
July 4th – Where freedom meets irony. The fashion appropriation of independence
In 1969 the Mr. Freedom Movie came out as a sardonic representation of American ideals and compelling patriotic narratives. It explores the caricature of heroism endorsed by orderly forces, such as policemen, lending on the maniacal quest for superheroes in mundane sceneries. William Klein dives into Imperialistic imaginaries and the need to constantly pursue political battles.
As much as an entertainment piece regrouping liberty symbols, the movie became a source of inspiration in fashion, when the ‘Swinging London’ subculture took the industry by storm. Initiated by Tommy Roberts, and his partner, Trevor Myles, the shop was set as an avant-garde attempt to sell emerging designs and styles that would contrast the established fashion codes.
The need to liberate from rules is deeply rooted in the cultural fabric of fashion, alluding to how the search for independence is as rooted in human nature as it can be, decades later. It evolves in many shapes and attitudes. Independence is a continuous quest, more so an act than an achievement. So what does the search for independence look like?
Buying is a political act – US Independence day
In fashion, debates started around sumptuary laws designed to prescribe style rules, fabric consumption, and access to luxury embellishment. It was a way to rule through clothing, to imagine a social uniform that anticipates behaviors and achievements. Sumptuary laws were acting on consumption habits, engaging the freedom of buying. Many decades later, we signed an independence declaration called fast fashion, something of an illusion toward free access to the newest styles.
Ready to Wear has already opened the door to a more democratic consumption and a broader understanding of trends, with Yves Saint Laurent introducing items that were outside the couture bubble. Still, nowadays shopping attitudes are not fully independent of luxury big players. Brand boutiques colonize the centers of international cities beyond nationality. Groups such as Zara or H&M buy up spaces throughout the world in cities where local production is outcasted from the focus.
This habit of occupying the market with international businesses is both rational and functional, but it takes away the power to independently govern the shopping predisposition of people. Buying is a political act because it means nourishing a system of choice and when we debate independence in fashion, selling points and market territories as well as the production chain and design development.
US Fashion Industry – Being an independent creative. Utopia or a game?
Creatives depend on the market, sponsorships, image makers, and time. Wrapped up in the attempt to innovate, more of the independent systems fail to respond to desirability. To afford to be independent is another question of the creative industry, where visibility always has a price. Fashion Fairs and Fashion Week all have a price, in order to gain exposure, creatives need to participate in a financial exchange before being able to make any of their rules.
There are few acts of independence when it comes to these rules. Brands such as Jacquemus, Dries Van Noten, and Gucci under Alessandro Michele decided to present their collection outside of traditional show calendars in an attempt to focus on the brand identity. Other brands such as Dior and Chanel have their fashion cruises in locations linked to the Maison heritage – another tactic to self-govern the brand narrative. More acts of independence are needed.
For the Winter 20 collection, Demna Gvasalia rebelled against the front row, leaving the first two rows of the arena empty. As simple as it seems, playing with spectatorship hierarchy is a pursuit of freedom in the industry where sitting on the well known ‘Frow’ comes with a price. Still, no designer prohibited the attendance of industry players or influencers.
Often, an act of independence is about bending the rules in new creative ways, instead of completely neglecting them. One of the best examples is David Carson’s designs for Ray Gun Magazine in the 90′ when instead of publishing an advertised interview, he printed the text in a coded font that couldn’t be read. A way of playing with rules, following them without being deprived of the choice.
The independent brand dilemma – US Independence blooms from questioning the fashion system
Independence blooms from questioning the system. That’s why fashion brands are more and more conflicted in being freely directing their creation. Many of the brands we buy into today had developed from family businesses much like Hermes, Gucci, or Louis Vuitton, then being bought by luxury conglomerates like LVMH and Kering. Today most designers can either join companies or try to build a business on their own well aware of the commercial facade of the fashion business. It comes up to soft compromises.
Miuccia Prada, Comme des Garçon by Rei Kawakubo
Miuccia Prada was one of the first to explore this duality when she decided to launch the Miu Miu brand in 1992. The Italian designer inherited the family business and store from her grandfather, Mario Prada. He was the first to open the doors to his designs in 1913 becoming the official supplier of the Italian Royal house. Starting with accessories creation, Miuccia Prada joined the affair in the mid-70s. With a well-established production and distribution, twenty years later it was time for an independent claim. Miu Miu was born as her brand, where she could freely create outside expectations and express her true design identity.
Following the same thread of duality is Comme des Garçon by Rei Kawakubo who in 2002 introduced Comme des Garçon Play. Marketed as ‘a sign, a symbol, a feeling’, the derived brand relies on consumers’ need for basic items with a twist conveyed by the recognizable heart logo designed by Polish artist Filip Pagowski. As part of the Anti fashion movement, the Japanese designer conquered the Parisian scene in the 80′ bringing experiments to the fore. Her intention was and remains that of erasing any referential point to create items that don’t look like anything familiar to the eye.
Helmut Lang and Hussein Chalayan
To keep her authenticity and rarity in the industry as an independent brand, she maintains the Play line as an approachable design that can sell and sustain the core collection. Other independent brands that align more with art than wearability demonstrate how independence in the fashion industry is rarely a highway to timelessness. Even so, artists like Helmut Lang or Hussein Chalayan remain in history as two of the most notable innovators of fashion shows and meaning, when introducing the first remote show and the coffee table skirt.
They’re both an example of independent brands that haven’t compromised on the commercialization of their garments and aesthetic sensibility. That makes us wonder all the more that independence in fashion is a myth. In 2000, Hussein Chalayan designed for different fashion houses such as Puma and Vionnet, now teaching at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna since 2019. Helmut Lang officially retired from the fashion world in 2005 after selling the ammonium brand to the Prada Group.
There are different grades of independence and fashion has proven it necessary for uplifting designs and going forward. Only people who are free to express themself can be listened to. On the verge of reality crossing and artificial worlds, we might as well wonder how can another source of intelligence allow us to be more independent in creation. There’s much more to explore in this relationship, but for now, we celebrate independence.
US Independence Day
U.S. Independence Day, also known as the Fourth of July, is the national holiday of the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America on July 4, 1776, by which the Thirteen Colonies broke away from the Kingdom of Great Britain, ruled at the time by George III. Festivities are usually held through fireworks, parades, barbecues, picnics, concerts, baseball and basketball games, ceremonies and other public/private events celebrating the history, government and traditions of the United States of America.
