Fashion and color have had a long history of being associated with politics and political parties, but in recent years, the growth of fashion’s role in the political climate has been exponential. Whether it be a powerful statement, a symbol, a brand name or even a certain color, what you wear says a lot about what you believe in today’s society. Here are 3 examples of fashion intertwining with politics just since 2016.
Women’s March Pussyhat
I’m sure by now you’ve seen pictures of the sea of pink hats that took over the women’s march in January of 2017, but do you know how they started? Jayna Zweiman and Krista Suh, who began taking crochet classes in 2016 wanted to create a way for both marchers and those who couldn’t be there physically to show solidarity with one another in the petition for women’s rights. This hat was leveraged as a tool for women’s empowerment and has now become an important icon of modern activism.
Time’s Up Tees
The Time’s Up movement, which was started at the very beginning of 2018, is a legal defense fund that provides services to survivors of sexual assault who have spoken out against their abusers, especially in the workplace. The launch of this organization premiered with many celebrities sporting the classic black tee with the slogan “Time’s Up” and has now evolved to include pins, coffee mugs, sweatshirts, tote bags and more. When ordering from the company website, all proceeds go directly to the legal defense fund and this trend of putting political slogans on t-shirts has also been picked up by luxury designers such as Prabal Gurung, Christian Siriano and Creatures of Comfort.
Melania Trump’s Jacket
Probably one of the most infamous fashion scandals of 2018, Melania Trump was seen traveling to a detention center that was holding children in Texas while wearing a jacket from Zara that read “I Really Don’t Care. Do U?” Although this is reported to have been a message to the media, wanting them to focus on her political actions rather than outfits, many thought the jacket communicated a lack of care for the children Melania was on her way to see. Regardless of the intent, this jacket definitely made a statement, proving that what you wear says a lot about not only who you are, but what you believe about the world.