In recent years, the latest trend in fashion has not been a colour, pattern, texture or shape, but a movement towards empowerment and equality.
The billion-dollar fashion industry has made a giant step forward away from the stereotypical under-weight, mindless fashion girls to the celebration of strong, powerful leading women and the use of fashion as a tool for empowerment.
It all started with a sneaker. Last spring, Chanel’s supermarket runway show featured floor-length skirts and dainty pastels, not with traditional feminine high heels, but with modern, playful sneakers that challenged the phrase “beauty is pain.” There was something subversive about pairing an ensemble so prim and proper with flat sneakers, making it socially acceptable for women to enjoy a sense of liberating freedom away from the crippling high heel for spring 2014.
For Spring 2015, Karl Lagerfeld went even further. He released a 70s-inspired collection featuring wide-leg trousers, knee-length skirts, patterned boots, and, of course, tweed. The show proved to be a colourful one with a strong message as models stormed down the runway led by Cara Delevigne, taking part in one of the most fashionable feminist protests to date. The models held signs that read “History is HER story,” “Ladies First” and “He for She” which references a popular campaign for gender equality.
Designer Rick Owens took a similar route, and showed his collection on a team of 40 female steppers – most of them black and none of them a size 0 – who took over the catwalk with strong, fierce expressions and defied the image of the stereotypical skinnywhite model gliding down the runway. Meanwhile, Miuccia Prada had a similar vision of portraying the strong fearless female. The women on her catwalk displayed similar strong expressions and she used bold clothing to gain the attention of the audience. Prada’s collection consisted of ladylike pieces combined with sportswear that displayed women’s f women’s faces painted by street artists. The results were pieces that demand attention while conveying the diverse nature of modern femininity.
For decades feminists held an anti-fashion view, believing in the idea that women shouldn’t be spending time or money on the way they look. Modern beliefs acknowledge that we all have bodies and we all wear clothes, and fashion should be a playful, unapologetic vehicle for self-expression, discovery, identity and art. The latest trends in trousers and pantsuits acknowledge that women too can wear the pants (literally), and run their own successful businesses within the industry just as well as men can.
It has been apparent that many men look down on women who work in the fashion industry, labeling them, in their minds, as shopaholics who don’t know the first thing about work ethic. Little do they know, there are many powerful women leaders who have made their contributions to society through their love of fashion, and have given females the opportunity to live rich, satisfying lives – as feminist movements should.
Tory Burch, a designer famous for her leather ballet flats, launched the Tory Burch Foundation in 2009 after being inspired by her own experience as a successful businesswoman. Through the foundation, she creates opportunities for women to build their own businesses and find financial freedom by handing out loans to female entrepreneurs. Bada$$ Bitch and former CEO of NastyGal Clothing, Sophia Amoruso, has encouraged the same sense of freedom in women through her unconventional clothing brand and book #GIRLBOSS. She gives young women helpful career advice and turns away from traditional ideas of success. She puts emphasis on the ideas that “working in fashion is not an extended trip to the mall,” and that getting to where you want to be in life requires hard work and a positive focused mindset.
Leandra Medine, CEO and founder of popular fashion blog “The Man Repeller” has taken a similar feminist approach to fashion, starting with the name of her blog and her own personal style. Medine prides herself in being a proud wearer of oversized trousers, boyfriend jeans, clogs and “jewelry that resembles violent weaponry,” making her style truly one of a kind. She defines a “Man Repeller” as “she who outfits herself in a sartorially offensive mode that may result in repelling members of the opposite sex.” Through her blog she sends the strong message that women should be creatively open and artistic through their style and wear what ever they want, simply for themselves and their own happiness. The ideals held by members of the billion-dollar fashion industry seem to be changing as quickly as last month’s trends, and all it took was a simple step down the runway.
