THE POWER OF CAMPAIGNING
THROUGH FASHION
Words Heather Kay
Its 2018, the world we live in needs change from global warming to
world leaders. Change needs to happen to make the world a better
place for everyone, to make sure everyone is treated the same and that
the world stays a habitable environment for us all.
The current MeToo campaign, a movement set up to help people,
especially young women, cope with sexual harassment and violence. It
has been something highly talked about in fashion and press recently
as female actresses have spoken out about their experiences of sexual
harassment at the beginning of their careers. They were treated in the
horrendous way that made them feel powerless, as its unfortunately
what happened for them to get the roles they wanted in order to
become successful. Some said they didn’t realise at the time just how
damaging to their meant al state being treated in this way was.
Another type of campaign out there is one to let people know the
effects they are causing on global warming. Some people don’t seem
to realise just how much they effect the globe in their normal day to
day activities. Just simply changing a few things like using a reusable
cup when you get your morning coffee from Starbucks, or ditching
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the straws when you have your cocktails on a night out can help to
save the environment and not leave it to future generations to deal
with, as by then it may be too late.
Fashion is an important part in campaigning and protesting. It can
be used as a huge platform to get messages across to a wide range
of consumers and also make them think about the problem, without
them having to have people throw unwanted information and facts
at them when they are on their commute home from work. Both
high end and high street designers take on campaigns and protest
slogans to incorporate into their designs in order to try and encourage
a change. High end designers, such as the recent Burberry Spring/
Summer 2018, have a huge basis to get the campaign message across
because of how many people view their shows and clothing online and
in the press. Burberrys S/S18 show included the LGBTQ+ colours in
order to show that everyone is represented and that they support their
community. High street designers also have their own campaigns,
such as River Islands Labels and for Clothes campaign, which has
the message that labels belong on clothes and that we shouldn’t be
labelling each other because of our religion, race, gender or sexuality.
Image from asos.com
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