POLITICS OF FASHION: FASHIONING YOU! WHY WE NEED DIVERSITY - DIVERSITY IN THE INDUSTRY

As the fashion industry has become aware of the lack of diversification and the lack of representation of society as whole within fashion imagery, many initiatives have started in order the rejuvenate the promotion and diversify the use of model ethnicities.

One of the campaigns that is an example of this is 'All Walks Beyond the Catwalk'. The 'All walks' campaign was set up by industry insiders former i-D magazine editor Caryn Franklin, PR Debra Bourne and model Erin O Connor in May 2009 after chief executive of eating disorder charity Susan Ringwood questioned “Was it possible to show fashion on a range of inspiring bodies?” . 'All walks' use models aged 18-65 sized 8 - 16 and a variety of ethnicities to celebrate diversity and individuality. The campaigns aim to promote diversity, so that as they continually introduce a variety of models into fashion campaigns it will soon become prominent within mainstream advertising.

POLITICS OF FASHION: FASHIONING YOU! WHY WE NEED DIVERSITY - CHANGING ROLE OF FASHION

THE CHANGING ROLE OF FASHION:

The face of the fashion industry has for a large majority of time in the advertising world been the blond, caucasian, slim women. By a large number of fashion brands they promote this type of woman as the ideal, conveying this woman to have the idealistic lifestyle and appearance so that consumers her aspire to achieve a lifestyle like hers, and therefore buy into the brand.

However, the face of fashion has changed over the last 20 years - the industry understanding that it has to become more diverse as the fashion market changes to incorporate new economies as they emerge and develop. The face of fashion has to change to be representative of all aspects of the market, so that they appeal to consumers from all areas so they can buy into the brand by seeing a representation of themselves replicated in the brands imagery and advertising.

An example of how the market is hitting back to the lack of diversity is with Victoria's Secret latest campaign, called "the perfect body" yet featuring 10 size 8 photoshopped models. The image sparked controversy with a online petition being signed by over 30,000 women asking them to change the tagline and supported by the twitter hashtag "#iamimperfect". Underwear brands including Dear Kate and JD williams retaliated creating their own 'perfect body campaigns' of women of all sizes.

As this change has become more prominent, with the market clearly diversifying, the question is that whether the fashion advertising and its imagery should follow suit - representing varied ethinicities, sizes and ages more strongly in the work. But, to ensure that in the future of the fashion industry the representation of a variety of ethnicities becomes the norm through variation in model casting, should fashion institutions educate new designers/promotion students to think about diversity in order to make up and coming fashion more commercially viable. The presentation of fashion in advertising, whether in campaigns, online or catwalks should represent the cross section of society in modern Britain and the wider market.

POLITICS OF FASHION: FASHIONING YOU! WHY WE NEED DIVERSITY - THE FOUR FASHION CAPITALS

Once upon a time to be on the front row of a catwalk, up close and personal with models and seeing all the backstage action was next to impossible unless you were a designer or an editor extrodinaire, say Alexander McQueen or Anna Wintour.  Fashion was inpenertabale to the masses, the goings on of the industry hidden to the yes of the world - the masses only able to see a glimpse of the industry twice a year when a few minutes of a designers work was shown at their catwalk show. The catwalk show for the few minutes of mayhem, madness and models represented six months of designers hard work - for it all to be over instantaneously, then picked apart and scrutinised by the eagerly awaiting media.

Even after the show case of the fashion show, consumers would have to wait months to even see the garments let alone own them. Fashion was authoritarian process, the industry strictly ran by the elite who occupied it. The high fashion world stayed within the realms of the big four shows, in the worlds fashion capitals: Paris, Milan, New York and London.


PARIS:


Paris is the first of the shows, show the designer collections first. Paris displays the designers who are the big fashion houses such a Dior and Louis Vuitton. Paris as the home of couture is also the home of the couture collections which are showcase 2 months prior to ready-to-wear.

LONDON:

London is the show casing second and is one of the youngest of the big four. It has a reputation as being young, creative and innovative. However, due to the extravagant nature of the shows, London is also known for the chaotic nature of the shows.

MILAN:


Milan is as well established as Paris as a fashion capital, meaning due to the calibre of the designer it is regarded by some as a higher status than London. This leaves London with issues, as Milan casting is normally the work prior to the shows, consequently falling on the period of London Fashion Week.

NEW YORK:

New York is the last of the big four to showcase and is known for having an extremely polished aesthetic.

DESIGNER CLUSTERING: PARIS

During a visit to Paris we looked at the shopping districts available to consumers.

SIZE IN FASHION

A debate that is always at the forefront of the fashion industry is fashion and size. With models appearing even more wafer thin and waistlines getting smaller and smaller, the promotion on models in fashion is causing a bigger debate than ever.

The majority of sizes featured on the catwalk are size 4, 6 and 8, which is dramatically smaller than the UK norm where 47% of women in the UK wear a sized 16. For the public, size 16 is regarded as 'average' and plus size not beginning until size 18, however for the fashion industry, plus size begins at a size 12.

It is only in recent times that the size of models has become so unachievably thin when representing high fashion. In the 1950's high fashion's client base was mainly 40 plus and the promotional material was reflective of this fact. The models reflected the consumer market, hopefully persuading customers to purchase if they can see themselves represented. The supermodels of the nineties were slim, yet still appeared glamorous and healthy, but the 21st century has taken model casting to the extreme, infantilising fashion models as the average age that they are cast becoming younger and younger.

The representation of the ideal in magazines is opposing to a realistic snap shot of women on the street, with the unachievable nature of the portrayal of women in media being cited as reason behind body issues in many young people. In the UK, whilst under the reign of Alexandra Shulman, British Vogue has never published a feature on dieting and Shulman herself has been very vocal on her opinion of sizing and fashion. In 2009, she wrote an open letter to fashion houses criticising the shrinking nature of sample sizes, stating they are 'miniscule' and that models who fit them had 'jutting bones'. 

Franca Sozzani,the editor and chief of Vogue Italia has said 'One of the reasons why a girl starts a too-strict diet is the necessity to correspond to an aesthetic standard which rewards thinness.'And the current inclination to embrace a female beauty standard that exalts thinness has devastating consequences on many adolescents’ eating habits.'. Conde Nast as whole has made a pledge to not use models under 16 and promote a more healthy aesthetic, saying "Vogue editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on the pages and the wellbeing of their readers," . However, sufferers of eating disorders such as anorexia have said that the media hasn't directly affected their disorder, or stemmed it, its more over having complete control over an aspect of life.

In contrast to the waif models covering Vogue, Katie Grand's 'LOVE' magazine in 2009 had Beth Ditto as a cover star. Ditto posed naked for the publication for the 'icons of a generation' issue. Despite exposing all 15 stone of the star in all her glory on the front cover, Grand didn't feel the image was striking enough and digitally altered the image to make Ditto appear larger.

The fashion industry as they continue to cast different models will continually spark controversy over the size debate. However, if fashion publications look to present women in a more realistic manner hopefully diversity can be achieved.

THEMES, ETHICS, SUSTAINABILITY OF FASHION

To create fashion and convey fashion, inspiration is taken from history, culture and communities to create an outcome of creativity and sometimes controversy, implicitly or even explicitly communication ideas and messages through various guises and platforms whether clothing, film or advertising. To understand fashion, you must look at its history and future, exploring the themes, ethics and politics woven throughout the multi linear, cross century story that is fashion. Having an understanding in detail allows an individual to appreciate why and how fashion has become what it is today.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual property is the intangible property which is the result of creativity. As the property is not physical, it can be hard to protect the work created however, copyrights and patents can protect the work from being infringed by another party.

TRADEMARKS:

Trademarks protect the origins of goods and services, they are usually brand names, logos and brand images that include words, letters, numbers, logos, symbols, shapes, colours and even sounds. The trademarks are essentially the marks that distinguish one business from another.

The trademarks protect through application and registration in the relevant class and territory. Registered trade marks must be capable of graphical representation, capable of distinguising goods/services, distinctive not merely descriptive and not contrary to public policy and morality.

Trademarks last for 10 years and are renewable indefinitely. Infringement of the trademark is:

1.Identical mark/identical goods or services; OR

2.Likelihood of confusion; OR

3.Trade marks with a reputation - unfair advantage or detriment.

PASSING OFF:

1.Reputation; AND

2.Misrepresentation; AND  

3.Damage.

PATENTS:

patents are a type of protection for inventions that are new and inventive. They must be new and not anticipated by prior art anywhere. For products to be patented they must involve an inventive step and be capable of industrial application. Patents are national rights and must be carried out in each individual country and usually last 20 years.

The patent usually includes description which include drawings and describe the inventions variations and a claim which clearly states what the invention is.

Copyright:

Copyright protects the expression of artistic creative works. Your work once created is automatically protected with no need to register if your work is literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, recorded sound or film. There is no need for artistic merit.
The economic rights surrounding copyrighted material is the right to make commercial gain from from the said work, this prevents others from using it without permission as that is infringement.
Once the work is copyrighted there can be issues with:

1.Copying the work

2.Issuing copies to the public

3.Renting/ lending the work

4.Performing, showing, playing the work

5.Communicating the work

6.Adapting the work

7.Secondary dealing selling, distribution, importing   (knowledge required)

DESIGN RIGHTS:

The design rights protect the appearance (or parts of the appearance) of a new products - this includes the lines, contours, colours, shapes, texture and materials. The designs must have new and individual character which differs from any existing designs.  The designs can be both registered and unregistered. 

MORAL RIGHTS:

 Moral rights hav copyright protection. As the creator you have the right to be acknowledged as the creator and therefore need to formally assert your rights, this objects from derogatory treatment and false attribution. These rights can be waived but not assigned. The longevity of moral rights is the creators lifetime plus 70 years.