#Fashion Designers Are Banding Together to Prove Print Media Is Not Dead https://s.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif Several recent runway co...
#Fashion Designers Are Banding Together to Prove Print Media Is Not Dead https://s.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif
Several recent runway collections and collaborations are a welcome antidote to “fake news.”
A look from the Études Fall/Winter 2018 collection. Photo: Imaxtree
If you’re clued into the current political climate (or, at the very least, have logged onto Twitter sometime over the past year), you’re aware that the President of the United States has made it his mission to discredit the “corrupt and dishonest” media — aka any publication or journalist that dares to cover him in a negative light — as savagely as he can. He’s cried “fake news” so many times that Collins Dictionary officially named it Word of the Year for 2017, and Topshop went so far as to slap the phrase on a pair of $90 jeans that promptly sold out.
The fashion industry saw a sharp increase in political activism both on and off the runway last year, and from slogan T-shirts to red carpet blackouts, clothing is a universally popular outlet for making a statement. In the wake of Trump’s attacks on the free press, several designers seem to have the First Amendment on the brain, if recent collections and collaborations are any proof.
A look from the Sacai Fall/Winter 2018 collection. Photo: Imaxtree
During the Men’s Fashion Week in Paris, two labels — Études and Sacai — showed pieces emblazoned with The New York Times branding. A Sacai T-shirt was printed with the newspaper of record’s new ad campaign: “Truth. It’s more important now than ever.” Études went the classic merch route, incorporating the Olde English-style logo on pieces including a jacket, a shirt, a scarf and a hoodie.
A look from the Études Fall/Winter 2018 collection. Photo: Imaxtree
Alexander Wang, in his typical cheeky fashion, just released a collaboration with Page Six. Despite the publication’s slightly lowbrow coverage of celebrity, society and entertainment gossip, it serves as more proof that media is far from dead.
A look from the Alexander Wang x Page Six collection. Photo: Alexander Wang
Back in September, Virgil Abloh showed a series of magazine clutches — People, Time and Life — that were the talk of Paris during the Spring 2018 collections. While this was clearly a reference to the paparazzi’s obsession with Abloh’s seasonal must, the late Princess Diana, the point still stands: long live media!
A look from the Off-White Spring 2018 collection. Photo: Imaxtree
In an era when the proliferation of misinformation and distrust of the media in general is at an all-time high, it’s not surprising that designers are increasingly inspired to use their own medium to promote the importance of responsible journalism. Why not use this newly trendy motif as a subtle protest of your own next season? Or, you could use that extra cash to subscribe to The New York Times. Up to you.
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