The Paradox of Fashion Industry

An article written by Lucy Hutchings titled Inspirational Fashion Quotes has a quote from, a founder of a famous clothing brand, Prada Miuccia and it was “What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.” (2017 18) Imagine person walking down the streets wearing a luxurious Gucci shoes with a black leather Dolce and Gabbana dress, and a gold Rolex with a red Prada purse will immediately get everyone’s attention. What about someone with a plain white shirt with a regular blue jeans and a gray backpack with normal sneakers. Would anyone observe that person the same as the first option? The majority of the people will say that the first option will be more eye-catching because, the clothes are made from an expensive brand that many people. So, why do these people would prefer those expensive brands despite the costly price? Is it just for the gleam and shimmer for people to embellish themselves? Do they even realize the what kind of effect that the fashion industry is giving out to the world? Even though the fashion industry influences people to become more stylish and creative of what they wore, it has a negative impact such as racism, unjust labour, and environmental problems.

The unique movement of how tall models walk down the aisle with their special cloths are impressing. Many people enjoy watching the models perform on runways. Fashion show is the place where many fashion designers could openly show their creative artworks. However, being a model requires more than just having a special skill when they perform on stage. The models had to be in a specific race or color that the fashion designers prefered. An article from Fordham University School of law, Whitewashed Runaways: Employment Discrimination in the Fashion Modeling Industry says, “It is an industry where your appearance and oftentimes skin color not only determine whether you will be hired, but also whether you will move up in the ranks.” (Padula 2016 4) This issue will not give any opportunities for diverse races to become a fashion model. It should not be justified that only certain races could be a model.

Also, Dolce and Gabbana was about to run a fashion show, but according to a news article Dolce and Gabbana reportedly cancels Shanghai fashion show after racism accusations states, “Italian fashion house Dolce and Gabbana reportedly canceled a fashion show in Shanghai after being accused of racism in its promotions for the event.” (Handley 2018 1) The promoting video that they made was called, “Eating with Chopsticks”. The content was about a woman eating Western food with chopsticks, while a man is narrating over her. (Handley 2018 4). This became an enormous event that made a lot of Chinese people outrage and caused the cancellation of the fashion show. In addition, another Luxury brand known as Prada has been exposed of showing racism in their store display. An article from the Washington Post, Seriously, Prada, what were you thinking?:Why the fashion industry keeps bumbling into racist imagery states, “A display of expensive tchotchkes in the window’s of Prada SoHo boutique in New York included one style that recalled a Golliwog, the 19th-century blackface character with big round eyes and large red lips.” (Givhan 2018 2). The character Golliwog was meant for discriminating African Americans.

Imagine an African American looking at this figure while walking down the streets and realizing what it is. This will not give a pleasant impression for him or her. Also, a student from City University of New York wrote a research paper titled, Black Models Matter:Challenging the Racism of Aesthetics and the Facade of Inclusion in the Fashion Industry. The paper was about how African Americans were experiencing racism in the fashion industry, specifically in the paper, there was an illustration with an African American being called “Ghetto” and the Caucasian “High Fashion.”(Newman 2) All of these facts are proving that many different kinds of racism exists in the fashion industry. In the Bible, 1 Samuel 16:7 says “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” This is the reason why the society should try to abolish racism in fashion industry.

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