Vestoj #4: On Fashion and Power

'Fashion and Power’ is a subject as well-trodden as it is open to new interpretations. Dress, we know, can be a powerful weapon of control and dominance but it can also be both subversive and empowering. The power of fashion is of course integral to identity and body politics, but today it is as important in terms of global economy, nationhood and celebrity culture as well as in all practices aiming to subvert the status quo. In contemporary consumer culture the link between power, social discipline, conformity and fashion is often so entrenched that exist-ing norms are beyond our discernment, causing us to often regulate and control ourselves without any deliberate coercion from others. What then happens when we step out of line?

In this issue we explore what you risk when you deviate from the norm and what you gain from following the beaten path, but we also examine the consequences of a system that doesn’t encourage discord or opposition. We have looked at how the politics of the fashion system allow power relations to be built and maintained, why it is so hard to be critical in fashion and who gains from the industry’s rigid and static power structure. Seeing as fashion is often described as a mirror of our culture, we have been curious to better understand how the demonstrations of power within the fashion industry are displayed and why so few today appear to challenge them. Could it be that this is endemic of a more widespread attitude in society?

Texts by
Shaun Cole, Professor Peter McNeil, Dr Djurdja Bartlett, Dr Jane Tynan, Dr Anna Akbari, Charles Colman, Dr Ane Lynge-Jorlén, Professor Simona Segre Reinach, Jean Kilbourne, Mary Ping

Interviews by
Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, Dr Lucy Collins, Kristopher Arden-Houser, Marco Pecorari, Dr Agnès Rocamora, Dr Maria Mackinney-Valentin

Images by
Chris Rubino, Amelie Hegardt, Tzenko Stoyanov, Hank Willis Thomas, Stephen Crowe, Matthieu Lavanchy, Danielle Levitt, Dilan Walpola.