by Mhairi Claire Lynch

Fashion is something that is so ingrained in our day to day lives that we often forget the impact it can have on different social and political climates. I think especially through the pandemic fashion has and what it can say, has truly been brought into the light. The humble tote bag and cotton t-shirt brandished with statements of wanting justice has the power to relay a message to the general public, simply by going to the shops to pick up a pint of milk. T-Shirts are an accessible political medium that can be created and distributed in mass amounts in record time, however, sometimes this does mean that sustainability must be temporarily left to one side.

During the Black Lives Matter protests, most notably in May of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers, many people throughout the world showed solidarity with the movement by wearing t-shirts and memorabilia and sharing it on the global stage through social media. Additionally, many protestors out in the streets customised T-shirts, masks and different items of clothing all to promote the cause of Black Lives Matter, which made the images from these protests even more poignant.

If we look back in history, protest fashion has been something in play for decades and had an important role in activism, whatever form it came in. For example, in the civil rights movement often the use of denim was associated with southern black working-class populations, so to gain societal respect, many people within the black community felt the need to stop the use of denim when they began to reclaim more of the middle-class societal belt due to its conditions of labour. Therefore, as momentum began to rise and time went on, activists, especially young people and students reclaimed the use of denim, fighting against black working-class stereotypes.

Often when celebrities use fashion as activism at highly publicised events, they can truly make a statement, whether that was the use of dresses in honour of the Me Too movement, raising money on the 2018 golden globes carpet for the initiative Times Up, working to fight against sexual harassment and misconduct within Hollywood. Yet sometimes this type of activism can cause controversy if institutions feel they can be supported more by allyship and finance than symbolic gestures from celebrities that have money to burn. However, in my opinion, a black dress is better than no statement at all. Yet the noticeable presence of Tarana Burke, the black female activist who began the Me Too movement, in press coverage and further activism shows there is still work to be done on representation within fashion activism and the industry as a whole.