Stealing for Vogue

The fashion industry is ridiculed for repeatedly misappropriating of cultural heritage. But an integrated shift may make it possible to transform a prolonged bad habit into collaborative, productive exchange.

Fashion is one of the most powerful mediums for instantaneous myth-making. Clothing and adornment on an individual level belongs to the ongoing enterprise of self-representation in which we all take part. Meanwhile the fashion industry tells a bigger story, that of society, as it ceaselessly pulses with new trends and products initiated by the upper ranks of high fashion and trickling up from streetwear tactics of everyday people alike. With strong social connotations underlying this cycle of inspiration, adoption, adaptation, and inevitably commercialisation, what one chooses to purchase and dress themselves in is never really about the clothes. It’s a deliberate aspect of the story one tells of oneself, and of the broader narratives communicated on a wider sociocultural level that one permits and substantiates.

Appropriation vs. Exchange

Amongst the complex process of adoption and adaptation within fashion is has emerged a bad habit of cultural appropriation. Google the term and a slew of scathing articles will surface in response, presenting example after example of designers and trends which effectively misrepresent the traditions in dress of non-Western ex-colonial cultures. Snappy headlines work to present case after case of cultural misconduct within the fashion world, but for a long time I still didn’t understand the problem with drawing inspiration from diversity and international traditions. I quickly learnt that ‘drawing inspiration’ was a guise for something far bigger, a far longer and more horrible pattern that many of us realise. 

Sharing ideas, inspirations and creations amongst diverse cultural groups is not the problem. Cultural exchange has been a beautiful way of engaging with those whom are different from us both industrially and personally since the earliest trading relationships connected ancient societies and arguably propelled them forward. It can be a fruitful exchange for both parties; but it is this missing piece which distinguishes multiculturalism from cultural appropriation. Ultimately there is a pattern of taking without education or consent which permeates not only the fashion industry, but also Western international relations with indigenous peoples and the Global South. 

Selective Stealing

Take the fabulous Aboriginal headdresses but leave the long history of traumatic assimilation that indigenous North Americans have faced for generations; adopt the cornrows but choose not to mention injustices faced by the black community for generations; refashion the turban and let the islamophobia and increasing vilification of the Middle East in recent decades go unaddressed. The taking, you see, is only half the problem, although the adoption and adaptation at hand often occurs with no regard for what the piece represents in its cultural context and without citing the original artists. It both plagiarises and botches the custom all at once, capitalising the ‘borrowed’ idea while the disadvantages faced by the minority groups whose arts are revered are continually swept under the rug. 

So here lies the fundamental problem. The divorce between a tradition and the people behind it (which I’ve written about before) allows us to revere some aspects of diverse cultures while allowing those who belong to them continue to be disadvantaged. The very same mentality that propelled colonialism, and that continues to take advantage of the human and natural resources in the global south, is here at play in the chicest medium possible. The fashion industry puts a glossy spin on the same old malpractice of taking what is useful and attractive from foreign traditions, sometimes instigating pain and disrespect in the process, and leaving the rest.

In Defence of Diversity

Ever-louder voices in journalism and the media call us to become aware of and take responsibility for the brutal colonial history of Western society and its overtones which lurk among us. The education these voices are advocating for is crucial; we need to wake up not just to the events of the past but to the subtler echoes of white supremacy in which it is disguised, cultural appropriation within fashion being a key example. While awareness will be instrumental in motivating more socially responsible and ethical conduct across all sectors, there’s something to be said about the potential risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.  Don’t get me wrong – the exploitation and abuse can go out the window. But we have got to retain the spirit of informed, mutually beneficial cultural exchange if we want to be able to draw inspiration from diversity and give multiculturalism a fighting chance. 

Humans have been borrowing ideas from one another to spur our innate creative instincts since the beginning of time. We can’t be expected to simply ‘stick to our own’; in fact I believe that’ll only make the void between us even bigger. Rather we need to be better at balancing the scales. And by ‘we’ I mean not only individuals but whole industries. The rightful demand for less filtered education of the crimes and shortcomings of the West needs to be supplemented with greater context for the cultures and traditions from which our inspirations are ever drawn. Not just by citing the origins of an idea but by involving indigenous people and people of colour in the creative industry to oversee, develop and provide context for the creative process which their heritage can inspire. By attaching widely consumed campaigns to an adjacent issue affecting the people whose traditions are respectfully and consensually echoed. In this manner, the industry can, for instance, still tap into the enviable style of the black community, so long as black models, photographers, designers and creatives are behind it, and so long as the prior negligence to do so and continuing disadvantages of the black community are saluted. 

With an enhanced understanding of where creative inspiration comes from, in collaboration with advisers and artists who represent the marginalised communities we have been taking from all these years, we have to pour our energy into a common goal in order to keep arts and history alive without erasing any of the story. It’s never been more in fashion to cooperatively design a creative movement that is altogether poignant, integrated, informed & (I’m hopeful) at its most beautiful.

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