How Political Fashion Triumphed The Runways During New York Fashion Week

Politics meets fashion; How Designers Leveraged Politics On The Runways During New York Fashion Week.

NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 12: Model Bella Hadid walks the runway for the Prabal Gurung collection during, New York Fashion Week: on February 12, 2017 in New York City. Getty Images

By Lakshmi Reddy

During NY Women’s Fashion week Fall/Winter 2017, a topic of conversation for many of the fashion designers, influencers, and bloggers was, “Should there be politics in fashion?” That question was answered by the designers with a resounding YES during the debut of their fall collections. The current administration and politics in general being polarizing of late is an understatement and many designers used the runway to voice their opinions. Designers made a social and political statement not only through their collections’ clothing and accessories, but also through their show’s music and models.

Many designers, from Biphu Mohapatra and Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig of Marchesa, donned pink Planned Parenthood pins in support of the organization. These pins were specifically created for fashion week through a collaboration between the CFDA and Planned Parenthood. The finale of Prabul Gurung’s runway show showcased a number of female models, with Bella Hadid leading the pack, wearing black and white t-shirts with pro-feminist and pro-immigrant messages. Gurung, who has been active in politics prior to fashion week, himself walked out at the end of his show wearing a t-shirt that read “This is what a feminist looks like.” Naeem Khan, an immigrant from Mumbai, India, ended his runway with a show-stopping gold ensemble that had mixes of design from east and west with Maya Angelou’s poem “Human Family” echoing through the hall. The final words of the poem “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike,” repeated itself several times, making a dramatic and profound ending for Khan’s show.

Editor In Chief, Christine Philip also talks Fashion And Politics at New York Fashion Week

Naeem Khan Fall 2017 Finale Gown

Naeem Khan Fall 2017 Finale Gown

Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osbourne of Public School cleverly reinterpreted Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” and had their models wear baseball caps with their own slogan, “Make America New York.” No designer took his casting to reflect his message as far as Rio Uribe of Gypsy Sport. Uribe used drummers from NYC subways to create the music for his show and used actual protestors from the Women’s March as models for his show. His unprecedented show began with his powerful plea: “Lets fight for a new world, a decent world, one where we can make room for each other.” A huge trend on and off the runway during fashion week was the white bandana. Business of Fashion founder Imran Amed, invited the fashion community to display white bandanas as a symbol of solidarity with all, “regardless of race, sexuality, gender, or religion.”

Fashion is about how one represents oneself to the world. Why shouldn’t the fashion community on and off the runway represent their social and political beliefs in the best way they know how, through fashion? In a time of political uncertainty and divisiveness, NY Fashion Week, which is usually known for exclusivity, was all about inclusivity. And the biggest fashion trend of 2017 is clear: ACTIVISM.

-LR