In the January 2020 issue of Vogue, model Paloma Elsesser told the magazine, “‘There shouldn’t be this grand separation between art, culture, fashion, and politics … Not every part of fashion needs to focus on politics and reality – this isn’t CNN – but ultimately, we all have a level of responsibility.’” Saying this just weeks before art, culture, fashion and politics around the world would change forever, this sentiment is all the more relevant as we consider the 2020s and the potential it holds for progress.
While Business of Fashion used uncertain, challenging and disruptive to describe the fashion industry in 2021, the words I hope will describe the decade are accountability and innovation. The last year has been unimaginably difficult and has exposed old and new sources of pain in our society. Organizations have been forced to engage in a degree of introspection that many had avoided in fear of what would be revealed, or worse, indifference to how their operations affected the communities around them.
Fashion in particular has failed its fans in many ways, whether it be in lack of multivariate diversity, cultural appropriation, elitism, treatment of workers or environmental impact. As glamorous as the industry looks from the outside, it is rooted in a long series of hurtful decisions that need to be changed. It is long overdue that every facet of the industry, from designers and retailers to influencers and the media, takes responsibility for their history and creates actionable change. No one should have to feel guilty about supporting an industry that should be about pure love for art and self-expression, though its current state seems to be spreading a contradictory message.
While Business of Fashion used uncertain, challenging and disruptive to describe the fashion industry in 2021, the words I hope will describe the decade are accountability and innovation. The last year has been unimaginably difficult and has exposed old and new sources of pain in our society. Organizations have been forced to engage in a degree of introspection that many had avoided in fear of what would be revealed, or worse, indifference to how their operations affected the communities around them.
Fashion in particular has failed its fans in many ways, whether it be in lack of multivariate diversity, cultural appropriation, elitism, treatment of workers or environmental impact. As glamorous as the industry looks from the outside, it is rooted in a long series of hurtful decisions that need to be changed. It is long overdue that every facet of the industry, from designers and retailers to influencers and the media, takes responsibility for their history and creates actionable change. No one should have to feel guilty about supporting an industry that should be about pure love for art and self-expression, though its current state seems to be spreading a contradictory message.
"The future is coming, it just hasn't landed yet."
That being said, I don’t think all hope is lost. The innovation, creativity and passion that has come out of the pandemic is insurmountable. From Aurora James and Marco Bizzarri to Samira Nasr and Jonathan Anderson, it is so empowering to watch people not only push the boundaries of what a fashion brand can do, but also so strongly and publicly challenge the principles that the industry was built on. The work is far from done, but we are finally moving in the right direction, and that feels really good to write.
When I asked a friend currently in the industry for her thoughts on this project, she told me, “The future is coming, it just hasn’t landed yet.” We are living in an era of uncertainty and big questions, and while it’s uncomfortable, it is okay to sit with this inconstancy as long as we are learning from the world around us. There’s no playbook or one-size-fits-all solution to work from, but committing to finding the best framework for the scale of each organization individually is how we push forward. As I said earlier, it has been a defining year to be a young person in the United States, and a fascinating one to be a fan of fashion. So, I’ll close with the hope that the next decade of fashion will live up to the generation that wants to be part of bettering it.
When I asked a friend currently in the industry for her thoughts on this project, she told me, “The future is coming, it just hasn’t landed yet.” We are living in an era of uncertainty and big questions, and while it’s uncomfortable, it is okay to sit with this inconstancy as long as we are learning from the world around us. There’s no playbook or one-size-fits-all solution to work from, but committing to finding the best framework for the scale of each organization individually is how we push forward. As I said earlier, it has been a defining year to be a young person in the United States, and a fascinating one to be a fan of fashion. So, I’ll close with the hope that the next decade of fashion will live up to the generation that wants to be part of bettering it.
