It’s time for fashion to fight fascism

New York Fashion Week has given fashion designers the chance to use their influence and outreach to protest the questionable, to put it nicely, actions and beliefs of President Trump. The designers protested against the building of a wall, the denial of climate change, the reintroduction of the gag rule and the various sexist, racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, homophobic things Trump has said. Here is how the fashion industry fought back:

LRS

Mexican-American designer Raul Solis took a stand against Trump’s plans for building a wall. One of the models was sent down the runway underwear saying “Fuck your wall”.

Adam Lippes

The models at Adam Lippes carried protest signs with slogans such as “Adam Lippes Stands with Parenthood” and “My Body, My Choice”. This came as a Planned Parenthood solidarity rally took place on Saturday.

Tome

Creative directors Ryan Lobo and Ramon Martin sent their models down the runway proudly wearing pink ‘Planned Parenthood’ pins, which were being handed out by the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America). The CFDA handed out buttons with information about the importance of Planned Parenthood, which ranges from birth control and STI treatments, to sex education and cancer screenings.

Rally at the capitol.

Calvin Klein

Raf Simons’ first show for Calvin Klein saw models walking to the soundtrack of David Bowie’s single “This Is Not America” – to highlight messages of inclusivity. Additionally the infamous Calvin Klein underwear campaign has been reworked to feature a more diverse cast. The Academy Award winning cast of Moonlight are the most recent additions.

Even the big brands are getting on board

Public School 

The models sported red baseball caps with “Make America New York” stitched on the front – a clear play on Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ statements.

The White Bandanas 

The #tiedtogether campaign, coined by fashion publication Business of Fashion, evoked statements of solidarity, unity and inclusiveness. Various designers showed models wearing white bandanas tied to their wrists, such as Tommy Hilfiger, Prabal Gurung, Thakoon Panichgul, Phillip Lim and Diane Von Furstenberg.

don’t mess with my gals

Chromat

Chromat’s feelings were not subtly stitched into garments or nodded at in their silhouette. Chromat clearly got their message across as the show closed with the song “F Trump”, which literally just loops the words “F**k Donald Trump” on repeat.

 Anniesa Hasibuan  

Hasibuan took a sartorial protest against the numerous Islamophobic and xenophobic statements made by President Trump with her all-immigrant cast of models, who all wore hijabs on the New York Fashion Week runway.

The fashion game is changing

Creature of Comfort 

The New York-based fashion label sent out models sporting blue, long-sleeved t-shirts with “We Are All Human Beings” on the front. The designers say this was to highlight unity in the face of President Trump’s ideologies.

Christian Seriano

Christian Seriano, who champions for diversity within the fashion industry, sent models wearing black t-shirts with messages such as “people are people” printed on the front.

Prabal Gurung

His models were sent out on the runway finale in t-shirts adorned with feminist slogans including “Nevertheless, she persisted”, “Revolution has no borders” and “I am an immigrant”. He was one of the New York designers who created a t-shirt for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The designer himself took his finale wave in a t-shirt saying “This is what a feminist looks like”.