Fashion, Folk and the Foundation.

‘Art is a line around your thoughts’ – Gustav Klimt

My initial understanding of this quote was that art limits one’s thoughts. No, that can’t be right. Honestly, I think art can never really be defined. It can only be interpreted, and for me, art is an idea having a physical form. When I wonder how I framed this definition of art, I always go back and think of my first encounter with it. It wasn’t when I dipped my hands in paint or when I wrote my first poem. My first encounter with art was when I first picked an outfit to wear. In a way, my idea of beauty was given a physical form by how I chose to present myself. That was the first time I learned that how I want to look like is always a reflection of how I feel. A few years later, I realized that there was a name for this ‘dressing-up-for-no-reason’ hobby of mine – it was termed as ‘fashion’.

It bothers me that the word fashion is somehow always associated with runways, elitism and femininity. For me, and I’m sure that for a lot of fashion enthusiasts, it is a form of self expression and subsequently, runway shows are a performance. I remember watching a few collections in 2018 that were presented in a literal church on you tube and I remember the chills I felt because of the music, the efforts, the amount of dedication and pure beauty that the shows were. When I watch shows like these, I cannot help but wonder, isn’t this exactly how a performance of art is supposed to make you feel? 

Fashion industry is constantly associated with a sense of pseudo superiority. Ironically, it has been not only an integral part of our lifestyle for ages, but also a part of many, many revolutions around the world - revolutions inclusive of people of all economic and social strata. Up until the 1800s, women were forced to wear corsets and 15 pound skirts in the name of modesty. In the 1850s, the feminist revolution brought along the concept of trousers for women and designer brands like Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent uplifted it. Today when I see a woman wearing a suit and the power that the image holds, I know that it all goes back to how much fashion and feminism have evolved together. If that example wasn’t enough, just last year, thousands of Japanese women protested against the rule of wearing 5-7 inches high heels to work under the #KuToo movement. The field of fashion has matured in such a way that it has enabled the oppressed to understand the oppression they face in the smallest aspects of life. Clearly, fashion isn’t something out of the world. If anything, it has made everyone feel more comfortable and confident in their own skin.

A few weeks ago, I came across an Instagram handle of a guy more commonly known as ‘the guy in a saree’ or the ‘saree man’. In India, a saree is one of the very few things that every single state has in common.  A saree is traditionally considered to be a symbol of feminine peculiarities. Himanshu Verma is known for discarding all the notions of femininity associated with a saree by wearing it for over 12 years now. He describes this practice as “a gesture of re-appropriating saree as a male garment and highlighting the historical tradition where it was about the fluidity of the drape and not the structure that was gender specific”. Along with him, there are many male influencers and artists who have embraced their love for makeup, ‘feminine’ colors & styles of clothing and jewelry. In 2020 itself, Pinterest and other social media was full of classic menswear inspired clothing for women. The growth in fashion industry has facilitated the breaking of gender stereotypes and has freed us from traditional gender norms. Furthermore, for anyone who is struggling with their gender identity, fashion has opened new ways for them to express themselves better in a non gendered way.

Recently, the industry has also begun to play its part in making the world a better, more sustainable place. Brands like Stella McCartney, Reformation and Redone are attempting to make fashion cruelty free and environment friendly. Although these brands are very expensive, thrift stores like The Real Real and ThredUP are making sustainable fashion more affordable. Local thrift stores around the world are also getting a lot of attention since vintage became a trend in 2019. Slowly but steadily, we are on the way to reduce our investment in fast fashion.  

I could write pages and pages about the contribution of the fashion industry to the global economy, but I don’t see the need of it. Fashion is one of the highest valued industries in the world adding up to 1.5 trillion dollars as of 2020, and it continues to grow. I don’t think I will ever be able to give a better example of a perfect blend of commercialization of creativity, human resource, management, social media and of course, art. 

We humans are pieces of art ourselves and fashion is the medium through which we show the world who we are. If we think of the extent of fashion - or any form of art for that matter - and its impact on our lives in small but significant ways, Klimt’s quote makes a lot more sense. Art is fluid and it will take the shape of what you choose to put it in. Your thoughts contain art and mold it to be a reflection of you. 

Authored by - Soukhya Dalvi