The Intersection of Fashion and Social Activism

Siona Peterous
Contributing Columnist

There is a unique and very strained relationship between clothing and people of color and oppression can lead to the most brilliant and bold examples of creative defiance. In regards to the politicization of our bodies, I believe clothes are my daily outlet. Fashion is how I define myself in public and how I express my mood. It’s how I celebrate my culture and how I address anti-blackness and xenophobia.

Bianca Blunt, a senior at VCU, will be graduating next month from the School of Fashion. For her senior thesis, Blunt has created a complete fashion collection addressing her frustration with the multiple cases of fatal police brutality “in a subtle but powerful way.”

Blunt was inspired by a dress that reminded her of “the Matador aesthetic” and decided to use “African American symbolism and the Matador costume” as a response to the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing cases of police brutality. She was influenced by the connection she made “between the inhumanity of bullfighting and the dehumanization of police brutality.”

Additionally, Blunt used her collection to address the double standard discussion of police brutality in mass media. Police brutality is often told from the male perspective with little to no consideration of how women are also affected by state violence. Blunt said it was a conscious decision to use women’s clothing to an address an issue that is so male centered. “Remember Sandra Bland. Women are affected too. So I chose to use women style to remind people . . . that it is an African-American issue.”

When asked about the role clothing has in the politicization of Black and brown bodies, she answered that there is always a connection, “We can be viewed as sketchy for our clothing. Police brutality shows that.”

The main goal of the collection is to express that, “people need to stop being desensitized to these occurrences in the same way they aren’t desensitized every time an animal is killed brutally. We should have that same respect for human life.”

Ultimately, Blunt believes that fashion has the power to address a variety of social issues. In her eyes, clothing can always make a statement because, “It’s an artform and it should be a conversation.”

While Blunt uses a more technical form to create her brand of socially-conscious clothing, De’Montaz “Taz” Brown, a junior at Old Dominion University, is taking a more entrepreneurial, grassroots approach.

On January 22, Taz released his hat collection, My Melanin, which sold out almost instantly. Since then, he’s had two more releases and all have sold extremely quickly and keep growing in popularity via social media.

The collection of fitted hats and visors are offered in array of color options with “Melanin” etched defiantly on the front bringing the hat to life. The hats are extremely, for lack of a better word, dope – but it wasn’t what held my attention. Rather, it was a combination of the inspirational slogan branded on the website, “A Culture Built On Distress” and a poem written by Taz, About My Melanin, which he used to promote the socially conscious message behind his product.

Taz explained that he created the poem to explain and address the purpose of the hat. He wanted to create this product because he kept seeing “people down all the time… and people ashamed of themselves because of all of the (racial) issues we see in the media. But even if we come from a culture of distress… all the pressure does make something great – we’re like diamonds”

What interested me even more about Taz’s line was just how inclusive the hats were. To begin, hats are unisex. Also using an accessory, like hats in this case, allows people to wear the socially-positive message as many times as they want in a week. It was something Taz said was intentionally done because afterall: “You can’t wear the same shirt over and over again, but you can wear the same hat over and over.”

The word ‘melanin’ automatically acknowledges the global struggle of people of color and is an all encompassing show of solidarity. “I want people to know that this isn’t just for Black people even though some people may think it is. This really is for everyone who has melanin – it’s for all minorities. . .also when I say minorities I also mean the costs. I want my hats to represent something bigger, to make people feel pride. I can’t make the costs super high and say I want to be part of a movement,” Taz states.

This movement was bred out of frustration following the ODU #IStandWithMissouri protests last fall. Taz says it was mainly due to the fact that he “kept seeing protests and people attending just to put it on their snapchats and afterwards? Nothing.”

The My Melanin lines ultimate goal was to address anti-blackness in an everyday manner.

When asked at this point if he believed that clothing plays a role in the politicization of Black and brown bodies he replied, “Absolutely, yes. We’re criminalized for what we wear. I want to create something to focus on that and do something more than just a random protest. That is exactly why I created the hats. To do something, to start and be part of a movement.”

We can use fashion to reframe the question of who gets to define identity. Whether it’s in the higher-end markets or in everyday streetwear, we can actively use our bodies to analyze, address and dismantle the politicization of clothing for Black and brown bodies. And with people like Bianca and Taz, and a whole generation of creative millennials, we have more resources now more than ever to do so.