Decoding Fashion Activism Through Typology

Abstract

The term “fashion activism” is now used to describe various activist practices related to fashion, dress, or clothing-making, despite their distinct natures. Although there has been extensive discourse on fashion activism, these distinctions are largely overlooked. This terminological confusion, combined with the complex dynamics of diverse cases of fashion activism, has made the concept daunting for many fashion practitioners, both professionals and students, potentially discouraging their participation. Therefore, our goal is to gain a clearer understanding of fashion activism through a comprehensive typology. We examined a wide range of activist practices broadly labeled as fashion activism, along with the varying critiques surrounding them. From this research, we categorized these instances into four distinct types, primarily based on their motivations, objectives, and methods: “Activism Uses Dress,” “Fashion Uses Activism,” “Activism Uses Fashion,” and “Activism Against Fashion.” Ultimately, through this typology, we aim to critically analyze and articulate the distinct characteristics of these four types of fashion activism, including their interests in profit-making, the limitations of their methods, their stances on the existing fashion system, and their final objectives. Furthermore, this work emphasizes the need to acknowledge and bridge the gap between fashion activism theory and practice, particularly to foster more prolific and productive collaborations between the two fields. In this vein, we present this typology as a terminological and structural framework to make fashion activism more accessible, while also highlighting the potential of activist design projects to create counter-narratives and catalyze fundamental shifts in the status quo.

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