User:Marjaana.lahti/sandbox

Research on aesthetic Politics in Fashion/Social impact of fashion industry/Future of fashion
Quick idea for fashion as a discipline: (Fashion applies other disciplines: interdisciplinary because harmony of multiple disciplines. At academies and universities fashion is taught by referring to other disciplines: economics because clothes are consumer products psychology behind fashion and style (also cultural garments): people wear certain thing to identify ourselves as belonging to a certain group, to give out an image (sometimes false) History of art to understand the cultural implications of certain styles and historical eras.)

Social impact
'The true cost' (Netflix) ->Sweatshops in Bangladesh - Rana Plaza accident that brought this problem to the attention of worldwide media -> You’d think that high fashion brands are better because they’re “quality” but actually they contribute to this problem just as much as brands like H&M, Zara… -> Fashion industry second biggest polluter right after oil industry !! ->Advertising is just another form of propaganda designed to brainwash us into mindless consumerism and materialism (psychology behind that?) ->Brands like People Tree that focus on the human capital aspect (sociology) of producing garments first instead of starting on the creative process (art)

Future of fashion
Using renewable resources -- connecting with Environmental things “Using genetically modified (or recombinant) yeast, sugar, water and salt, Bolt Threadshave developed a closed-loop process to bio-engineer a new protein fibre mimicking the structure of spider silk.” Birch fibre and other fibres derived from plants/trees Sustainability in fashion

Aesthetic politics
Aesthetics are deeply tied to politics as both rely on the usage of circulating images and words to change public opinion. Especially in extremist regimes, propaganda is used to create a false image on the government. In 19th century America, France was seen as the epitome of refinement and came to be seen as the representation of "Continental" culture. This lead to them imitating French "haute couture" to the point where fashion became more of a uniform than the expression of personal style. Thus a 19th century American upper-class wardrobe would be a set of very limited options that may together form a costume that mimics the style of another culture. Politics in fashion in general: -> religious garments debate - Modesty Fashion https://www.whowhatwear.co.uk/modest-fashion Modest fashion: can mean many things but generally refers to fashion targeted towards, and worn by, muslim women. The gradual rise of the disposable income of muslim women has created a demand for a wider range of styles. Case study: How fashion shapes and supports the identity of muslim women in Finland. The paper argues that there may be ways of creating a sense of unity between minorities and the majority population by making minorities' identifiers, such as the hijab, fashionable and "cool". (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1362704X.2015.1078136?scroll=top&needAccess=true) Aesthetic politics is a term often coined with fascism, to describe the use of propaganda and manipulation to change the views of the general public. In recent years it's been creeping back to popular politics with Trump's election as president (source). His rhetoric against muslims has fed into the debate against terrorism, and fuelling hostility and prejudice against islam. This has partly influenced the political debate on muslim women's religious freedom, integration to Western-dominated societies, and fashion choices. While some people say the wear of extremely covering hijabs such as the niqab - a type of hijab that covers everything save for the eyes, hands and feet - is unethical because of the oppressive connotations, many muslim women find it empowering. Especially muslim women who have immigrated to areas where the majority of the population is non-muslim are proud of the vocation and courage it takes to stand out. Their experience in Western cities is filled with prejudicial hostility tied to people's views on terrorism (source). In addition to that, the economic power of muslim women is rising, as a higher number of them are working instead of being financially dependent on their husbands. Called Generation M, they demand higher representation and a wider range of fashion choices targeted towards them (source). While many muslim women who choose to wear hijab view the purpose as a deeply religious garment that should not be decorative nor interesting to look at (source?), some have taken to themselves to find new exciting ways to wear it (photo maybe?). Along with this, brands like Nike have embraced the "modest fashion" trend by hiring hijabi models (picture?) and designing pieces targeted towards muslim women. The controversiality stems from the fact that the hijab aims to hide and divert interest, but modest fashion rebels against that and lifts it to the level of high fashion, making it a commercial product(source). -> uniforms -> appropriation Source suggestion!!: Suk-Young Kim. “Dressed to Kill: Women’s Fashion and Body Politics in North Korean Visual Media (1960s-1970s).” positions: east asia cultures critique 19:1 (2011): pp. 159-191. North Korea is a rigid dictatorship where the government is preoccupied with dressing the nation according to strict social norms. This serves to make people lose their individuality. Aesthetic control creates a world of uniformity and rules which cannot be broken. The North Korean government uses fashion as a national project to groom conformity. They frequently recommend certain models to their citizens. Strangely enough, the image of a "revolutionised woman" in North Korean propaganda is quite feminine, and is clearly distinguished from its male counterpart.