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Fashion, Politics, and Dante Alighieri

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Why bother the Tuscan poet?


From fashion to politics, Dante Alighieri has become a recurrent name in the news. Sadly, people like to speak out of turn to make an impression. However, their remarks often have the opposite effect, making them appear absurd.

Dante on the Italian scene: sad but true


Not a piece of fake news, so please take a deep breath if you didn’t already know it. Recently, Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister, claimed that the poet Dante Alighieri was the founder of right-wing thinking. Of course, this statement caused a great stir leaving many people perplexed. However, understanding why contemporary politicians look like caricatures more than real leaders would be really interesting. But that needs a deep reflection we will not tackle here.

Dante Alighieri & the Paris Haute Couture


Yesterday, Daniel Roseberry for Schiapparelli opened the Haute Couture week in Paris. And for the maison, the creative director sent on the runway a show inspired by the Inferno by Dante Alighieri. Specifically, he focused on the three fairs the poet encounters in the forest dark: the leopard, the lion and the she-wolf.

Cultured reference or not, animal trophies embroidered onto evening gowns were a horrible concept. Even more considering that those animals are in danger of extinction. Furthermore, models no longer in their youth had the face skin smooth as a child’s butt.

Bad taste dominated the show. Most of all, it is unclear what kind of women the fashion industry wants to appeal to.

Ignoring the Italian culture minister’s statement made sense—it’s best to avoid highlighting stupidity. But now Dante is back, making headlines again—this time, from Paris Haute Couture week!

Understandably, we are living in an unprecedented time of disruption and change. But why bother Dante? From fashion to politics, they force out-of-context cultural references. The only plausible explanation is that they want to impress but have nothing meaningful to say.

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Upcycling: The Future Of Fashion

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A trend or a permanent approach towards sustainable fashion?


Upcycling seems to be the future of fashion. Indeed, this technique is one of the best opportunities to make fashion a more sustainable industry. But is it just a trend? One of the buzzwords brands use to lure attention? Or is it here to stay?

Upcycling – what does it mean?


Upcycling means taking discarded materials, re-designing and reassembling them to create a product of higher value. While recycling transforms materials into something new, which implies more resources, having a higher impact, upcycling starts with existing materials, resulting in a lower impact. Therefore, this practice represents a pattern of circularity, the heart of sustainable fashion.

A personal note: family tradition


For us, daughters of a seamstress so passionate about making clothes that she even finished buttonholes by hand, it’s not a novelty. Since we were children, we’ve had familiarity with collecting buttons, zippers, and fabrics. Pieces from existing garments that mom would reshape to make something else: beautiful clothes for special occasions or garments and accessories for daily life. Our school bags and pencil case made of deadstock denim were fantastic.

upcycling

Upcycling, background notes


A memorable example of upcycling comes from the movie industry. Rossella O’Hara’s dress, made from curtains in “Gone with the wind”, belongs to our collective imagery.

Many blogs attribute the “upcycling discovery” to this or that designer for a promotional purpose. But we cannot avoid mentioning Mr Martin Margiela. Since the beginning, his aesthetic mastered the deconstruction and reinvention of found garments, culminating in 2006 when Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal was born.

On the same line, we mention Marc Le Bihan. A big part of his work consists in searching for vintage garments, deconstructing and reconstructing them. He upcycled military uniforms from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, reshaping them into modern pieces. With Swedish pants, he created a coat; with military pull, a gilet; and with smoking pants, a long skirt. Also, he created pieces with postal bags made of heavy linen for a catwalk.

Among young designers, Marine Serre’s creativity stands out. Indeed she is doing a great job with upcycling.

By exploring fashion history, we can see that upcycling is nothing new. But what brought it to the centre of attention was the pandemic, which spread a do-it-yourself trend among young people. Most importantly, it favoured the diffusion of particular attention towards sustainable fashion.

Nowadays, many famous brands ride the wave to stay popular. Though advisable to become sustainable, a fashion industry that almost entirely revolves around upcycled garments is hard to imagine.

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The Luxury Inconsistency

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How the fashion system devalues itself


Straight to the point of the luxury inconsistency: top brands stopped representing luxury. When they adopted the overproduction model, triggering a constant need for discounts, they moved in a different direction. And with the rise of ‘affordable luxury’–a meaningless oxymoron–the fashion industry has been doing its best to devalue what little remains of luxury.

Luxury: from exclusivity to mass products


Overproduction and luxury have nothing in common. But the fashion industry promoted this pattern to make more money in the name of growth and greed. Some top brands represented the last stronghold of an industry that was transforming into financial conglomerates. In this new context, fashion shifted from exclusivity to the masses.

In order to appeal to a wider audience, communication had to develop a different narrative, revolving around three points:
1- extremised concepts, just to give something to talk about
2- socialite or fashion bloggers to promote the products
3- frequent markdowns

As a result, the industry lowered its standards focusing on branding rather than providing creativity and excellent quality. The byproduct was a crass logo dependency. However, associating a logo with specific lifestyle imagery is not the same as creating well-made products. Most importantly, exclusivity and discounts are inherently contradictory.

The luxury short-circuit


Sometimes luxury brands, how they still want to call themselves, release the misguided communication, as seen in the case of Balenciaga. Consequently, fashion bloggers end up selling their products at a discount. But can you imagine who paid full price for those items? They must be thrilled to see them undersold!

Rising prices: the latest strategy for luxury


Now brands increase prices due to pandemic-related issues and inflation, but that does not mean better quality. They’re simply covering their costs. If people accept paying more, they get mass-produced items in return, not exclusivity.

What masses believe is luxury, it is not. It’s the product of an industry that has lost its consistency. A fashion industry that, without serious critique and questioning, reveals its short-circuit and inability to change.

In conclusion, communication missteps show the luxury inconsistency to everyone. And you don’t even need to be a fashion insider to understand it!

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Davos Forum: Permacrisis and Private Jets

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World leaders, the luxury bubble that rules the world


These days, the planetary elite is gathering in Davos. And try to guess how they reach the World Economic Forum? On a private jet, of course! How would one address cliamte change if not from a private jet? It’s almost poetic, isn’t it? The same people who claim to have the solutions to the planet’s problems are the ones most disconnected from the realities of the world they seek to fix.

Davos Forum: what is it?


Davos is a town located in the Switzerland Alps where, in January, the World Economic Forum takes place. Started in 1971, WEF is a Switzerland non-profit that holds a five-day conference annually. The delegates include political leaders and representatives from international companies, pharmaceuticals, tech, banks and academics.

Every year the leaders tackle a different topic. This year’s theme is: “Cooperation in a fragmented world.”
Since Europe is facing a persistent state of hardship, going from crisis to crisis, we entered the era of “permacrisis.” And there seems to be no end to this challenging time. Other than economics, leaders will touch on environmental and social issues too.

Greenpeace & Davos


Greenpeace published an analysis conducted by the Dutch CE Delft checking the CO2 emissions from the private flights to the Davos Forum:

“The analysis shows a substantial increase in private jet flights to and from Davos airports and an even more sizable increase in CO2 emissions during the week of the World Economic Forum 2022, compared to an average week. The number of private jet flights doubles and private jet emissions quadruple during the week of the World Economic Forum compared to an average week.”

About every second flight is attributed to the meeting. But, the distance travelled is striking:
53% of all private jet flights were short-haul flights under 750 km. 38% were ultra short flights (below 500 km) that could have easily been train or car trips. More than 6% of all private jet flights flew less than 100 km. The shortest flight recorded was 21 km.

Read the full report here.

Clearly, these leaders live in a luxury bubble. In order to address issuses like the economy, the climate emergency and social injustice, they fly on private jets and stay in five-star hotels. Yet, they suggest a radical change in technology and sustainability. In short, they suggest solutions while simultaneously exacerbate the problems. Absurd, isn’t it?

Of course, the idea that leaders travel on private jets to address pollution—while contributing more CO2—might make us laugh. Unfortunately, the climate emergency is here to stay, and there’s nothing to laugh about.

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Corporate Change & Sustainability: This Is Greenwashing!

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The era of branded change: how corporations deceive people


We are facing a new wind called corporate change: an intersection of sustainability and change. Specifically, corporations are doing this through advertising, sponsoring, hosting panels, summits, and so on. Which, in other words, sounds like branded change. Either sustainability needed marketing to reach a wider audience, or we can clearly say: this is greenwashing! Smoke and mirrors designed to make money.

The conversations on sustainability encounter the favour of corporations. Indeed, the more the discussions multiply, the more they need to get involved–fingers in the pie. But since our planet has reached the point of no return, the narrative turns out as dangerous. And even if the facades are beautiful, questions should arise.

Every day a new greenwashing candy!


Every day, we’re presented with a new greenwashing pearl:
• Eco-conscious movements sponsored by big conglomerates.
• Corporations like Coca Cola sponsoring COP27. 
• Fashion Group Inditex (Zara) partnering with WWF. 

It sounds weird. Don’t you think so?

And what about the fresh new one: UAE names oil chief to lead COP28 talks! Yes, an oil boss will lead the climate summit! 

Does it make any sense? Can we trust them? 

They make millions by exploiting the planet, yet they promote a conference to address climate change. It seems as though one single institution is selling both the poison and the cure–all at the same time! There’s a name for these practices, an internationally recognized definition: conflict of interest. Perhaps corporations or top managers aren’t familiar with it.

How can we trust those who created the environmental destruction we’re facing? And yet, they make money from it! In order to prioritise profit and growth, corporations have taken deliberate decisions ignoring the side effects on the planet and on the people. Now they can even lead summits on the climate emergency, but they aren’t the ones who will ever bring effective solutions. 

Corporate change? This is greenwashing!


However, you might think that what matters is spreading the conversation on sustainability, regardless of who funds it. Well, no! Those who say that have other purposes than change.  

We quote cobsinsights.com – “Can we trust corporate sustainability reporting?”:

“corporate or business sustainability is simply NOT planetary sustainability.”

And so, firms can invent stories to make the narrative engaging, but that doesn’t mean those stories are real. There’s a gap between rhetoric and action. All these people can do is keep an outdated system alive.

In conclusion, we can easily explain this new wave of corporate change & sustainability in a few words: this is greenwashing!

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