Mannat Sardana
Is there any “fashion” without getting people talking?
The history of fashion has been accompanied with various scenarios of fashion controversies and styles.
The clothing release has made a splash in society and have become cornerstones of our style. But on the other side it has even caught strange eyes from the audience by engaging with a history of cultural appropriation.
From fashion launches that turned heads in awe to designs that sparked outrage and debate, these are various controversial fashion shows evident in recent history of fashion.
- Talking about controversial fashion and not recalling the name of Alexander McQueen, late British designer is impossible. Known and famous for presenting controversial shows upfront and incorporated divisive motifs and themes into his revered fashion shows. It has been seen that the designers’ entire life revolved around presenting objectionable fashion shows and thereby he was referred to as the greatest provocateurs of the fashion industry.
Usually known for designing clothes that empowered women, one of his shows presented the opposite as to what he states to be. The 1995 Fall/Winter show, titled Highland Rape, where the models were sent out bruised and battered wearing tattered clothes of tartan and lace. It created an outrage and it was interpreted from such act that he was promoting violence against women and garnered criticism for being misogynistic.
But as per McQueen clarification, he stated that the show was meant to depict the historical barbarism representing the ethnic cleansing of the Scottish Highlands by British soldiers during the 18th and 19th centuries.
- It’s definitely not a surprise that another one of McQueen’s shows makes its way to this list.
Public caught huge eyes for his Spring/Summer 2000 collection in New York, titled Eye, which dealt with the theme of Western fears of Islam and many of the clothes in the show directly referenced traditional Islamic dress. The show was particularly controversial because it featured sexualized versions of the niqab and featured models in burqas flying over a bed of nails that had risen from the floor during the finale.
- One of the most talked about shows has been the Rick Owens Mens’ Fall/Winter 2015 Collection, “Sphinx’ (also called by critics as the Peen Peek), featuring male models wearing clothes with cut-outs designed to show off their privates. The show ignited and created a lot of buzz online. Owns did explain the focus behind being an effort to incorporate a childish or juvenile aspect to the presentation.
- Marc Jacobs Spring/ Summer Collection, 2017 created a buzz in the critics as the show featured white models with multi color deadlocks making an impression of cultural appropriation.
- First hugely questioned but later grabbed a hue of appreciation and praise, the Givenchy Spring/Summer 2016 show, held in the shadow of Freedom Tower (earlier the site of New York Twin Towers) on September 11. The major buzz built was upon the date of the show- 9/11.
- Dolce & Gabbana’s Milan show– the 2013 Spring/Summer Show created a huge hue firstly on majorly being a white models show and on top on the ear accessories carried out by the models, featuring figurines of dark-skinned African women, called Blackamoors, which have an undeniable connotation of slavery.
- Christian Dior Spring 2000 Ready-to-Wear Collection presented a “haute homeless” show. Models were seen wearing newspapers, torn clothes, and old bottles, caps and safety pins. The collection was based on the homeless Parisians, even featuring gears like mini whiskey bottles and kitchen utensils strung along the models’ waists. Does this show question the ultimate matter of life and death; to be precise the fact was completely lost by the designer.
- The Rat on the Runway Show– Show by designer label Tsubi during Australian Fashion Week, 2001 featured over two hundred rats along with the models. It was reported that one rat was killed when it was struck by a falling curtain rod.
