A world separates the defenders of a benevolent fashion… and those who do not - for the moment - give a damn, more interested in easy profit and little concerned by the visibility of minorities.
This latent border is the theme of Apocalypse Mode , the rich and fascinating documentary by Olivier Nicklaus , the star fashion man of Arte , already available on arte.tv.
Good cop / bad cop
There are the good pupils and green precursors including Agnès B. , Stella McCartney , Vivienne Westwood and now the queen of upcycling Marine Serre (hey, hey: only women!). Then there are the others: followers of cultural appropriation ( Louis Vuitton , Dior …), accustomed to burning their unsold items ( Burberry ) and / or displaying a catwalk trodden by white and white models ( Dolce & Gabbana ).
Supported by the telling testimonies of a specialist from the New York Times , the spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion , a philosopher or the fashion journalist Pierre-Alexandre M'Pelé , Olivier Nicklaus raises a question: why fashion puts- does it take so long to react to the inevitable need to rebuild its sector?
Greenwashing and guilt-freeing
A little forced by the taste of the time, Gucci , Chanel and Versace in turn stopped the use of animal fur. But what about the ultra-polluting aspect of the synthetic version, whose manufacture emits microplastics derived from petrochemicals? Where does greenwashing start? Should we be wary of pretty speeches?
Moreover, if Naomi Campbell speaks of “ invisible minorities ”, black designers are starting to stand out with the advent of very committed Kerby Jean-Raymond (Pyer Moss), Kenneth Ize or the LVMH Thebe Magugu prize . As for him, Bernard Arnault left the controls of Vuitton Homme to Virgil Abloh . However, the DA already enjoyed such a cool aura that we could speak of simple opportunism ...
But after huge bad buzzs at Gucci, Prada or Dolce & Gabbana - we remember the diplomatic incident after the campaign showing a Chinese woman in difficulty to eat her spaghetti with chopsticks - and the post- George Floyd revolution, the most major houses have all created consultant positions for diversity and inclusion. The goal ? Avoid scandal at all costs. But for the symbolism, we will go back to Chanel… which recruited a white woman for the job.
Genres and beliefs
If fashion deserves the donkey hat of inclusion and eco-responsibility, gender issues do not frighten it. Transidentity sees its promised land there: the notion of gender fluid is now emerging as a trend, even a marketing niche “ that Nicolas Ghesquières claims ”.
Like so many new labels advocating unisex , or Gucci now showing men and women together, when others like Maria Grazia Chiuri (Dior) defend an asserted feminism in the wake of the #metoo movement .
Apocalypse Mode, available on arte.tv .
To complete: also discover the documentary that will make you skip Zara and the book everyone is talking about on fast fashion .
