The Fashion of Politics

If you read any book on the history of fashion, it’s impossible not to recognise the effects that politics have on styles. Wars inspire minimalist design, economics dictate hem lengths and people dress to show support for their country. That short phase where everyone was in red, white, and blue clothing plastered with stars and stripes has mostly ended, but there’s still a lot of the sentiment if you know where to look. A year or two ago a fashion design student at Parsons, went to a party at a club in Chelsea in an outfit topped off by a kaffiyeh, a scarf with a black and white chain-link pattern and knotted tassels that is typically worn in Arab countries. Once the trademark of Yassir Arafat, and long associated with his Palestinian countrymen, the newest wearers wrap the kaffiyeh around the neck. They say they are less Fatah sympathisers than fashion party crashers. The kaffiyeh appears to be the dubious successor to the ubiquitous image of Che Guevara, a symbol removed of any potent political associations by pop culture. But not everyone finds it so simple a fashion statement. A blogger named Mobius blasted a large-scale retailer for selling kaffiyehs.

Taking issue with the retailer’s decision to label the item an “anti-war woven scarf,” Mobius posted pictures of terrorists adorned in kaffiyehs. The retailer’s response was to pull the scarves from the shelves and issue a public apology. Since the early adopters started the kaffiyeh-as-fashion trend, huge global retailers have produced every combination of colour and symbol imaginable. A popular meshing of two trends is the skull kaffiyeh made by a major high street retailer, and voila! It has become less a political item and instead gained a whole new asthetic importance. More recently, the fashion world has been very involved in the Obama campaign. Sonia Rykiel and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac sent Obama-emblazoned looks down the runway, as did Nicole Farhi, while many famous names designed pieces to be sold in the Obama store. In addition, I quite like the Obama Baggu Bags. And of course, the fact that the candidate himself graces the cover of Men’s Vogue just goes to show that politics and fashion do, after all, mesh quite well.