Trans* inclusivity in fashion retail: Disrupting the gender binary with queer perspectives

This study is about gender-inclusive fashion retail, with a focus on trans* inclusivity. It is based on primary and secondary research of trans* issues in fashion. This research resulted in an inclusive pop-up shop that eliminated the reinforcement of the gender binary present in conventional fashion retail. Primary research consisted of semi-structured shop-and-talk interviews with end users and industry experts. All end-user interviews were conducted in Toronto in a minimum of two different fashion retail stores, such as one department store and one gendered store. The expert interviews were conducted in a context that matched the individual, such a designer’s home studio. Secondary research used a blended framework of queer, intersectional and post-capitalist theories to analyse trans* discrimination, unisex fashion and transness in popular culture. Key themes derived from these areas were cultural variance of gender expression, lack of accurate trans* representation and superficial queer initiatives. Fashion is based on the socially constructed gender binary, which excludes trans* people and cisgender (cis) people who are gender non-conforming in dress. The heteronormative and cis-normative beauty standards of fashion shame those who do not follow them. The current trans* representation in fashion is minimal and problematic. Real trans* people and narratives are not broadcasted by mainstream media; however, tokenized trans* celebrities and cis people acting as trans* mouthpieces are. This research questions how services and environments of fashion retail can be redesigned to be gender inclusive, by normalizing disruptive gender expression and increasing trans* visibility. This research is important because of the empowerment, validation and safety that queer and trans* people deserve when in public spaces.

Coming apart at the seams: How the theatrical within fashion makes space for empowerment

Relationships between fashion and theatricality open up spaces of fantasy in which new ways of being can be imagined. In drawing upon the ways in which theatre exists in a space that is both physically real and created through imagination, the theatrics of high fashion similarly create spaces that are both physically real and imagined. Though often read as a symptom of an unnecessarily excessive system, theatricality in fashion can alternatively signal a turn towards a more ethical fashion system. Because fashion (as it relates to the production and consumption of clothing and other wearable goods) is invariably part of the problem, it provides a unique and valuable way of investigating practices of overconsumption, waste and environmental abuse. However, because high fashion functions in a space of slippages between the physically real and the imaginary, it also contains the potential to provide imaginings of possible alternative futures. Drawing upon Steven Meisel’s photography editorial for Italian Vogue, ‘Water & Oil’ (August 2010), this article investigates the ways in which fashion’s excessiveness can be reimagined as an argument for the essentialness of pleasure, and that pleasure is not synonymous with waste.

Empowering women wearing plus-size clothing through co-design

The retail landscape includes a vast array of clothing choices, yet style options remain extremely limited for Canadian women in the plus-size category (sizes 14W‐40W). Our study empowered women who wear size 20+ by bringing them into the conversation about plus-size apparel design and development. Few studies have identified clothing solutions utilized by plus-size women or how clothing impacts their feelings about themselves, and there is no research on the clothing needs of women in the upper plus-size range. We recruited participants through Facebook posts to plus-size communities and clothing swap groups located in a major Canadian city. Our research design had a human-centred focus and included co-design methods. Activities included body mapping, body scanning and co-design activities with sixteen women in a full-day workshop to unpack their ideas about plus-size clothing in a body-positive space to foster confidence, strength and autonomy. Body maps allowed our participants to embrace creativity as a tool to communicate meaning in an empowering way. Body scanning provided a quick way to electronically capture body shape and size through circumferential measurements. Co-design activities included drawing and writing. Proposed clothing designs were drawn on body templates derived from participant’s personal body scans. Participants elaborated on their clothing ideas by completing a needs and features chart to share perceived problems and propose solutions. Emergent themes included participants’ ideas about meaning and empowerment, proposed clothing designs, detailed information regarding clothing fit and selection challenges, as well as their feelings about the co-design process. Consultation with people, using co-design methods is a way to reveal fashion gaps and an opportunity to improve customer satisfaction and increase sales and thus is important to designers and retailers specializing in the plus-size market.

Bolivian textile crafts and the subversion of institutionalized sustainability

This article describes the tensions between institutionalized and grassroots forms of sustainability and their subsequent effects on textile artisans in La Paz, Bolivia. Principles of the indigenous cosmology Suma Qamaña are applied to the twenty-first-century challenge of environmental degradation and governmental corruption in the description of craft practices at two artisan collectives in La Paz. Suma Qamaña is an expression of the harmonious and respectful coexistence of humans with nature, which entails communal values and reciprocal resource management principles. The study highlights grassroots, practical solutions that encourage economic and environmental sustainability for textile cooperatives in Bolivia. Through extensive participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study seeks to understand how the lives of artisans are affected by the Bolivian government’s appropriation of the Suma Qamaña cosmology. The current political party, the Movimiento al Socialismo, has gained popular support in Bolivia partly by institutionalizing the inherent rights of nature in the national constitution. Despite this, the government continues to pursue extractive natural resource policies. To counter this, Bolivian textile artisans practise their own version of bottom-up sustainability, which does not rely on government institutions to enforce change. The artisans’ situated practices, traditional knowledge base and the inherently sustainable characteristics of craft production ‐ flexible, small-scale, localized and resilient ‐ reflect potential trends and alternatives for apparel production.

Transgender fashion: Fit challenges and dressing strategies

Clothing is part of our material culture and allows individuals to portray their self-image and articulate their personas to others. Clothing is performative and helps position individuals as their desired gender, which is why clothing is so important to transgender people. While the transgender medical experience has been examined, few have investigated wardrobe building for transgender people undergoing hormone replacement therapy (HRT). This research explored clothing worn by two trans women, and a trans man who experienced pregnancy, to answer the research question ‘What are the clothing issues and dressing strategies of transgender individuals?’. A convenience sample (n=3) was recruited using snowball methods. Data collection followed three phases to foster a empathy and learning utilizing a qualitative, human-centred approach. To better understand the market, research began with a competitive analysis of retailers and bloggers catering to this niche market. At-home wardrobe interviews utilized participant’s clothing as probes to discuss and demonstrate anatomy in relation to clothing choices and how participants felt when wearing the right clothing. Themes in the data included transition strategies, shopping and fit challenges as well as clothing solutions. Key outfits were photographed, providing insights regarding clothing assortment, fit criteria, as well as desirable/problematic design details and styling tips used to achieve the desired aesthetic/identity. The findings of this study offer empowering strategies to support wardrobe choices for transgender people and are important to designers, product developers and retailers.

Fracking, fashion and the environmental activism of Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood frequently utilizes her iconic status to advocate for a variety of social, political and economic issues (Moir 2021). Since 2008, environmental politics, climate change and fracking policies have been the focus of her activism. Westwood regularly attends anti-fracking protests, such as in 2015, when she gained significant news attention for driving a tank across British Prime Minister David Cameron’s lawn. This article explores the possibilities of Westwood’s design activism within visual culture to communicate the grave environmental consequences of fracking and climate change. In addition to her political activities, Westwood has incorporated an environmental critique into her fashion collections, such as transforming her 2015 London Fashion Week performance into an anti-fracking protest. Westwood consequently draws upon her privileged status as a cultural icon to position her runway and subsequent media attention as a platform encouraging critical debate in regard to ethical fashion and environmental change.

Ethical fashion consumption: Market research and fashion sustainability in Canada and beyond

Today’s consumers are very connected and knowledgeable and have very high expectations of businesses in terms of corporate social and environmental responsibilities. Yet, researchers have demonstrated the existence of a behaviour gap between consumers’ intention and their action. While they expect brands to be more responsible and are willing to pay more from the ones that ‘do good’, that willingness to purchase more ethical products fails to translate to a concrete purchase in reality. This behaviour gap is a real challenge to ethical fashion brands, a challenge that must be addressed in order to support the growth of the market and ensure that sustainability truly becomes the fashion industry framework. This chapter supports to a certain extent the arguments of the Professors Kate Fletcher (University of Arts London) and Lynda Grose (California College of Arts) in favour of creating longer-lasting garments through the design for sustainability approach. Their work has, among other things, put the user back to the centre of discussions and his relationship with clothing and how this relationship should affect systemic change in the industry. The purpose of this chapter is to bring the consumer behavioural paradox to light and to share through a case study one way ethical fashion brands could bridge consumers’ expectations and thus empower them in their choice to live more sustainably.

The new Phrygian cap: Pussy hats, feminism and anti-fashion

The international wave of Women’s Marches in 2017 (and subsequent years) was fuelled by anger about the misogynist tone of the American election (aimed at contender Hillary Clinton) and a sense that the rights of women and sexual minorities were being threatened. In particular, protests were triggered by the newly elected president’s unearthed comments about female genitalia: ‘grab ‘em by the pussy’. Following the instigation of craftivists in California, women around the world donned pink knitted hats with points resembling cat ears, which became known as ‘pussy hats’. This chapter uses examples collected as rapid response collecting after the marches in Edmonton and Calgary (Alberta, Canada) for the Royal Alberta Museum to argue that the pussy hat is an example of anti-fashion in its embrace of anti-consumption, and its role to promote political accountability. The pussy hat, in effect, is the uniform of a feminist political ethics.

‘How soon was now?’: A retrospective on the popularity of nouveau vintage

Fashion is a product and reflection of time and tantamount to modernity. The promise of which rests in the future, thus fashion is forever looking forward in the ambition to be ‘new’. Vintage fashion, namely clothes from past periods apprehend this perpetual cycle, often adopted by alternative groups of consumers to create different looks as a subcultural trend. This trend has in recent times been subsumed by capitalism while the label ‘vintage’ has become a marketing term applied to new mass-produced fashions. What can be understood from society’s attitude to progress and the promise of modernity by this remaking of the past into a pastiche? Fashion can prove to be a perfect conduit through which to understand complex conceptualisations of time, and more specifically the concept of 'political time'. What people wear can further cast a light on public consciousness and its faith in development and hope for a better future. This article will consider conceptions of time and modernity as a theoretical tool to reflect on the development of nouveau vintage, which is a recreation of vintage styles and fashion, mass produced for a wider market. Including the role of memory and dialectics, nouveau vintage can be thought of as a refusal for development, while demonstrating fashion is a cultural object worthy of philosophical enquiry.