THE POTENTIAL OF FASHION AS A FORM OF ACTIVISM

• Aliveshoes
• fashion world
• social commitment
• activism

The world of fashion is now used to launch messages of various kinds, especially of a social nature, with actions and clothes that often represent a stance in the face of important and discussed issues. In fact, red carpets and social occasions where many movie, music and lifestyle stars are present are increasingly used as a "stage" to give space to important issues.

How can we forget, for example, the red carpet of the 75th Golden Globes of 2018, where as a sign of respect and support for the “Time's Up movement”, born from the Weinstein scandal and what is followed all over the world, against harassment in the workplace, all the stars respected the recommended total black dress code. A gesture that might seem trivial, but it is not and it makes us understand how much fashion and activism are increasingly two sides of the same coin. It can also be useful to stir the minds, as in this case.

Another emblematic example comes directly to us, after a year of hiatus due to a pandemic, from the Met Gala, the traditional Gala at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the most important event in American fashion, exceptionally at the end of New York Fashion Week, seen which is usually organized on the first Monday of May. The theme of this 2021 edition was a tribute to the United States, its multiculturalism and the lexicon of its image and the stars interpreted it by sporting bizarre and extravagant clothes, with the colors of the American flag or with references to the Statue of Liberty, iconic fabrics like “denim”, creations by national designers and expressions of multiculturalism.

But one outfit in particular attracted everyone's attention: the memorable and highly symbolic one of the Puerto Rican-born Dem deputy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who wore a candid white poster dress with the message "Tax the rich" written in red. widely shared by most Americans, but which was also viewed almost with irony, as it was worn in a Gala whose membership costs $ 35,000 alone.