Never before has fashion been so overtly political. It’s partly because there’s so much to resist these days, and also because Millennials are switched on and engaged, and demand their brands be the same. When it comes to making a social or political statement, the easiest (and most literal) way is with a slogan T-shirt. This was a key trend through both Spring/Summer, where the standout was Dior’s “We Should All Be Feminists,” and Fall/Winter, with Prabal Gurung’s “The Future is Female” and Haider Ackerman’s “Be Your Own Hero.”
Tees me
Slogan tees have a long history, on and off the runway, with origins in grassroots protest movements. To start with, people simply scrawled messages on tees. Next, there were genuinely subversive designers like Brit Katharine Hamnett, whose first tees were for Greenham Common Peace Camp (a 1980s protest site against nuclear weapons). There’s a valid argument for them as consciousness-raising tools. Hamnett herself told Dazed and Confused: “You can’t not read them, and once you’ve read them, they stay in your brain, churning around, hopefully making you think and act.” And it’s true that T-shirts can go where other forms of protest can’t – the perfect example of this is Hamnett wearing an anti-nuclear-weapon tee to shake hands with then UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Says Vancouver craft expert and writer Leanne Prain: “There’s no other garment that has universally been altered or adopted to broadcast personalsentiments or beliefs – from the tie-dyed shirts of the 1960s to the Sharpie-inscribed Riot Girrrrrl T-shirts of my teens.”
What’s the problem?
This all sounds very positive, so what’s the issue with slogan tees? Think about this: A T-shirt made at home by an activist will bear a specific message that is meaningful to them and thought provoking to others – fine, no problem. And the runway offers a global platform for these messages to be seen, so we’re OK with that, too. Although, counters fashion stylist and writer Steven Schelling, “You could buy the Dior tee that gives to Rihanna’s women’s charity or you could write a cheque to her charity directly. Do you need the tee as a receipt? Better yet, give that money to a charity closer to home that makes a difference in your community.”
But our real issue is with the high street. By the time the trend trickles there, the messages are blunted and diluted to tired slogans like “Girl Power”(why not “Woman Power,” for fuck’s sake?) that most likely make no impression on the observer. The T-shirts are blatantly for commercial purposes – rarely are profits donated to a cause. And high-street stores continue to manufacture their products in a way that’s damaging to people and the environment. So some 10-year-old girl slaves away in a sweatshop so a Canadian teenager can wear a piece of clothing that will soon end up in landfill. But that’s OK, right, because in the short term, she can show everyone how “woke” she is, without ever really properly engaging with social or political issues? No thanks.
Making a statement
Happily, there are ways to get the look, and support a cause, without compromising your principles. Find out if any of the charities and causes you support are ethically producing a tee to raise money, and buy one. Or better still, make your own T-shirt. Says Schelling: “Actually take some time to make a difference yourself: instead of wearing your colours, show your true colours. In my opinion, the most fashionable protest tee is DIY with a plain white tee and a black Sharpie.”
How to make your own slogan tee
“I’d suggest recycling an existing shirt – there are tonnes at our local thrift shops – and adhering a slogan onto it by silkscreening, stencils, patchwork, or embroidery,” says Prain. “If you feel the need to mass-produce tees, I’d recommend creating a ‘work party’ where you invite a bunch of friends and print or silkscreen together. Blim in Chinatown is a great place to learn basic silkscreening and the Vancouver Public Library has a wonderful resource of craft books. If you can’t make the shirt yourself, I’d recommend finding a local screenprinter or fair-trade supplier who works with ethically sourced T-shirts. If you have to pay someone, pay someone who is in your local economy’s ecosystem.”
Style tips
“I find the whole idea of trying to style a slogan tee to be a little ridiculous, unless you’re doing it for a shoot or some ‘art’ project,” says Schelling. “It’s a protest tee and assumedly you’re putting your allegiance on your sleeve (literally). I think the only way to do that is with the radical notion of just dressing like yourself. If you’re a jeans-type person, wear your protest tee with jeans. If you like a kicky skirt, pair it with that. If you’re going to wear a Pussy Riot-style balaclava, make sure it’s in a colour you like. (Mine’s hot pink and pylon orange...) If you feel comfortable in your convictions, be sure to also feel comfortable in your protest outfit.”
