Has fashion reached 'peak predator'?

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This was published 6 years ago

Has fashion reached 'peak predator'?

By Jenna Clarke
Updated

Here's a question: have we reached 'peak predator'? What if the names of predators are put on a t-shirt and it sells out?

Such is the case for a new range of tops that have hit the internet which combine fashion's obsession with tour merchandise, grey marle and the Hollywood Reckoning.

The Another One Bites The Dust jumpers and T-shirts are selling out online.

The Another One Bites The Dust jumpers and T-shirts are selling out online.Credit: megshops.com

The "Knock 'Em Down" T-shirts and jumpers are designed to look like concert swag but in lieu of performance dates they list the names of men whose careers have been brought down by sexual harassment and assault allegations.

They also chronicle the dates of their demise like Harvey Weinstein in October, Matt Lauer in November and predict the impeachment of President Donald "grab 'em by the p--" Trump as "TBA".

The new jumpers combine the thirst for tour merch and the (Hollywood) Reckoning.

The new jumpers combine the thirst for tour merch and the (Hollywood) Reckoning.Credit: megshops.com

The collection has been designed by a female-run, New York small business called Meg Shops, and starts at $65. While it might seem semi-problematic to capitalise on predators, on a macro level the range represents a group of women working within the confines of capitalism (a system established by men, remember) to spin a profit for sisters in need.

Instead of manipulating the horror of the situation in the way a fast-fashion chain usually spits out replica runway looks in nanoseconds; part proceeds from the collection, aptly titled "Another One Bites The Dust", will be donated to the New York Alliance Against Sexual Assault and the Women's Support Network in Canada.

"With regards to the New York Times Silence Breakers, we thank these women who have brought to justice the predators who have never been held accountable for their actions, because of the positions of power they hold," the store posted to Facebook. "We're proud as a women-run company to call out these men and use our platform to support these amazing organisations helping victims every day."

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When it comes to fashion, repetition deems something a trend. A successful one too.

Like the Queen song, but darker.

Like the Queen song, but darker.Credit: megshops.com

Last season Maria Grazia Chiuri made her debut as Dior's first female creative director with a $700 "We should all be feminists" shirts, which subsequently went viral and sold out.

She then doubled-down on her female empowerment schtick for the spring-summer 2018 shows with an homage to a 1971 essay by Linda Nochlin about feminist art history via shirts that posed the question: "Why have there been no great women artists?".

After some furious Googling in the front row, the fashion crowd learned that while there are many female artists and designers, the majority of creative industries have been, and still are, run predominantly by men.

This empowering style, including the pussyhat project, following the Women's March, have been popular dishes on the fashion degustation menu this year; but this "Knock 'Em Down" project is a palate cleanser. Where women used to make bold statements with "break-up hair" and "revenge dressing"; predator is the new Pablo, awareness the new Alaïa.

"I wanna wear this shit EVERYWHERE," a Facebook fan of wrote. When asked "Do we need this?" another wrote: "F--k off. Yes we do. Intimidate assholes on the street. We took down billionaires, we'll take you down too."

Others aren't so enthusiastic.

Jezebel's Julianne Escobedo Shepherd wrote: "I would like to see more powerful abusers removed from their perches, because that is what is right and just, but I will not celebrate it with a commemorative tour T-shirt, as though remembering a Justin Bieber concert, because absolutely none of it is fun."

Fashion is fun, but it can also be used to incite social change.

The House of Christian Dior liberated white ladies from the heavy volume and corsets of the early 20th-century by offering cinched-waists and A-line skirts after World War II. Then after years of oppressive low-rider jeans, Lululemon let us wear leggings as pants. Repetition was key to these trends. Which is what this moment of vindication for victims of sexual misconduct needs.

Sick of hearing about the Don Burkes and Trumps of the world? #MeToo. But if you're sick of hearing about yet another story of sexual assault, imagine how the victims feel.

While people were adding Another One Bites The Dust merch to cart over the weekend, Dylan Farrow was bashing out yet another op-ed for the Los Angeles Times condemning women she admires for working with Woody Allen.

Farrow once again repeated her claims of sexual assault against her adoptive father and drew parallels to the director with Weinstein.

"The truth is hard to deny but easy to ignore. It breaks my heart when women and men I admire work with Allen," Farrow wrote. "It meant the world to me when Ellen Page said she regretted working with Allen [on To Rome With Love], and when actresses Jessica Chastain and Susan Sarandon told the world why they never would.

"It isn't just power that allows men accused of sexual abuse to keep their careers and their secrets. It is also our collective choice to see simple situations as complicated and obvious conclusions as a matter of 'who can say'? The system worked for Harvey Weinstein for decades. It works for Woody Allen still."

Farrow should continue to use employ this "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" mechanism, but maybe it's time to put it on T-shirt, that way the world may be inclined to finally #AskHerMore.

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