A car going over a cliff and a violent ballerina may not be images you would see in a political campaign, but don’t be surprised if you see them plastered on students’ clothes when they’re walking down the street. Politicians’ messages may not have this edgy style, but politics is definitely making its own statement in the fashion world.
Even a simple T-shirt can’t hide from political concerns surrounding the clothing industry. Now more than ever, these issues have a direct effect on the styles and trends being worn both on the runway and on the streets. Barb Danielewski takes a stand by doing screen printing for political T-shirts out of her own home for the Epidemic Clothing Collective.
“I started printing political shirts in response to the fact that I didn’t see any political T-shirts out there I liked,” she said.
For her, the process of printing the T-shirts is just as political as the message on them.
“I don’t screen print with big machines,” she said. “I do a DIY style.”
Printing out of her own home allows her to use all recycled materials in the screening process and to limit the amount of water being used.
“Because I’m working at a very small scale it’s easy for me to pay attention to every step of the process,” Danielewski said.
You can find her clothing at Army Surplus on Princess Street, but Danielewski also invites people into her studio to participate in the process themselves. She said she hopes to demystify the process of making clothing by teaching others how to screen-print their own clothes.
“The process of doing it yourself can be really empowering,” Danielewski said. “We can become more connected to the processes that contribute to the things we use. That in itself is a political action.”
Spreading the word is the next step. Danielewski said these T-shirts are a good way to spread information.
“T-shirts are one way in your daily life you can communicate with a large number of people … you wouldn’t usually talk to.”
Danielewski’s designs consist largely of copyleft (anti-copyright) images and art from local artists.
“I usually print a design until I feel it’s no longer interesting to people or no longer relevant.”
Many of her designs deal with transportation issues, including bicycle images and a particularly popular image of a person pushing a car off a cliff.
“I enjoy thought-provoking, clever images that poke a little fun at the everyday and things that make people think twice about something,” Danielewski said.
She said wearing one of these T-shirts might be the first step on the path to change.
“When you see people … who believe the same way you do then you don’t necessarily feel so alone and building community is the first step to political engagement,” she said.
“There’s so much further that people can go, but it does open doors to building a network or community.”
Devon Murphy, ArtSci ’09, said she prefers wearing political clothing than clothing with labels on them.
“I’d rather be promoting an idea than a label,” she said.
Murphy said, for her, wearing political T-shirts is about self-presentation.
“It’s a statement on your sleeve—literally.”
She said the clothes you wear demonstrate a lot about your identity.
“It’s a useful way to get a statement across,” Murphy said. “The first thing you see about someone is their clothes.”
However, Murphy said she is a little skeptical about some of the trendier political clothing.
“I think the big trend right now is T-shirts about the environment. … If it’s just following a trend it’s not really something I support.”
Even for those who are committed to the issues, Murphy said wearing political clothing may not make change.
“I don’t know if it helps actual causes as much as it helps to reinforce other people’s ideas about your political ideas.
“I don’t believe wearing [a T-shirt with] an ass-kicking ballerina stops gender oppression, but I wear it because it’s something I believe in.”
Murphy said these clothes do have some benefit, however.
“I think at the very least it might get people thinking about issues,” she said. “It might be a medium to get the ball rolling.” People aren’t just taking a stand through political logos: some clothing manufacturers are starting to look at the politics of their production, as well.
The first pressing political issue the clothing industry is trying to address is sweatshop labour. Sweatshops are defined as such if they violate two or more of the most basic labour laws such as child labour, minimum wage and overtime pay. American Apparel is one store taking strides to stop the exploitation of clothing production workers. Anthony Rill, manager at American Apparel on Princess Street, said the store’s “no sweat” policy has had a positive effect on its business.
“Although people don’t directly talk about it, it’s synonymous with what they’re doing,” Rill said.
The store originated in downtown Los Angeles as a vertically-integrated manufacturer, meaning all stages of production are done under one roof.
“Basically, none of our clothes are made outside of the US,” Rill said. The company also focuses on ensuring workers are paid fair wages, well trained, given good healthcare plans and treated well, he said.
Rill said even though the clothing is a bit more expensive, people are willing to pay because they aren’t feeding child labour. “Everyone has a good idea of how the clothes are made and can feel good about shopping there.” Students have also been making an effort to be conscious of the use of sweatshop labour in the clothes they wear. Debbie Lam, CompSci ‘09 and COMPSA senior social affairs commissioner, said their executive only uses sweatshop-free products for their COMPSA clothing.
“I also am conscious of the manufacturing of clothes that I buy for myself. I think it’s really important to support sweatshop-free clothing because it’s the best way for us to help put a stop to the problem,” Lam said.
She also encouraged others to pay attention to what they wear.
“It only takes one person to make a big difference, so if everyone tried to support this, imagine how great of a difference we would make.”
After sweatshops, taking care of clothing production’s negative impact on the environment is next on fashion’s political to-do list. Kelvin Hon, Comm ’09 and president of the Environmental Club, said chemicals are one of the biggest problems in clothing production.
“The main issue now in terms of fashion affecting environment is the negative chemicals that can be used to produce them,” he said. “A lot of people abuse the environment by incorporating bleach and dyes into their clothes which creates by-products that find [their way] into waterways.” Hon suggested other materials to avoid harmful effects on the environment.
“There are much better alternatives such as soy silk, bamboo, organic cotton and hemp,” he said.
He also recommended checking out environmentally friendly companies such as Me to We, which is also a sweatshop-free manufacturer.
“We use the company Me to We for our club clothing because it is made of 100 per cent organic cotton”.
Our clothes are making a political statement whether we want them to or not. Even that plain, old white tee in your closet has something to say. It’s up to us as consumers to determine what that political stance will be.
—With files from Jill Buchner
Graphics courtesy of bant-shirts.com
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