The Big Four
The most exciting (and chaotic) parts of the fashion industry amount to two events during the year: Fashion Week. Spanning metropolises around the world, the most renowned fashion houses host their displays in either New York, London, Milan, or Paris. Each spanning for a week, these four settings cover the duration of a month. From mid-September to early-October, this event allows brands to showcase their collection for the next season (Spring/Summer 2024).
Not everyone on the runway is a model. With such a large mass concentrated in one area, many social movements have leveraged fashion weeks into a rally. Other than stumbling onto the runway, many have hosted public displays outside of venues. Majority of these groups were related to animal rights, painting a strong opposition between PETA and the fashion world. Other movements leveraged the dense crowds to draw attention to other aspects of environmental conservation. Forming a coalition with the Plastics Rebellion and Fashion Action, the Extinction Rebellion (XR) spilled Coca-Cola bottles filled with fake oil across red carpets. This disruptive campaign was meant to call-out London Fashion Week’s organizers, begging them to cut ties with the major beverage company for their impact on pollution. After all, Pantone’s Colour of The Year 2023 is Viva Magenta, not Oil-Spill brown.
Is modelling really that easy? Many underestimate the stress that this profession holds, often attributing it to physical appearance and connections. However, the fashion week season is when the limits of the human body are pushed. With around four to six shows a day, they must cross the ends of the city to reach their next booking. In order to please their agency, many also adopt cruel diets, adding stress to an already exhausted body. Some have tales of sleeping backstage, not knowing which continent they are in anymore. Others have scars on their feet, a reminder of the not-so glamorous runway. Perhaps layers of makeup are used to cover the effects of not getting “beauty sleep”.
When Pamela Anderson attended her first show in Paris, everyone was shocked. The fifty-six year old actress had many reasons to leave her makeup team as a simple afterthought. In an effort to revive her spirit, she defied what many thought to be mandatory in the fashion space: cosmetics. Initially hesitant, Anderson realized, "You have to challenge beauty sometimes. If we all chase youth... we're only going to be disappointed and maybe a little bit sad.” The woman reinforces the idea to focus on the clothes, giving the artists’ work a chance to shine. A more personal touch is due to the loss of Alexis Vogel, a makeup artist, one of her closest friends.
Fashion is no stranger to publicity stunts for it is the very essence that the industry survives on. While many say “any publicity is good publicity”, there is a difference between that and pure ignorance to true issues.
