From Rags to Riches: The Rise of Affordable Fashion
Black, brown and white models walk Helmut Lang’s runway.
For New York Fashion Week 2017, Ashley Graham produces a collaborative swimsuit line with Addition Elle, featuring herself and other plus sized models.
Avie Acosta, the trans and classically beautiful star of Christian Siriano’s NYFW runway, wears a black bodysuit and sheer gown paired with shining, gilded stilettos.
There is diversity. There are improvements. Any recent article about NYFW 2017 will promote the percentages of how many non-white models there were or the age of the oldest model on the runway. Yet, one axis of identity remains absent from even the most inclusive designer’s portfolio.
Where is the socio-economic diversity? It may seem an impossible task to represent variations in class or wealth when the average piece from any one of New York Fashion Week’s brands costs somewhere in the thousands. However, does that mean it should stand to go unrepresented, and excluded, from the diversity conversation?
Companies like H&M, Forever 21, and Zara are already ahead of the game. Bringing fashion to accessibility. The privilege of fashion, especially high fashion, has already been established. You need money to afford the uplifting, influential gift of self-expression and personal representation through clothes, cosmetics, and accessories. But why must entrance fee be so high? Why are the brands and designers whose pieces cost more than a flight to Europe the only ones who gain the notoriety and honor of appearing on that runway? Imagine a world where NYFW included high fashion brands for half the price. Where the diversity in the price of their pieces also reflected a diversity of socio-economic standing for high fashion companies around the world, and the people who consume them.
Given the fact that 46% of adults in America could not cover an emergency costing $400 without borrowing money or selling something, according to a 2015 Federal Reserve report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households, the brands featured in New York Fashion Week are completely unaccessible for over half of their intended audience. People who can barely afford to spend $400 on an emergency, can definitely not afford to spend it on a pair of severely marked down Alexander Wang boots.
However, there might be hope. With the digital era of fashion media upon us, the runway may not be the center of the fashion world anymore. In 2016, the instagram initiative #Runwayforall took over the platform, allowing many fashion aficionados and models to showcase their diversity and deviation from the traditional mold of runway. One company, Thrifty Little, manifests the essence of the campaign. Self-purported “purveyors of the unique and eco-chic,” Thrifty Little “takes on our carbon copy high street, and its fast fashion system” by hand-crafting “quirky, one off garments, from upcycled materials.” Founded in Edinburgh, the fashion company sells one-of-a-kind pieces ranging from 5 to 100 Euros.
And Thrifty Little is not alone.
Many individuals and companies aspire to this manifesto for uniqueness and inclusion. In a recent Vogue article, Fatima B, the acclaimed stylist for celebrities like Wiz Khalifa and D.R.A.M., comments on her how personal style and work ethic echo a desire for diversity, both in the types of clothes she promotes as well as in the fashion world. Especially “adept at mixing luxury labels with her Harlem-bred swag,” Fatima encompasses a diversity many would like to see reflected in corporations like NYFW. She can be seen “wearing some classic Reeboks, with a Chanel dinner coat, and a pair of Levi's,” unapologetically mixing and matching brands with different price tags and clientele.
Although the improvement of diversity in gender, age, race, and body type is undeniable at this point in the fashion world, no escalation of progress is enough. The digital children of my generation who are experiencing fashion through new and inclusive outlets see a change which will hopefully be soon reflected in older institutions of fashion.