International Women's Day 2019 T-Shirt Empowerment
For International Women’s Day on March 8, 2019, some my favorite female designers like Alexa Chung and Victoria Beckham created unique T-shirt designs celebrating female empowerment and showcasing women’s role in fashion in a broader sense. The collection launched on Net-a-Porter, an online luxury store based in the United Kingdom with all the profits going toward Women for Women International, an organization that offers support for women survivors of war. The full collection features six women designers: Alexa Chung, Victoria Beckham, Isabel Marant, Rosie Assoulin, Ellery and Perfect Moment.
The T-shirt designs are simple and minimalistic with slogans like “I am Her” and “You Go Girl” and “Divine Feminine” centered on a white shirt. These designer shirts come at prices ranging from $100 to $250, prices which reflect the designers’ dedication to the cause. In targeting an upper class audience that has the privilege to speak out against injustices against women globally, these designers are using their voice and influence for good by uplifting women in marginalized communities.
However, the collection and its affiliation with high fashion designers could perhaps contradict the underlying message behind International Women’s Day. It runs the risk of reducing the movement to a cute slogan on a shirt without fully addressing the issue at hand. People buying the shirts simply for the sake of fashion or the brand name may not understand the message behind it. At the end of the day, the money still goes to charity but what kind of message are the people wearing the shirts sending? If it’s simply to pat themselves on the back for doing a good deed, that completely misses the point of the shirts and the movement itself and minimizes the labor that goes into organizations like Women for Women International. However, despite potential underlying issues, these T-shirts do more good than harm because their brand name ultimately helps bring greater awareness to the cause and effectively contribute to a more progressive mindset, all while using fashion as a platform to address these issues.
Moreover this collection showcases the power of women in fashion. Alexa Chung, a model turned fashion designer, has been one of my fashion icons for a long time, and to see her take on a project like this speaks to just how important female creators are in the male dominated fashion industry. Even though she’s just recently launched her own line in 2016, she’s always been one of the “it girls” in the fashion world. Her T-shirt boasts “I am Her,” demonstrating the power and authority of identifying as female, allow women to be proud of themselves and their accomplishments.
The statement tee itself also indicative of the role of fashion in empowering women. A simple statement on clothes carries a lot of weight and is able to transform a shirt into a voice for change. The statement tee encapsulates the larger message of the feminist movement and International Women’s Day in that women can and should express themselves through their art and fashion, making the personal indeed political.