The Greater Good of Fashion
As a girl who eats, sleeps and breathes fashion it’s not very hard for me to incorporate fashion into my everyday life and into my daily experiences - to me, it’s as if fashion will always have a larger importance than some people realise (or care to admit).
Now, when I say I’m always relating fashion into my everyday life it can be from little things like
comparing boys to a pair of high heels (nice to look at but a nuisance nonetheless)
or by relating fashion to something larger and more significant which is something I’m going to talk about today.
Currently at the Saatchi Gallery there is an amazing exhibition that really pulled at my heart strings; artist and designer Johny Dar has set out to help struggling refugees in a motion called “Jeans for Refugees” in which 100 celebrity jeans have been donated to Dar who will decorate them by hand and then auction them off, creating a fund for the refugees.
So before I get into the ‘nitty gritty deets’, let’s just refer to the idea that once again fashion is playing an incredible part in creating a better life for people. Isn’t it amazing, that a pair of ‘celebrity jeans’ are able to do something like this - that they are able to create a fund for refugees who have no home, no income and no chance of survival without the help of (in this case) fashion. It’s a lesson to people who turn their noses up at fashion for being shallow and one-dimensional and reminds me a little of that moment in ‘The Devil wears Prada’ when Miranda completely ends Andy after Andy refers to fashion as ‘this stuff’ to which Miranda replies with the legendary monologue telling her that no one is exempt from the fashion industry as even a jumper from the ‘corner shop’ has been inspired by some designer which represents ‘millions of dollars’ and ‘countless jobs’ - yes legendary. The point is, everyone has a connection to fashion as an industry - every time you purchase an item of clothing you are supporting the fashion industry and in this case the fashion industry is giving back for the greater good and is helping desperate refugees.
Whilst walking around the exhibition (that I 100% suggest you go see for yourself if you can) I walked past 100 pairs of jeans previously owned by celebrities including Anna Wintour, Elle McPherson, Ozzy Osbourne, Harry Styles, Sir Elton John, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Daniel Radcliffe, Karlie Kloss, Claudia Schiffer and 88 others all in different styles from super skinny to flares. It was so interesting to see not only who donated their jeans, but which style of jeans they donated and how Johny Dar decided to decorate each pair.
I have been completely inspired by this fundraising initiative dedicated to supporting refugees worldwide and have the upmost respect for Johny Dar who has seen and noticed the significance that fashion holds in our society as well as the amount of lives the influence of the fashion industry can make a difference to.
Here’s to not seeing fashion as a materialistic industry that focuses purely on aesthetics, but as an industry that has the potential to improve lives, that is improving lives.
"The refugee crisis has had an impact on everyone - it moves us all, it concerns us all. The concept behind Jeans for Refugees is to spread a message through art, to create positive change and empower people to collaborate for a common goal, painting a new paradigm and inspiring a brighter world." - Johny Dar
Written by Maija-Lily Sicklin
