To Be Fashion PC

PC, no I’m not talking ‘personal computer’ but rather ‘political correctness’ which is applied rather liberally to all and sundry these days. Who would have thought menswear shows would be at the heart of such fierce debate from sexuality and agender dressing to Rick Owen’s much publicized ‘rogue’ model and now Junya Watanabe hitting the headlines with the accusation of cultural appropriation.

Watanabe presented an African-inspired show that combined linen suits, preppy blazers, crisp shirts and school-boy shorts with vibrant squares of batik print patchwork. Each look was styled with traditional African jewellery and artifacts along with fake dreadlocks and cornrows. The show took place at the Museum of Immigration was the result of a collaboration with Vlisco, a Dutch company that has been a major fabric supplier to regions in Africa since the mid-19^th century.

Junya Watanabe SS16

So what was the big hoo-haa? Well, Junya used an entire cast of pale skinned European models to present the collection, that along with references to colonialism really got the feedback boards buzzing. Here are a few examples:

‘This mind-boggling insensitive and ludicrous culture appropriation is bordering on racism or the equivalent of blackface. Junya needs to take his head out of his own deriere and get some serious education on his totally deluded & ignorant ethnocentrism.’

‘I am a Junya fan but come on now. The obvious is staring at him in plain site. As a man of color himself, he couldn’t borrow a model of African descent to walk his European gilded runway, as he highlighted looks from the African diaspora? Shameful…’

‘By the way there were no Asian/ Pakistani/ Indian/ Berber/ Peruvian/ Korean/etc…. models either because if your collection is about white colonialism (at least so it seemed in my black African eyes) they kind of muddle the point. All I can say for the collection is that it wasn’t his worst but I wished he used a bit more of the wizardry he applies to his womenswear instead of this heavily styled affair.’

Meanwhile others took a different stance:

‘Some might see the Masai necklaces, wooden masks and metal spears as overkill, and insensitive to the darker side of colonialism. Yet the beauty of Watanabe’s pattern mixes and the placement of the scraps — along with the jauntiness of his summer tailoring in rumpled, sun-faded fabrics — delivered a powerful tropical punch.’

In Watanabe’s defence his previous collections have been presented on models varying in age and ethnicity, in particular his Autumn/Winter 2015/16 collection employed a predominantly black cast. So is it not merely the case that Watanabe employs models in keeping with the theme of the show for that particular season?

As for the use of colonialism as an insensitive inspiration source it is true to say that designers are often influenced by a multitude of references some of which don’t make for pretty reading. Take the late Alexander McQueen his inspirations included the likes of death, rape, religion and asylum’s. While it would be wise to advise any designer to be respectful of any reference used within their designs there surely has to be some creative leeway, just how much, it seems, remains fundamental when being PC.

JoJo Iles

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