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Forever in Blue Jeans - Fashion and Globalisation

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Globalisation linked to denim jeans goes even further. Xintang, in the Guangdong province of China, is the source of one in three jeans sold in the whole world (Source: Guang, Guang and Mingzhuo, 2015). With such an impressive statistic backing this area it would be assumed that the fashion industry would be kind and lead to a multiplier effect and great prosperity.

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Nearly all of us are conscious or unconscious walking adverts for clothing brands, with a few objectors viewed as the vegans of the fashion world - slightly confusing, often misunderstood and even ridiculed for holding the view that we shouldn't offer ourselves up as billboards.

Only the most expensive or the very cheapest brands opt never to brand their clothing. The Power of giving a moniker to a brand and applying that consistently, repetitively, to not just the product but the packaging, advertising, in-store visuals and online presence is immeasurable; or rather, is directly measurable - just look at the success of global brands built on instantly recognisable branding, from McDonalds, to Mercedes Benz.

Until around 30-years-ago, particularly within the menswear sphere, men embraced the notion that well-respected and renowned brands should be taken to heart and so form part of a kind of rites-of-passage process to being a 'grown-up' with a wardrobe that consisted of clothing worthy of the term 'adult', with different brands performing these roles in different cultures. Moreover, the right coat, the classic watch and the hand-made shoe were indicative that you'd 'arrived', that you'd 'made it'.

SPORTSWEAR AND THE RISE OF FASHION LOGOS

The meteoric rise of sportswear from the late 1970's onwards smashed this notion almost into the ground. Because the savvy marketers at these brands (along with those at fast food and soft drinks companies) chose to take aim at a much younger consumer than had traditionally been the focus, a generation of young people grew up with brands such as Nike, Adidas and many more virtually branded into their retina. Heavy sponsorship of the emergent music television genre as well as sporting events and team strips aided the fast-rising tide of omnipresent logo culture.

Reaching (what seemed at the time) to be a peak, the mid-1990's saw something of a backlash against the phenomenon, with designers such as Margiela and Jil Sander profiting from their preference for a lack of obvious branding. Branding writ large on oversized tee shirts and jeans began to give way to a newer aesthetic of pared-down classic pieces with minimal or no branding.

Just as Donna Karan's heavily logo'd DKNY brand reached its zenith, so Naomi Klein's 'No Logo' book took to dissecting the whole issue. She questioned the very ethics of the biggest corporations, citing aggressive market grabbing, exploitative employment culture, as well as pointing to how the globalisation of these brands led to a decline in manufacturing jobs in company's home territories.

However, as influential as Klein's book was then (and remains today), the tide of globalisation was not turned and while the trend for heavily branded clothing ebbed and flowed, the pursuit of ever-bigger profits and market share carried on apace.

FASHION LOGOS AND COLLABORATION CULTURE

The turn of the Millennium brought more of the same, but we are now experiencing a new wave of brand exploitation, thanks to collaboration culture. Ironically, this trend began as a way for emerging brands to leverage their connections with more established companies to increase their exposure but, as something of a victim of its own success, bigger companies eyed up the potential of multiplying their cool value and their turnover through teaming up to create marriages of brands that hold all the appeal of a glittering celebrity pairing; immaculately turned out for the front page-worthy paparazzo shot.

More recently, the trend for oversized and essentially plain tee and sweat shapes perfectly enabled the rise of the branded print, literally providing the blank space to be filled with logos. The stage was set for collections to be scatter-gunned with eye-catching logos emblazoned across the chest, down the sleeves, around the hood or anywhere else that could be dreamt up.

Already seeming to acknowledge the saturation point of collab' culture, Vêtement's Demna Gvasalia showed a collection for S/S '17 that took enlisted the co-operation of 18 other brands. Was this already a satirical comment on the whole endeavour? Whatever next?!

Well, the answer was bricks it seemed. Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know all about Supreme and it's innumerable collaborations with... well, anyone it fancies bc SUPREME! The imprint's relentless success has allowed it to sell housebricks, metal cutters and more, although signing up to work with Louis Vuitton was viewed by many to sound the death knell for these kind of streetwear and high-fashion partnerships, and may possibly take the whole collaboration culture with it, leaving Supreme's skate fans to wonder who is buying the $54,000 Louis Vuitton x Surpeme skateboard case...?

And now, as with so much post-post-modernism, it's often hard to tell who's joking, and who the joke is on. Milan-based nss magazine recently released a collection of retro football shirts, perfectly remaking official retro kit but adding the logos of superbrands Gucci, Vêtements, Dior and Saint Laurent to the insignia of the club and the 'authentic' strip manufacturer's logo. The shirts looked fantastic and suitably sold out in hours.

ART, EXPLORATION AND ASKING JUST WHY YOU NEED A BRANDED HOODIE

This retail trend is now so prolific that key artists are working to document the phenomenon. Photographer Polly Brown' s work explores why we covet these brands, taking away the substance of the garments themselves and reducing them just to the logos.

A post shared by Polly Brown (@pollyholiday) on

Her work seems to ask why we place such importance on the label, with the actual garment itself becoming almost inconsequential. For anyone who's looked at the retail price of a Vêtements hoody, it's obvious that what someone will pay for the brand they want to wear has no real limit.

Similarly, graphic artist Reilly makes funny and sometimes uncomfortable renderings of familiar logos, often skilfully blending the names of high fashion houses with the instantly recognisable logos of fast food chains and supermarkets. While he playfully describes his intention as "to make people look at them and go, 'what?!'", the outcome often looks like a comment on the constant churning of collaborations across the industry. D o these kind of projects cheapen the artisanal reputation of high-fashion brands and does the subversive message of streetwear get diluted when it's channelled through a luxury brand? Or is this levelling simply the expression of the generation who consume this stuff - that the Instagram-able pic of max brand opportunity is king and whatever enables that to happen is what a successful brand will look like?

WHAT NEXT?

However long this trend continues, it feels as though something else is already in the air. A smarter, grown-up, less shouty and altogether more understated look would seem to be in order. That's just basic fashion history right?? We can only consume the same thing for so long before we get sick, and begin to welcome a new wave, a new feeling, a new mood. The Supreme die-hard fans will always be fans but, no doubt, high fashion will turn its fickle gaze to some other muse soon enough.

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Consumer trends: Have we reached peak logo? Are we walking billboards?

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Nearly all of us are conscious or unconscious walking adverts for clothing brands, with a few objectors viewed as the vegans of the fashion world - slightly confusing, often misunderstood and even ridiculed for holding the view that we shouldn't offer ourselves up as billboards.

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The penetration of multinational corporations has resulted in the development of a borderless global market. As a result, the fashion marketplace is dominated by fewer companies, such as Nike, Gap and Diesel, which push sales of fewer, more standardized goods which have international appeal. These companies also run international advertising campaigns which further perpetrate the idea of global dress as consumers begin to increasingly desire these key items which they see worn around the world.

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The millennial generation is the largest consumer bracket worldwide and global trends in fashion can be stripped down to the desirable images and concepts youth’s see on the street then immediately consume. Fashion has always mirrored trends within society and as the expenditure from 15-25 year olds is predicted to be $2.5 trillion in 2017, the industry has to deliver in a new and innovative way through marketing.As many youths want to be socially accepted they conform to what their peers are wearing and in a way this can create a false sense of integration between social groups.

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Hungry Beast | Zara | Wednesdays, 9.30pm, ABC1

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http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au | Meet Zara: the Spanish company at the forefront of Fast Fashion, where speed and disposability are the new black. Launched in 1975, Zara now has almost 2000 stores in 77 countries. Its parent company, Inditex, turned over $17 billion last year, helping reclusive founder Amancio Ortega - a railway worker's son - become the 7th richest man in the world.

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A direct result of the processes of globalization of fashion is an increasing uniformity of clothing. This universalization of clothes has arisen from the growing influence and abundance of international corporations that distribute products and hence products are universally available. Uses the examples of suits and jeans to demonstrate this uniformity, with both of these styles of clothing significant and widely worn across the globe. Suits are representative of professionalism, credibility and as a result have become key staples in business. Whilst jeans are an all purpose form of dress and are owned by the rich and poor alike.

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Globalisation been used to express unity and has established fast-fashion companies however, complications have formulated because of this. High fashion houses have been selling similar garments at a higher price while individuals are adding ‘personal touches’ to the uniform, creating a divide in the goal of uniformity and equality. Furthermore, brands have invested in overseas manufactures to provide them with fast and cheap fashion. This world-wide global production system has impacted the customer’s relationship with the clothes while further impacting the ability for local designers to sustain themselves as fast-fashion companies spread, convincing customers to support them instead of locals.

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Globalisation of dress is relatively synonymous amongst the millennial generation as many fashion brands are portraying the same styles, breaking this pattern is the power that a logo has on a consumer. A logo is a visual representation of the brand’s identity such as the recognisable Nike ‘Swoosh’ symbol that is popular amongst the fitness-mad youth. These sports brands primarily take their inspiration from the street style of poor black and Latino youth’s, then immediately sell these items at highly inflated prices which then causes an unchecked circulation of signs, meanings and networks.

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The concept of globalisation has spread rapidly with the introduction of global media enhancing the ability for manufacturers to establish global markets and encourage consumer trends and tastes. This concept has not only enabled the act of multi-centered relationships but has further encouraged a sense of unity within the world, as global fashion houses are encouraging numerous cultures dress in a similar uniform to portray the sense of sameness. The distance between manufacturer and consumer has further enabled this low key style to deny culture, politics and gender differences.