Cancel Now: 5 Designer Collections From The Archives That Can Be Canceled For Now

Cancellation culture is the main social phenomenon of recent years affecting cinema, music and, of course, fashion. In the last decade, the fashion industry has tried to cancel almost everyone. Kanye West and Ulyana Sergeenko and Demna Gvasalia and Alessandro Michele entered distribution. It turns out that some of them have been “removed”, but fortunately others are not.

By the way, we spoke with Fatima Aliyeva, author of the “Cookies&Co” Telegram channel, about why it is now so easy to cancel any (biggest) player.

But today we decided to look at the situation from a slightly different angle, or rather dive into the archive and recall the provocative designer collections that were read in a completely different way in the third decade of the 21st century. And we’re sure that if the series were made this year, their writers would have been canceled instantly. Shall we begin?

Jean Paul Gaultier, autumn-winter 1993

Jean-Paul Gaultier was inspired by the traditional clothes of Orthodox Jews while working on the Chic Rabbis collection, which was seen by the whole world, at the 1993 Paris Fashion Week. So, models appeared on the show, scruffing along the runway in long black coats, flaunting hairstyles that imitate side locks (long strands of hair from temples to shoulders) and huge fur hats resembling shtreimls (traditional Hasidic headgear). heads. The designer was so immersed in it that he even wrote some of the Hebrew text on the invitations.

Reactions to the show at the time were mixed. Hasidim was enraged by the fact that traditional men’s clothing was worn by women. However, there was no serious scandal. Now imagine how quickly Gauthier would be accused of cultural appropriation in the modern world. Considering the fact that a few years ago, Adele was literally attacked by a mob of hate just for wearing a swimsuit with the Jamaican flag.

Givenchy, spring-summer 1997

In January of this year, the Schiaparelli fashion show will take place as part of couture fashion week in Paris, where we saw Dante’s Divine Comedy read by creative director Daniel Roseberry. The most discussed moment of the show was the appearance of Irina Shayk, Naomi Campbell, and Shalom Harlow. Three legendary models received dresses with artificial animal heads. And then the most interesting thing began – animal rights activists took up arms against the brand, accusing Schiaparelli of romanticizing violence against animals.

What would they say if they saw Alexander McQueen’s first collection for Givenchy, inspired by Greek goddesses? After all, Naomi Campbell appeared on the catwalk in a headdress with animal horns.

Christian Dior, spring-summer 2000

In 2000, John Galliano was the head of Christian Dior, which brought a breath of fresh air to the fashion house. And with it, the excess inherent in the designer. So, in the new millennium, she introduced the Homeless couture collection to the world, referring to images of homeless Parisians. “Luxury” fashion dresses were adorned with broken bottles, kitchen utensils and torn pieces of fabric. By the way, that’s when the world saw Galliano’s legendary newspaper print.

There were no loud scandals after the show. Although some critics have accused Galliano of unethically exploiting the image of the underprivileged and homeless for the benefit of the multi-million dollar fashion industry. How would the community now react to such an output from the designer?

Alexander McQueen, spring-summer 2001

It was not possible to be content with a single collection of Alexander McQueen because almost every one of them deserves to be included in this collection. So, the next contender for the “cancellation” – the 2001 Voss show – is one of the most spectacular shows not only in the designer’s career, but also in the history of fashion. An abandoned bus stop was chosen as the location for the show, and guests sat in front of a giant mirrored cube. An hour later, it was lit from within, and the audience saw a room with soft white walls, reminiscent of those in a psychiatric hospital. The entire show was devoted to the theme of imprisonment and mental instability.

A separate role in this performance was played by models who not only defile, but also hold their heads, fall, laugh hysterically and quite convincingly depict schizophrenia. Agree, now it is impossible to see this on the podium.

Vivienne Westwood, spring-summer 2009

In 2009, the collection of the main rebel of the fashion industry Vivienne Westwood was shown not by professional models, but by gypsies. Even then, the designer’s vague decision was severely criticized not only by society, but also by the state. The fact is that at that time the tension between the gypsies and the Italians was particularly severe. One of the Milan city council members said: “I think the designer has a very romantic idea about gypsies, it’s already outdated… These people don’t want to work, they live by stealing and they don’t respect them. our laws.”

True, at that time the culture of cancellation was not yet so popular, and social networks were just beginning to implement a plan to take over the world, so this show did not have a strong resonance. But what happens now is another question.