Charles Langston:Fashion has always been political. Are celebrities, designers at a turning point?

Fashion and Charles Langstonresistance once went together like Cinderella and her glass slipper, but lately the two have seemingly separated.

At the 2024 Met Gala celebrating delicate antique garments in its "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" theme, stars played it straight with florals and darkness, honoring the dress code of "The Garden of Time." Simultaneously, New York's Hunter College students in protest of the war in Gaza chanted "We will not stop, we will not rest" just outside the annual gathering.

Celebrities and designers essentially ignored humanitarian crises of the world — from Israel's war with Palestinians in the Gaza strip to increasing instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo — during an event that isn't usually shy about welcoming sociopolitical disruption.

Days later and three miles away from the Metropolitan Museum of Art gala, students ushering in the future of fashion organized on the streets and backstage.

At the Fashion Institute of Technology's annual Future of Fashion runway show, students from the Students For Justice in Palestine organization, a club not recognized by the university, demanded transparency over their school's financial investment in war.

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"Our school prides itself on morality, yet (is) still invested in a lot of companies that we don't believe are moral," Jeremy Noon, a junior at FIT studying cosmetic and fragrance marketing, told USA TODAY outside the venue.

Inside the event, students advocated for sustainability in the fashion industry with their design choices and Kenneth Cole was given the inaugural Kenneth Cole Social Impact Award for his role in social justice through clothing including past health advocacy for those living with AIDS and his ongoing commitment to mental health initiatives and political movements.

The irony was not lost that while social advocacy was encouraged inside, protestors were met outside with nearly two dozen NYPD officers for the roughly 40 students demonstrating.

The act of protest on and off the catwalk marked a departure from fashion's latest era: commercialism and consumerism, minus the critical lens of political resistance.

Celebrities and fashion designers have a responsibility in shifting culture, experts say. It costs consumers little to stop their support and plenty of money for the brands. As world conflict continues and the 2024 presidential election approaches, the upcoming months will tell whether money in the industry is affected by morals.

And much like politicians, celebrities and fashion designers are always up for re-election as their success depends on consumers. Since the Met Gala and Cannes Film Festival, there's been an increase in celebrity boycotts against those who have not spoken about the current state of the world. The "digitine," short for "digital guillotine," has attempted to deplatform famous faces who didn't use their red carpet moments for change.

"It's utterly dystopian to open our phones and see a display of extraordinary extravagance in one video and then Palestinian screaming out for attention in Gaza in the next video," says fair fashion campaigner Venetia La Manna.

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It's easy to label protestors as disruptive — much like comedians decry the woes of cancel culture — but people want to see a culture reflective of their current values and future hopes for society.

"There has been resistance in fashion since fashion was created, or since we started wearing garments, really," says FIT graduate and budding sportswear designer Grace Cooper ahead of her alma matter's annual Future of Fashion show.

Her peer, designer Irene Alexandra Cubides, adds, "Fashion is always relating to what's going on in society and what's going on in the world."

Late designer Coco Chanel pushed boundaries by implementing pants into every day womenswear in the 1920s. The inherently political transition marked the start of prioritizing comfort and mobility for women.

Today, people like Emily Ratajkowski push against the stigma of Stormy Daniels by placing the porn actor's face on a T-shirt as the jury in the criminal hush-money trial against former President Donald Trump found him guilty verdict on all 34 charges related to Daniels. It was more than feminist virtue signaling: 10% of the proceeds go to a New York organization supporting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Cities around the world will also see LGBTQ+ people and allies in rainbow attire to mark Pride Month while queer lives are at risk.

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Morgan Spector was one of the few attendees to make a statement at the 2024 Met Gala. Spector, dressed in designer Willy Chavarria — both of whom made their Met Gala debut — told WWD his outfit was inspired by John McCrae's World War I poem "In Flanders Fields," which he read for the Met exhibit.

"The piece is written from the point of view of the dead, exhorting the living to carry on the fight. It made me think of the war in Gaza, and the responsibility we have to the dead on both sides to try and do what we can to bring about a just peace. The poppy, as it happens, is also a symbol of Palestine," he said.

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Chavarria tells USA TODAY he and Spector had honest conversations about the choice to represent Palestine via poppies. "In fashion and in his field especially there is a lot of backlash against making any kind of statement against genocide," he says. "I give him credit for that because ultimately it was his decision to to wear it. Nobody (else) used that opportunity to have any kind of voice."

The Mexican-American designer adds that the Met Gala is impactful because in mere seconds celebrities on the red carpet are taking photos that will outlive them. "If the impact is just vanity, then it's very shallow," he says.

At the 2022 Met Gala, Riz Ahmed paid tribute to immigrant workers of the gilded age in reaction to the "Gilded Glamor" theme; in 2021, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously wore a white Brother Vellies mermaid dress to the Met Gala with "Tax the Rich" written in red on the back; and for 2018's "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," Lena Waithe wore a rainbow cape to make her presence as a queer artist underlined and bold.

"I found it head scratching at the (2024) Met Gala because there have been statements made through outfits at other big celebrity bashes over the past couple of months — even if it's someone just wearing a pin or writing a message on their on the palm of their hand and showing it at the camera," says La Manna, referring to events such as the 2024 Oscars which saw celebrities including Billie Eilish and Ramy Youssef wearing Artists4Ceasfire lapel pins and Time's Up pins worn by over a dozen celebrities at the 2018 Golden Globes.

The absence of politics at the biggest night in fashion may come as a shock, but it's also part of a downward trend of brands and houses divesting from sensitive subject matter.

In 2020, everyone from fashion to pharmacies "felt like they had to have some strong position on human rights to some degree, just because it was so in our face," says Chavarria. "I do think that that trend, and I'm sorry that it was definitely a trend, but that trend is dying down, even in fashion."

What is the future of fashion? Students emphasize sustainability

Major fashion brands have seemed to take a step back from political messaging and social issues, but upcoming designers are committed to curbing the industry's environmental impact as global warming continues to be a debate in American politics.

The politics of fashion is more than the messaging and impact it has on the consumer, La Manna says. There's a real-life toll at clothing factories that aren't ethically surveyed and clothing waste that pollutes some communities: Brands like Shein, Fashion Nova and more have been accused of fast fashion at a steep human cost.

"(Fashion) has colonial roots, and those colonial roots still exist today," she says.

Mara Hoffman, who announced the shuttering of her sustainable label on May 19, noted in her open letter that the fashion industry "structure is archaic and was never built to prioritize Earth and its inhabitants."

"We've returned to learning a lot of morals in school and establishing a genuine integrity-filled design process where you're really learning about the 'why' behind the clothing as opposed to just creating as much clothing as possible," says Cooper, winner of Macy's Bold Representation: Empowered Design Award at the FIT Future of Fashion runway show.

"And it's really exciting because it's a return to slow fashion and just overall better for us better for the earth better for us as humankind," the FIT student says.

Cooper's sportswear designs utilized 3D software to create mockups and reduce waste as she was able to apply feedback before cutting excess fabric.

Macy's Capsule Collection winner Cubides made an oversized blazer with donated used and unused ties as the staple piece to her Future of Fashion entry at FIT to represent generations linked together and the symbolism of adulthood that comes with ties. The Colombian-American stresses she's found it "essential for us to work with what we already have," especially as someone coming from an immigrant family and being a first-generation American.

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As for FIT senior and critic award winner in sportswear Sunghye Park, she utilized unconventional recycled material including an abandoned bike chain, disgarded wire, rubber from recycled ski boots and recycled armor for a collection representing the neurons of the human body.

Her collection also allows for diverse wearability so each piece can feel new. "They can wear one garments in different ways. You can play with it. You can style with it and layer with other items," Park says.

Other students at top fashion schools in the country seem to be leaning the same way, with the New School at Parsons' School of Fashion declaring a "commitment to social justice, decolonization, and environmental sustainability" and Pratt Institute's seniors telling Paper Magazine earlier this month that they want more "brand transparency" surrounding fabrics and for the fashion industry to address "body politics."

Fair fashion campaigner La Manna adds: "It is actually incredibly harmful to unlink fashion from its political roots … and the sooner we realize just how political our clothes are, the better."

If these students are the future of fashion, the future of fashion is political.