Fashion nationalism

Can fashion be seen as an act of political statement? I am sure this is not what you might have expected when you come across the term ‘political’. But writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie claims that fashion can be political and proves it by deciding to wear only Nigerian designers to public events.

We have been trained to consider fashion frivolous and guilty of rejecting diversity and ethos. In Lagos though this doesn’t seem to be the case. Clothing is being used to express creativity, to please rather than to prove status. And the well known writer communicates that by the garments she puts on her own body.

I can’t help but wonder whether this could be the case in other parts of the world. Parts where talent and creativity are being overshadowed by fast fashion industry which has taken over the world the last decades. What if we all decided to support made in ….(our country)? Unique garments from talented people made with respect for the human and the environment. Wouldn’t that be a way to give a message, to make a political statement?

As Chimamanda notes in the following video : ‘ In Lagos - the most stylish city - fashion is one true democracy.’