The fashion industry could not exist without storytelling. Captivating, aspirational stories told through catwalks, campaigns and social media make clothes fashionable and foster an intense desire to be seen wearing them.
Fashion stories can spread positive messages about issues that affect us all. In 2020, Stella McCartney’s Paris show featured models dressed in cartoon-like animal costumes. The humorous stunt made an important point about the “earth-friendly” brand’s pledge to not use leather, fur, skins, feathers or animal glues.
But the darker, more uncomfortable truth is that fashion storytelling encourages over-consumption and, by perpetuating Western standards of what is normal and acceptable, defines unrealistic beauty expectations that exclude many.
As a cultural historian who studies fashion, I believe the industry must do more to effect change, and this can be achieved through stronger, more inclusive and responsible storytelling.
Fashion and Global Issues
According to recent fashion industry reports, storytelling is becoming increasingly important as brands seek to demonstrate social responsibility by building deeper connections with consumers. The growing importance of storytelling in fashion is linked to two themes that have defined the social and political discussions about the world’s post-COVID recovery: self and society.
Consumers are seeking more meaningful experiences that allow them to explore their identity and connect with others. Fashion is the ideal medium to achieve this, especially during times of social and political unrest. Because of the fashion industry’s global reach, the visual cues and messages conveyed through clothing campaigns are easily shareable and understood.
The Business of Fashion report, “The State of Fashion 2024,” attributes the growing importance of storytelling to consumers becoming “more demanding when it comes to authenticity and relatability. People want to buy from brands that share and support their values.”
The consumer group most interested in aligning their lifestyle choices and beliefs with the companies that clothe them is Gen Z, those born between 1996 and 2010 who “place great importance on pursuing their own unique identity and value diversity.”
The growing importance of storytelling in fashion is also linked to the industry’s global influence and the social responsibility that comes with it: Organisations such as the United Nations are increasingly making it clear that the fashion industry will not be part of solving the global challenges highlighted by COVID-19 unless it uses its influence to change consumer mindsets.
The pandemic’s uneven social impact has highlighted long-standing inequalities and sounded a wake-up call for action on a host of global issues, including climate change, overconsumption and racism. The fashion industry, which accounts for 2% of global GDP, is both a culprit and a potential agent of change.
The British Fashion Council’s Fashion Diversity, Equality & Inclusion report, published in January 2024, highlighted “fashion’s enormous influence to provide cultural reference points and guide social trends.” Similarly, the United Nations’ Fashion Communications Playbook, published last year, urged the fashion industry to “use its cultural influence, persuasion and educational role to raise awareness and drive the transition to a more sustainable and equitable industry.”
To achieve this, the UN report urges storytellers, image-makers and role models to change the narrative in the fashion industry by educating consumers and inspiring them to change their behaviour if it helps create positive change.
A new story in fashion
Since the pandemic, there is evidence that the fashion industry has started to change the content and format of the stories it tells, primarily by humanizing current global challenges: large-scale, deep-rooted social issues are being explored through real-life stories, which can help people understand the problems they face and grasp their role in the efforts to overcome them.
One example is Nike’s “Move to Zero” campaign, a global sustainability initiative launched during the pandemic in 2020. Instead of endless statistics and apocalyptic warnings about the critical climate emergency, Nike encourages people to “refresh” their sports equipment with maintenance and repairs. Old Nike products, recreated by designers, are sold in pop-up stores. When salvage is not possible, Nike offers ways for people to recycle and donate old products.
By encouraging relatively small changes that align product life cycles with consumers’ everyday lives, Nike’s campaign challenges the conventional notion that clothing is new, readily available, and ultimately disposable, making change aspirational.
Story Obstacles
While some fashion brands are rethinking the stories they tell, my recent book, Hang-Ups: Reflections on the Causes and Consequences of Fashion’s Western Centrism, explains that some of fashion’s most powerful and harmful stories run deep.
Concepts defined in the 18th and 19th centuries – civilisation, anthropology and sexology – still influence the way the fashion industry interacts with age, sex, race and gender. The fashion industry’s pursuit of newness and the way it promotes the idea that buying expensive brands automatically confers status are also based on traditional Western societal values that don’t quite fit with 21st century perspectives and priorities.
Nike’s “Move to Zero” campaign, while well-intentioned, also highlights the persistence of centuries-old thinking. While the initiative is clearly designed to positively influence consumer behavior, it doesn’t address the fundamental issues of what the fashion industry is and does. But it at least acknowledges that fashion works through increased consumption and the sense of status that comes from owning and wearing a brand.
Throw it all away
One of the key points I make in the book is that understanding how the industry evolved into what it is today makes it easier to bring about effective change. To do this, we need bolder storytelling that critiques notions of normalcy, acceptance, and inclusivity.
One example is Swedish brand Avavav, which is committed to “creative freedom driven by humor, entertainment and design evolution.” In February 2024, the brand’s Milan catwalk show ended with trash being hurled at models. The experimental performance explored the stories circulating on social media, condemning online trolls both within and outside the fashion industry and highlighting the harm of hate speech.
Naturally, the incident created a sensation and garnered media attention. Although it was likely a stunt, it got people talking and drew attention to designer Beate Karlsson’s message about online hate. It’s clear that compelling and innovative storytelling has the power to change people’s thoughts and actions.
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