Sarah Miller

BITH 376
Dr. Vincent Bacote
12/08/2015

This semester, I had the privilege of holding an internship position at the Chicago

location of couture bridal and ready-to-wear fashion designer Vera Wang. Over a four-month

span, I gained increased insight and exposure to the realities of the fashion industry and began to

understand the implications of entering the field as a Christian concerned with issues of social

justice, racial reconciliation, and care for the poor. This paper will explore the relationships

among the aforementioned issues, the fashion industry, and traditional Christian doctrines of

Creation and Christology. I will also provide some discussion on the potential for fashion

theology to be transformative towards underprivileged urban communities and minority groups.

Fashion itself is profoundly political. Historically, fashion has been a means of

distinguishing among varying socioeconomic classes. In the Phoenician trading city of Tyre, rare

and expensive purple dyes were only available to wealthy rulers, and purple-hued clothing

became synonymous with the imperial classes of Rome, Persia, and Egypt. Queen Elizabeth I

infamously declared Sumptuary Laws in the 1500s that forbade lower classes from obtaining

certain clothing styles, fabrics, and colorsthe color purple being one of them.1

The French Revolution marked the beginning of fashions link to democracywhen

nobody could prescribe or prohibit certain garments, anybody, regardless of class, could emulate

and borrow from the fashions of the bourgeois class.2 It could be argued that this ability to

appear to be of a higher classand even to be treated as a member of a higher class based on

1
Melina, R., 2011. Why is the color purple associated with royalty? Live Science. (1).
2
Bartlett, D. and Rocamora, A., 2013. Fashion media: past and present. (79-80).

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their clothing choiceslent fashion an association with upward mobility and personal agency. If

one could elevate oneself in society based solely on appearance, then certainly one could move

upward through the ranks of class and socioeconomic status by other means as well. As fashion

began to represent personal expression and the power of individual choice, so it also became

synonymous with political freedom. Fashion theologian and Fuller Theological Seminary

professor Dr. Robert Covolo points out that it is of little coincidence that the two most prominent

fashion capitals of the worldNew York and Parisare also the most renowned cities in

countries of powerful democratic revolutions.3 The politics of fashion have continued to evolve

alongside various suffrage and social justice movements, a recent example being the black

hoodie that ushered in a new wave of politically charged race conversations.

While most Christians would readily recognize the interplay between fashion and

politics, and some would also admit to their involvement in the fashion industry as decision-

making consumers, very few Christians have been willing to publicly engage with fashion from

either a political or theological perspective. What little theological discourse exists revolves

primarily around issues of modesty and purity. While the Bible certainly does address these

topics in relation to clothing, fashion theologian and journalist Whitney Bauck argues that, by

almost exclusively associating the biblical relevance of fashion with the sexualization of bodies,

Christians are missing out on the other ways that scripture addresses clothing. She references

James 2 and 1 Timothy 2 as passages that ought to be interpreted in the context of

socioeconomic issues such as classism and favoritism in the church.4

Part of the reason for the lack of Christian discourse and engagement in fashion may stem

from Christian values that reject materialism, worldliness, and vanity. Covolo points out that one

3
Covolo, R., 2015. The biblical meaning of clothing. Christianity Today. (1-2).
4
Bauck, W., 2015. Why fashion matters. Christianity Today. (1-2).

2
of the largest drivers of fashion culture is late-modern expressionismthe kind of self-

expression that is elevated to become a defining factor and validation of ones humanity. Covolo

references Catholic philosopher Charles Taylor, saying that self-expression has become the

highest good for many people, pursued with a religious zeal. Similar self-serving attitudes and

behaviors are clearly at odds with the self-denial and humility commanded of Christ-followers.5

Like any other human-made system or industry, fashion certainly contains elements that

demand careful discernment and navigation as a Christian. However, it seems that the broader

Christian community has, at times, thrown the baby out with the bath water. This is unfortunate,

given the opportunity Christians have to be a voice in the vastly influential industry itself, as well

as in emerging theoretical and philosophical discourse.

In summary, Christians ought to be engaging with fashion for three reasons: one,

because, as consumers, we already act as voters in the capitalist systemwhere and what we

choose to buy has an impact on everything from environmental pollution and labor conditions to

what kind of people and companies experience success. Two, because the fashion industryand

related dialogueis primarily populated by people who do not know Christ or may not have the

same priorities and postures that a Christian in the same position ought to have. It is an

opportunity for Christians to effect change and stimulate conversation about kingdom issues. The

third reason brings me to my next point: fashion itself matters to the church. Fashion often faces

the same convenient dismissal given to other seemingly niche issues like environment care and

even political involvement: if thats your thing, go for it; but if its not, it doesnt really matter

anyways.

At the most basic level, fashion ought to matter to Christians because it is an active,

5
Covolo, R., 2015. The biblical meaning of clothing. Christianity Today. (1-2).

3
visible part of human life. Covolo quotes Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper: There is not a

square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign

over all, does not cry: Mine!6 Christians have a certain freedom, authority, and charge to

interact with realms of earthly existence that are outside of explicit Christian concerns.

Beyond that, I would argue that the doctrines of Christology and Creation provide basis

for a Christian call to engage fashion. In Christology, the incarnation of Christ demands that we

give equal care and attention to the spiritual and the physical. Lucy Collins, a professor at New

Yorks Fashion Institute of Technology, says, Fashion matters because bodies matter. We are

not disembodied beings existing only in a spiritual realm. We have to reconcile ourselves to

bodies, the sensual and the creative. And fashion is a means for doing that.7 1 John 1:1 (NIV)

also affirms the notion that the divine may be revealed by physical, tactile means: That which

was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we

have looked at and our hands have touchedthis we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

As for the doctrine of Creation, recognizing our role as image-bearers of the ultimate

Creator might encourage greater appreciation for created works. In her discussion of Cecilia

Gonzalez-Andrieus book, Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty, Joan Huyser-Honig

says that art can point us back to the One source of all that is beautiful.8 Like art, fashion can

transcend cultures, time periods, age, gender, education levels, and economic means to transport

the wearer or viewer to a place beyond their own. If the truth of God is expressed in his creation,

and we are made in his image, then we may also create and make things of beauty in His name.

We should value and admire things of beauty, as well as the process of inspiration, vision,

6
Covolo, R., 2015. The biblical meaning of clothing. Christianity Today. (1-2).
7
Bauck, W., 2015. Why fashion matters. Christianity Today. (1-2).
8
Huyser-Honig, J., n.d. If you want justice, work for beauty. Calvin Institute of Christian
Worship.

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direction, and labor that produces things of beauty. These things are good and do bear elements

of truth, particularly when they are able to move people to see and feel beyond their own

existence, and even to grasp at the possibility of a higher power.

As a Christian pursuing a career in fashion, I have been encouraged by this way of

thinking, but I must also accept the full scope of fashions reality. There is a particularly

disappointing truth about the industry in how it relates to minority groups and underprivileged

urban communities. In the industry as a whole, minority groups are widely misrepresented

through cultural appropriationa fact that I believe can be attributed to the underrepresentation

of minorities in the industry. For an industry that has long prided itself as embracing of social

outcasts and minorities, it has not lived up to its identity in actuality. The visible positions

those that command some degree of power and influenceare occupied primarily by white

people. One example is the modeling industry. Of the nearly 5,000 looks shown at New York

Fashion Week for Fall/Winter 2014, approximately 80% of those were worn by white models.9

The disparity is even greater in design: Of the 260 runway shows scheduled for Fall/Winter

2015, only three with any global reach were showcasing work by African-American designers,

and of the 470 members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, only 12 are African-

American.10

Some critics would argue that an explanation for this is because the fashion industry

functions as an extension of white supremacy, affirming the beauty and talents of the dominant

culture over those of minority groups.11 Others might say it is due to educational and

employment barriers. Nadia Williams, assistant professor of diversity and inclusion at Parsons

9
Dries, K., 2014. New York fashion week: diversity talks, but white faces walk. Jezebel.
10
Friedman, V., 2015. Fashions racial divide. The New York Times.
11
Daniels, J., 1997. White lies: race, class, gender, and sexuality in white supremacist discourse.
(59).

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School of Design, says that in urban minority communities, Fashion is not seen as a way out.

Careers in the arts and creative industries are rarely encouraged as a way out of the cycle of

urban poverty and incarceration, in part because a narrative exists that affirms and draws in

members of the majority group, but does not connect the dots for members of minority

communities. Fashion journalist Vanessa Friedman describes it as a domino effect that begins in

early developmental stages: As arts programs in public schools fall victim to budget cuts, it

means that students are not exposed to drawing and painting classes, which means they dont

have the ability to create the portfolios that are a required part of the [art school] application

process, which means they are not adequately prepared for school, which means they do not

apply or are not accepted. Presuming they even know about the schools in the first place, and

could imagine fashion as a profession.12

Similarly to the way art has been used in poor urban communities, so I also believe

fashion has the potential to have transformative, uplifting effects. Christians concerned with

racial reconciliation and care for the poor might consider the ways that art, design, fashion, and

similar mediums affirm the humanity of the individualrecognizing the image of Christ present

in every person. Additionally, as a Christian entering the fashion industryand for likeminded

individuals pursuing similar professionswe ought to think very carefully about what it means

to be an agent of transformation. Christians in positions of influence ought to actively and

intentionally engage with powerful industries like the fashion industry, helping to rewrite a

global narrative that is more inclusive of marginalized communities, and leveraging our privilege

with a posture of compassion and love for those in the most vulnerable positions of society.

12
Friedman, V., 2015. Fashions racial divide. The New York Times. (1).