Ethics of Use
Brands control upstream supply chains assiduously; but downstream, after a garment is sold, the user is in charge. A user’s actions can uphold a brand’s values, be incurious about them or subvert them in a range of direct or subtle ways. Defiance comes in many forms: the protestations of a blog, the cutting and reworking of scissors and thread, or the attitude with which a garment is worn, upending the worldview of the corporation that made it.
Long life as a political tool
"I got this when I first went to New York in 1986. It’s an old jumper… early purchase and I’ve had it ever since. It’s just from a shop out there ‘JCrew’ which probably, in itself, isn’t ethical, but just because I’ve kept it all this time, I’ve forced them into it."
London - January 2010
Photograph by
Sean Michael
