The Truth Behind T-shirt Activism

From power dressing to protest t-shirts, fashion has always been inherently influential in the

social and political sphere. Particularly in the instance of t-shirt activism, which was

popularised in the fashion industry by Katherine Hamnett who lobbied for ethical clothing

production in the 1980s, the vast power of something as simple as a slogan tee has become

evident (1). However, as this form of activism has been amplified, it poses the question: is

the commercialisation of crucial movements detrimental?

Slogan t-shirts have enabled consumers to exteriorise their belief systems, allowing activism

on the most accessible level. Between the 1940s – 1970s, t-shirt activism was rampant as a

widespread method for political engagement, utilised by The Civil Rights Movement,

presidential candidates, The Black Panther Party and more (2). In the 1980s, Katherine

Hamnett boldly turned up to a Downing Street cocktail party in a DIY t-shirt with the words,

‘58% don’t want perishing’ as rebuttal to the suggestion that US ballistic missiles should be

stationed in the UK. In more recent years, musicians such as Loyle Carner have taken to the

stage with t-shirts emblazoned with a simple, ‘I hate Boris’ (a bit too polite if you ask me),

making their political standpoint clear for their audience (1). Even something as seemingly

simple as a pink triangle printed on a t-shirt, has the power to represent something as

important as queer visibility as it acts as a reclamation of a discriminatory Nazi symbol. The

value in political dressing and t-shirt activism is certainly not one that should be

underestimated. However, whilst the intention is nothing short of empowering, the

execution can often miss the mark.

In 2017, Dior took t-shirt activism to the catwalk, with a plain white tee taking centre stage

garnered with the phrase, ‘We should all be feminists’ which was taken from the feminist

manifesto of Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. While this may seem

unproblematic, Dior made no effort to amplify the work of Adichie and instead charged

customers $710 for an item that has a notoriously cheap manufacturing cost. It was only

until significant backlash, that the fashion house decided to donate a percentage of sales to

Rihanna’s non-profit organisation, The Clara Lionel Foundation, which aims to fund

education and emergency response programmes (3). An image of Rihanna wearing the t-

shirt became viral (duh, its Rihanna) resulting in fast fashion houses reproducing the item to

increase accessibility to the general public. While this seems unassuming, what we fail to

acknowledge is that it is often dangerous to aestheticise belief systems to the extent to

where they become trendy.

This is seen countless times in the fast fashion industry, with t-shirts printed with sweeping

statements such as, ‘love your body’ and ‘the future if female’. Also, just as a disclaimer, I sit

here writing this with my ‘I am a feminist t-shirt’ from ASOS within reach, aware of my

blatant hypocrisy but hear me out. Whilst the t-shirts are promoting messages that are

intrinsically good, the ‘femvertising’ from these fast fashion companies seems to lack

thought, with a cruel irony. For one, the vast majority of these t-shirts use manufacturing

which operates on sweatshops, a practice that is exploitative and harmful to its majority

female workers. This entire indiscretion is perhaps depictive of a huge issue in feminism

currently; prioritising capitalism over intersectionality. The women who need feminism the

most seem to be neglected and instead the rich, white males become the beneficiaries of

this kind of advertisement – they are the owners of these companies after all (4).

A further issue in t-shirt activism, is the narrative that companies portray in order to soothe

the consumer’s ego. Marketing is rife with the implication that buying a t-shirt epitomises

true activist work. Whilst representing your beliefs through clothing can be impactful, it’s

not to say that it can supplement productive work to support your causes. In order to

support the movements that matter to us most, there must be open dialogue, action and

petitioning in order to enact real change. With that being said, there is certainly merit to

political dressing, it is just Important that the brand selling this clothing has genuine

intentions which is more often found in small businesses. Most crucially, we must hold

ourselves accountable, ensuring that what is printed on our tees does not excuse us from

continuing to strive for positive change- there is always work to be done.

With that being said, when we look at the true intention of politically motivated clothing, it

certainly has an undeniable influence. It is a great way to amplify visibility of certain causes

and can enable camaraderie across supporting members. However, there is certainly an

insidious side to t-shirt activism that we as consumers can not fall victim to and most

importantly, we must enact social change using our voices as well as the clothes on our

backs.

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Some additional resources:

- https://www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/political-tshirt-history

- https://everpress.com/blog/activist-apparel-t-shirts-behind-protest-movements/

- https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/mar/08/katharine-hamnett-the-protest-t-shirts-you-see-today-tend-to-be-a-bit-namby-pamby

References:

1. the power of a protest tee [Internet]. I-d. 2019 [cited 4 February 2021]. Available

from: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/vb5y48/protest-tees-post-truth-truth-issue

2. History of Protest and Activism T-Shirts [Internet]. Grailed. 2020 [cited 4 February

2021]. Available from: https://www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/political-tshirt-history

3. How slogan T-shirts became political statements [Internet]. BBC News. 2018 [cited 4

February 2021]. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-42963338

4. Was Your Feminist T-Shirt Made by Factory Workers in Exploitative Conditions?

[Internet]. Vice.com. 2017 [cited 4 February 2021]. Available from:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k8bav/was-your-feminist-t-shirt-made-by-

factory-workers-in-exploitative-conditions