Is the linguistic and visual use of a humanitarian cause in a companies’ promotion of products profitable for the supported group of people, or are the media and companies that highlight such issues capitalizing off of an inhumane situation? This is the question that this blog post will raise in relation to the fashion brand Salvatore Vignola who tried to merge the promotion of their collection with the genocide of the Palestinian people and humanitarian activism in their latest fashion show. To not become another passive consumer we must remain critical to messages that come from fashion brands that stand to gain from our sympathy towards a specific cause. If we, as a society, adopt a more critical outlook towards brand messaging, then the brands behind these messages will need to be more critical of what they are trying to present and question how they can do so more authentically.
Salvatore Vignola is an eponymous fashion brand founded in 2016 distinguished by how it mixes traditions and the latest trends or topics. This is expressed through the consumers experiences and narratives imbued into the clothes design (Ob-Fashion, 2018). On the 23rd of February they presented their 2024 Fall/Winter collection during Milan Fashion Week 2024. The collection was called “You Must Live” and was promoted as a tribute to Palestinian culture, with its focus being on the storytelling and representation of their culture. The title is a reference to the poem “If I Must Die” (picture 1) about hope and the continuance of life after a tragedy.
The poem was written by the Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed in December 2023 by an airstrike in Gaza. The collection was made in collaboration with the Palestinian fashion brand Trashy Clothing, who added to the use of Palestinian heritage in the design of the clothing. The following promotion of the collection, with limited mentioning of Trashy Clothing from Salvatore Vignola’s side, can suggest that they have been tokenized for the layer of authenticity they contribute with.
The pieces from the collections could be bought through donations to Palestine Red Crescent Society (DSCENE, 2024) which is an organization that offers “humanitarian assistance as well as health and social services to Palestinians” (Palestine Red Crescent Society, n.d.). The collection uses patterns from the keffiyeh and a reinterpreted version of the traditional Palestinian dress, the thobe (picture 2). The fashion show’s scenery represented an olive groove with a central white flying kite (picture 3).
The incorporation of a humanitarian cause in fashion adds a layer of critique and awareness that exceeds simple consumption, but which also adds to the publicity of the fashion show. It can be hard to differentiate whether the cause is incorporated to obtain publicity or whether it is seen as a way to spread an important message by conveying the conversation in a novel manner. In this way the spectators consume the message alongside their consumption of the scenery produced, which has already captivated their attention. It is not necessarily one or the other, it can be argued to have a dual reasoning. Salvatore Vignola in collaboration with Trashy Clothing create an identity of the Palestinian people. This is done through expression of their culture in the collection’s designs and in the scenery of the show as a part of the message to create sympathy. It gives the Palestinian people a voice and helps spark interest in their culture, rather than showcasing the horrors they are being put through, which could otherwise cause people to distance themselves.
The show is set up to be a sensory experience with a backdrop showing the Palestinian landscape while the models become performers and convey a message in their choreography. The denotation surrounding the show is the context of a fashion show showcasing and promoting the designed collection. The narrated story of the Palestinian people and their culture can be understood through the connotations and the context of the ongoing situation in Gaza.
The white kite hanging in the air is a direct reference to the poem “If I Must Die” that uses the kite as a metaphor for the peoples continued hope while also becoming a symbol for waving the white flag of surrender. Additionally, the setting of the fashion show is supposed to be understood as an olive grove, referencing the olive branch of peace. Directly linked to the Palestinian culture is the use of cultural patterns, from the keffiyeh and the traditional Palestinian dress in the clothing. The clothing uses soft shapes with white as the main color, with the application of cultural patterns and a silhouette of their interpretation of the thobe. This points to the authenticity of their collaboration with the Palestinian designers, conveying them as forward looking and united in the continued struggle of Palestinian people. The rhetoric being put forward is that of support for the Palestinian people and their right to be seen as a nation. The ideology behind it is implied as being pro-Palestine and anti-Israel.
Through this, it is understood that Salvatore Vignola and Trashy Clothing have a desire to showcase the Palestinian people in a new way, to gain sympathy through the beauty of their culture, thereby spreading knowledge of Palestinian culture and building connection to the people. On the other hand, Salvatore Vignola is not clearly communicating the collection as a collaboration with the Palestinian fashion brand Trashy Clothing. This takes some of the authentic value away from the collection and its intentions, as the credit from the spectators only goes to Salvatore Vignola and does not generate support for the Palestinian designers. On the brands Instagram the focus is put on the credit and publicity the fashion show has generated in the mentioning of his brand in various magazines.
The show is made to create a story and understanding of Palestinian culture, so as to spark sympathy for its people. The representation of Palestinian culture through the storytelling at the Salvatore Vignola fashion show makes them into ‘real’ people and not just some unidentifiable group of people being portrayed in the media. Even though it cannot be determined whether Salvatore Vignola was motivated by publicity to put focus on the ongoing conflict, it has created a new form of awareness of the situation and the cause has been shared in numerous magazines and on social media. Meanwhile it cannot be denied that Salvatore Vignola has profited on this inclusion of a humanitarian cause, as he portrays himself and the brand as ‘the good Samaritan’ and has generated publicity due to the message behind the collection. The show dwells in the tension between genuine and performative activism. It is the consumers who have to disentangle and remain critical as to the underlying intentions. It is difficult to determine the motives, due to duality that can exist within the motives. But this critical outlook will be a step towards consumers not just being spectators but actively reinforcing morals and standards in society.
Bibliography
DSCENE. (2024, February 29). You Must Live: Salvatore Vignola Fall Winter 2024 Collection. Retrieved March 2024, from DSCENE:
Ob-Fashion. (2018, October 15.). SALVATORE VIGNOLA | SUGGESTIVE VISIONS OF STYLE. Retrieved March 2024, from Ob-Fashion: https://ob-fashion.com/blogs/blog/salvatore-vignola
Palestine Red Crescent Society. (n.d.). Overview. Retrieved March 2024, from Palestine Red Crescent Society: https://www.palestinercs.org/en/Article/10997/overview
Bio
Camilla Grøngård is a 4th semester student at the BA in Designculture with space and aesthetics. Her interests outside of fashion includes interiordesign, how it and the spaces influence peoples lived experience.