Are Religious Symbols The New Vogue?

Religious Symbols have been regularly used within the fashion industry. Whether you’re shopping in your local high-street or scanning through Instragram pictures on your smart phone, religious symbols are increasingly being used as fashion statements. Is this right? As a fashion student, I have developed a keen interest in the usage of religious symbols within fashion and the opinions in which different audiences have on this subject.

The social media play a huge role in the fashion industry assessing fashion inspiration from sites such as Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube as how many teenagers find out what’s on trend by simply looking at an online source. This has kick-started the hype of wearing religious symbols with many teens wearing accessories without acknowledging the original meaning behind them as they are thriving to be hipster and stay in root with fashion.

As a consequence of Celebrities/Hip-Hop artists wearing religious symbols such as Jesus pieces and anti-war scarfs in their music videos, many young people insist on having the same ‘swag’ as their favourite celebs. The Anti-war scarf is worn as a fashion accessory on the street but is originally called a Keffiyeh which an Arabian head dress. This could be seen as a religious symbol as descendants of the Prophet Mohammed wore them. Although they were dark blue as a pose to the checker black-and-white style of the anti-war scarfs which were traditionally worn by inhabitants of the area. I think what causes such grief within the Arabic community is the racism and inequality which comes with using religious symbols in fashion. I found a quote on the thelangarhall.com which explains an Arabic point of view ‘wearing a keffiyeh on the streets of Paris makes you cool, but wearing a hijab will get you arrested.’ Can you see why, inspirational role models within fashion could be pushing a limit when involving religious symbols into their fashion line.

The scarfs were banned from the high street clothing shop ‘Urban Outfitters’ as they were causing grief within the Arabic community. They removed all images of the scarves and the retailer announces: ‘Due to the sensitive nature of this item, we will no longer offer it for sale. We apologize if we offended anyone; this was by no means our intention.’

French Fashion Designer, Jean Paul Gaultier’s current menswear collection has model’s featured wearing turbans. The inspiration behind the collection was his love for India. He wanted to portray an image of a globetrotting fashionable male who has a knowledge and respect for other cultures. Although this collection has kicked off a mixture of opinions within the Sikh community as the model isn’t in fact a Sikh himself.

I decided to find out the opinions which people from different communities and social backgrounds had on the collection to see their different points of view. I firstly interview Chaz Singh who is a practicing Sikh to see his outlook on JGP’s collection. Singh stated ‘Although, It’s really good to see the Turban being highlighted in this way but I think there was a lack of education; using a sacred symbol is fragile ground as you are not always going to please.’ This is same with all fashion garments and trends everyone has their opinion although as a sacred symbol is involved with JGP’s collection. Singh’s statement completely makes sense as there is religion and meaning behind this item of clothing which forms a religious identity? Should this be used willy-nilly by a fashion designer? Surely this is taking away the original meaning on the turban? Singh’s views on the non-Sikh models within the collection is this ‘What would have worked better would have been to actually get Sikh models or Sikhs to model the collection itself.’ This would haven’t cause as much up-raw within the Sikh community also promoting less discrimination within the modelling industry and would create less of a false identity within the promotional side of the collection which would in fact the collection well known from a positive aspect. My point is proven by Singh’s final comment ‘It is a shame that sometimes people will exploit an identity in order to raise their own profile without realising the damage it can cause.’

Another designer who used Turbans within their menswear collection ‘We all walk in different shoes’ Kenneth Cole in 2008 although Cole used Sikh model Mr. Sandeep Singh Caberwal. As Cole used a Sikh model his collection received positive feedback within the Sikh community. The Sikh community linked the collection’s publicity together a gathering in Washington DC which was set in order to eliminate incorrect stereotypes with radial groups such as the Taliban or Al Qaeda. Jean Paul Gaultier should have taken a leaf out Kenneth Cole’s book which would have allowed the Sikh community to back his collection as well as educating the public on the religion to erase and correct any misunderstanding of the religion. Cole’s collection title itself says it all. We are all different and we shouldn’t discriminate against one another. Cole’s inspiration and influences were obviously the differences we all have from one another but also embracing the fact that are all the same - human beings.

 

In conclusion designers for any fashion house whether it is high street or high end, should take into consideration all aspects of using these religious symbols and the effects of using them they will have on other their audiences. They are sacred and are used to display a form of identity so therefore shouldn’t be used by just anyone, the only followers of the specific religion. These relates to all religions. Designers should take more consideration when creating the whole aspect of their garment and the promotional sides of the collection; as this would cause less negativity and more positivity within the community who view the collections. Also consideration of the religion of the models who are displaying the clothing should be taken into place as this would cause less argument.

Sikhism Workshop with Chaz Singh

The Deputy Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Chaz Singh visited us at Plymouth College of Art’s department of fashion, to educate us on his religion, Sikhism. This was useful as the Sikhism religion links to our identity project that we have been working on this term. His aim was to enlighten us about his religion and teach/correct any misunderstandings which we had developed about the religion whilst allowing us to learn facts about the religion; also answering any questions that we posed.

Before starting, I would like to make it clear to my audience that these are my own understandings in which I gained from the workshop which we had today, I would hope that what I have to say would result in  no one taking offence from my opinions on what I learnt today. Personally from own revision and talking to outsiders, including Chaz Singh, has made me come to the conclusion that Sikhism in my eyes is a beautiful and fascinating religion, with some beliefs in which I agree on .

''The word 'Sikh' in the Punjabi language means 'disciple', Sikhs are the disciples of God who follow the writings and teachings of the Ten Sikh Gurus. The wisdom of these teachings in Sri Guru Granth Sahib are practical and universal in their appeal to all mankind.'' (quote from - www.sikhs.org)

Our visitor Chaz Singh, educated us as a group on the basics of the as a whole. Throughout the lecture, I began to grow a keen interested in the understandings and use of the religious symbols in which baptised Sikhs are expected to include in their daily life. These interesting symbols are known as the 5 K’s. Allow me to intrigue you into what they are, and why Sikhs include these into their religion.

 

The first K I learnt about was Kesh which is the practice of allowing your hair to grow naturally without being cut or trimmed. This is a symbol of respect for the perfection of God's creation. I thought this was really interesting and I can understand why Sikh's practice this as I think it is a very beautiful way of saying thank you to their god for what he has given them. The males wrap their hair up in turbans which are the most commonly known identifiable object within Sikhism.

The second K is known as Kangha. This a wooden comb which all baptised Sikh's must carry at all times. This is used to keep their hair up in place, this makes sense as one of the firsts K’s using the meaning of a symbol of growing your hair.

Kara is the third K which is a metal bracelet which is commonly made out steel or iron. This bracelet is worn by both male and female Sikhs. It is a symbol of faith and dedication to the religion.

Kachera is a specific style of cotton loose undergarment with a tie-knot worn by baptised Sikhs. Both male and female wear similar undergarment.

Kirpan is a strapped curved dagger or ceremonial sword. The word Kirpan has two roots - the first word is Kirpa, which means 'Mercy, grace, compassion and kindness' and the second root is Aan, which in turn means 'Honor, grace, and dignity'.  

I found learning about these religious symbols really interesting. It is really nice to learn about the religion and why they carry the symbols they do as this something completely different to what I do on a daily basic. It was really pleasurable to learn all of these things about a different culture as well as learning about how they idenitify themselves as a Sikh. This was really helpful for my project, identity.

Chaz also taught as about the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) which is their most sacred place of worship. It was built as a place of worship for men and women from all walks of life and all religions to come together and worship God equally. In the temple you can worship 24 hours day. You are also able to receive food 24 hours a day no matter who you are. Everyone must sit on the same level and receive the same meal as all who enter the temple are treated the same and all status of class must be left outside the temple. I think this is truly beautiful and I really like the fact that everyone is equal no matter who you are. I though this was a truly beautiful idea as I believe everyone should be treated as equals.

Chaz not only taught us about his religion but also relayed his own personal experiences. He informed us of some of the incidents which he had encountered in Plymouth for wearing a turban which was shocking to hear about. To think he is discriminated and receives racial abuse for wearing a religious symbol is shocking but he rises to that by coming into educational places and educating people like me. This was really upsetting as I believe no one should be discriminated. Although, I am aware not everyone is as closed minded as the people who make these horrible remarks. I think it was a really good opportunity for Chaz to open the eyes of the younger generations to his religion and teach them about his way of life as this would help stop the racial abuse and discrimination.

After learning about the religion, Chaz asked a member of the class to try wearing a turban. We all watched him put the turban on Joslin. It was really interesting to see how the fabric is wrapped and folded to create to such beautiful pleats. Chaz told us about the length of us personal turbans which were a fascinating 7 and a half metres long. This is really crazy to think about as he has to wrap this every single day which he told us only takes him 5 minutes in the morning - which is a lot quicker than most of us in if you relate it back. He let us into a little secret though saying that some of his designer turbans are premade.

As part of our identity project we were asked to come into college wearing something we wouldn't normally wear which would take us of our comfort zones. Joslin was asked by Chaz to wear the turban out on our break to see the reactions of others. As I was wearing as Muslim outfit we were asked to stick together to see how these new identity’s made us feel. We both found the people wear staring at us and we received many looks. We both felt this was because people thought we were being racist wearing these religious symbols as two white people. What happens if we were both from these two different religions and happened to be white? Why are people too quick to make judgement on how others should look? It happens whether you another race, overweight, underweight. We are all judged daily. These exercise really helped our understand of the identity which strongly benefitted our project unit.

The talk with Chaz Singh was really inspiring and moving, and I throughly enjoyed the afternoon session. I think that if more people like Chaz did these sessions their would be less misunderstanding and discrimmination as people would be more educated which would allow them to make a edcuated decision on what to say and see the religion for its true beauty. I personally found learning about the religion truely fascinating and inspiring. The talk has now kick started my idenity project along the route of religious symbols used within fashion although this is still a flourish idea.

Sub Cultures - Mods

BRITISH SUBCULTURES

Mod is short for modernism and is a subculture that originated in London in the late 1950s and continued into the early to mid 1960s. It was developed and created by working class teenagers who were interested in the Italianate style as well as being art students who were part of the beatnik coffee bar culture. Mods were interested in fashion, music and motor scooters. 

When looking back at when the Mod sub-culture was developed it is essential to look at the social and economic climate at the time. The second world war left Britain in financial debt with Britain having to lend vast amounts of money from the USA as they had entered the world late and it didn't really effect their finances. Money was scarce in Britain during the 50's and compared to the American's wealth, the youth seemed to be enjoying Rock n Roll music, driving large Cadillac cars, it is easy to see why the British youth longed for happier times.

During the late 50's Britain's youth longed for their own identity, to be different and change their post-war image, and shake up the world a little by being heard. The rocker's wear all in leather motorbike gear with their Teddy Boy inspired greased back hair came revivals with the Mods who took a far greater care in their appearance. To be a Mod depended on your views, what you stood for, how you dressed and what music you listened to. The colour of your skin didn't matter as long as you were a Mod which allowed them to disregard the old racial stigma which is was really 'modern' concept compared to how previous generations had thought. 

Many of the early Mods were Jewish youths whose parents had settled in London after the war. These Jewish immigrants were renown for their excellent tayloring skills and they took great care in their appearance and that of their families. Jewish youth therefore wore tailored suits made from fine fabrics such as mohair. This stylish well present look was completely opposite to the Rockers style and was quickly adopted by the mod scene. 

During early 60's Britain the Mod youth movement began to gain momentum and exploded 1963/64. The famous film Quadrophenia was produced in 1979 by the Who. The film helped inspired thousands of more youth to the Mod culture movement and gave the movement international recognition. Even today the Mod movement remains strong in USA, Germany, Japan and of course still the UK. It is a youth subculture which has no intention of dying out and its very popular among fashion conscience youth today. 

Style:
Mod's tend to wear fishtail parka's to protect expensive Italian mohair tonik suits. Navy pea coats and Monkey jackets were some of the items of clothing also worn by mods.

The key to Mod clothing was being individual and wearing unique item of clothing that noone else would be seen wearing. The boutiques along Carnaby Street were excellent for this as they only had one or two pieces which were not created in mass production. Cult sixties bands such as the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Small Faces were seen buying their clothing buying mod clothing from boutiques on Carnaby Street.  

Mods used to get their clothing to have their clothes altered and tailored on a regular basis as well as adding something here or changing something to alter the appearance. This was all about being a mod and wanting to stand out of the 'norm'. 

Modern Mod Clothing
There are many British clothing institutions that have adopted Mod fashion within their clothing ranges. Brands such as Ben Sherman, Original Penguin, Lambretta and Fred Perry are included. Even Liam Gallagher member of the band oasis has a clothing range called Pretty Green which are known for producing mod style clothing.

Mod Music:

Mod's listened to music such as The Who, The Kinks, The Action, The Troggs, and The Animals. These are still bands which are regularly played today and are still easily recognised. 

Sub Cultures - Teddy Boys

BRITISH SUBCULTURES

Teddy Boy is a British subculture which was popular during the 1950s. It is mainly young man wearing clothes which were inspired by the Edwardian period with the main focus on the styles worn by the dandies. It was this style which Savile Row tailers had try to re-introduce in Britain after the second world war. 

The subculture started in London during the 1950s and spread rapidly across the UK as well being associated with American rock and roll. The name was originally Cosh Boys by the name teddy boys came about when a Dailly Express newspaper headline shortened Edwardian to Teddy in 1953.  

The Edwardian style was mainly adopted by wealthy young men especially Guards officers. At that point in history, the Edwardian era  which meant that their grandparents wore the style the first time around so there was a lot of borrowing vintage clothing from your grandparents much like today. 

Although there has been youth groups (scuttlers) in the UK before with their own dress code in the 19th century, the styles mainly stayed in larger cities such as Manchester and Liverpool. The Teddy Boys were the first youth group in England to differentiate themselves as teenagers which then created a youth market. 

Some Teds formed gangs which they had violent clashes with rival gangs which often would be exaggerated by the popular press. The most notable was Notting Hill race riots in 1958 which the Teddy Boys were present in large numbers and were against the West Indian community. 
300 to 400 white mainly Teddy Boys were seen on Bramley Road attacking the houses of the West Indian residents.  This disturbance and rioting and attacks continued every night for over 2 weeks. During these 2 weeks 140 people were arrested, mostly white youth but also many black people found carrying weapons. 108 people were charged with crimes such as grievous bodily harm (GBH) affray, riot and possessing offensive weapons; 72 were white and 36 were black. 

STYLE

The style consists of American zoot suits which were worn in the 1940s by Italian-Americans, Chicanos and African-American communities. The suit drape jackets and high-waisted 'drainpipe' trousers were worn, which usually exposed the socks. The outfit included a high-neck loose-collared white shirt and a narrow 'Slim Jim' tie or Maverick tie which they overlaid with a brocade waistcoat. The clothes were mainly tailor-made which were extremely expensive which they would have to pay for through weekly installments.

The popular footwear at this time were either highly polished Oxford chunky brogues which were made of suede with a crepe-sole. These were known as brothel creepers and are in fashion today but the brothel has been dropped and they are just known as creepers. 

The hairstyles of the time were long, strongly-moulded greased-up hair with a quiff at the front and the side combed back to form what was known as 'aduck's arse' at the back of the head. Another popular style was the 'Boston' which the hair was greased straight back and squared off across the nape of the neck. 

TEDDY GIRLS

Teddy girls are also known as Judies. They wore drape jackets also but they wore pencil skirts, hobble skirts, flat shoes and tailored jackts with velvet collars, straw boat hats, cameo brooches, espadrilles, coolie hats and long, elegant clutch bags.  Later they adopted the American fashions of toreador pants, voluminous circle skirts, and hair in ponytails.

These girls were collectively rejecting post-war clothing. They were from working-class family often irish immigrants who had settled in the poorer districts of London such as Walthamstow, Poplar and North Kensington. They tend to leave school at the age of 14-15 to work in factories and offices. Teddy Girls spent much of their free time buying or making trademark clothing inspired by the Edwardian period. 

MUSIC

Although Teddy Boys were associated with rock and roll music prior to this genre the Teddy Boys mainly listened to jazz and skiffle music which is when they adopted 'The Creep' a slow shuffle that was so popular it created their other nickname, Creepers. From 1955 rock and roll was adopted by the Teddy Boys which is when they started listening to artists such as Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and Eddie Cochran. 

INFLUENCES ON THE CATWALK

By the 1970s the look had been revived again by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in their Kings Road boutique, Let It Rock. However, this time they brought in more elements of Glam Rock influenced by the music of this time; David Bowie, Marc Bolan, T. Rex and Lou Reed.

The trend was ground-breakingly shocking for its time and it has appeared on the Winter 2011 catwalk. Obviously it doesn't have the same rebellious meaning on today's catwalk as when these clothes were worn but Bottega Veneta has taken strong influences from this 50s Sub Cultures style. As a lover of the Teddy boys rebellious style I can only relish in their beauty and admire the work of today's designers work. 

You can see strong influences from the Teddy Boys sub-culture in this Bottega Veneta menswear catwalk. The tailored style of clothing is a modern twist on the Teddy Boys rebellious style. This is a clash of a modern style of clothing with this subculture as they have made the jackets more fitted than they were in the 50s and added more denim. Although they have took inspiration from the cut of the garments - the long draped coats and high waisted baggy trousers with the loose fitted shirts. They have also kept the theme going with the very teddy boy inspired hair styles - greased back like they would have in the 50s.