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Never before has fashion been so overtly political. Itās partly because thereās so much to resist these days, and also because Millennials are switched on and engaged, and demand their brands be the same. When it comes to making a social or political statement, the easiest (and most literal) way is with a slogan T-shirt. This was a key trend through both Spring/Summer, where the standout was Diorās āWe Should All Be Feminists,ā and Fall/Winter, with Prabal Gurungās āThe Future is Femaleā and Haider Ackermanās āBe Your Own Hero.ā
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Tees me
Slogan tees have a long history, on and off the runway, with origins in grassroots protest movements. To start with, people simply scrawled messages on tees. Next, there were genuinely subversive designers like Brit Katharine Hamnett, whose first tees were for (a 1980s protest site against nuclear weapons). Thereās a valid argument for them as consciousness-raising tools. Hamnett herself told Dazed and Confused: āYou canāt not read them, and once youāve read them, they stay in your brain, churning around, hopefully making you think and act.āĢżAnd itās true that T-shirts can go where other forms of protest canāt āĢżthe perfect example of this is Hamnett wearing an anti-nuclear-weapon tee to shake hands with then UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Says Āé¶¹“«Ć½Ó³»craft expert and writer : āThereās no other garment that has universally been altered or adopted to broadcast personalsentiments or beliefs ā from the tie-dyed shirts of the 1960s to the Sharpie-inscribed Riot Girrrrrl T-shirts of my teens.ā

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Whatās the problem?
This all sounds very positive, so whatās the issue with slogan tees? Think about this: A T-shirt made at home by an activist will bear a specific message that is meaningful to them and thought provoking to others āĢżfine, no problem. And the runway offers a global platform for these messages to be seen, so weāre OK with that, too. Although, counters fashion stylist and writer ,ĢżāYou could buy the Dior tee that gives to Rihannaās womenās charity or you could write a cheque to her charity directly. Do you need the tee as a receipt? Better yet, give that money to a charity closer to home that makes a difference in your community.ā
But our real issue is with the high street. By the time the trend trickles there, the messages are blunted and diluted to tired slogans like āGirl Powerā(why not āWoman Power,ā for fuckās sake?) that most likely make no impression on the observer. The T-shirts are blatantly for commercial purposes āĢżrarely are profits donated to a cause. And high-street stores continue to manufacture their products in a way thatās damaging to people and the environment. So some 10-year-old girl slaves away in a sweatshop so a Canadian teenager can wear a piece of clothing that will soon end up in landfill. But thatās OK, right, because in the short term, she can show everyone how āwokeā she is, without ever really properly engaging with social or political issues? No thanks.Ģż

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Making a statement
Happily, there are ways to get the look, and support a cause, without compromising your principles. Find out if any of the charities and causes you support are ethically producing a tee to raise money, and buy one. Or better still, make your own T-shirt. Says Schelling: āActually take some time to make a difference yourself: instead of wearing your colours, show your true colours. ĢżIn my opinion, the most fashionable protest tee is DIY with a plain white tee and a black Sharpie.ā
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How to make your own slogan tee
āIād suggest recycling an existing shirt ā there are tonnes at our local thrift shops ā and adhering a slogan onto it by silkscreening, stencils, patchwork, or embroidery,ā says Prain. āIf you feel the need to mass-produce tees, Iād recommend creating a āwork partyā where you invite a bunch of friends and print or silkscreen together.ĢżĢżin Chinatown is a great place to learn basic silkscreening and the Āé¶¹“«Ć½Ó³»Public Library has a wonderful resource of craft books. If you canāt make the shirt yourself, Iād recommend finding a local screenprinter or fair-trade supplier who works with ethically sourced T-shirts. If you have to pay someone, pay someone who is in your local economyās ecosystem.ā

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Style tips
āI find the whole idea of trying to style a slogan tee to be a little ridiculous, unless youāre doing it for a shoot or someĢżāartā project,ā says Schelling. āItās a protest tee and assumedly youāre putting your allegiance on your sleeve (literally). I think the only way to do that is with the radical notion of just dressing like yourself. If youāre a jeans-type person, wear your protest tee with jeans. If you like a kicky skirt, pair it with that. If youāre going to wear a , make sure itās in a colour you like. (Mineās hot pink and pylon orange...) If you feel comfortable in your convictions, be sure to also feel comfortable in your protest outfit.ā