Arianna Ruvalcaba | Contributing Writer
Fashion is not only a means of expression or identity, but can also sometimes be used as a tool for greater purposes. With people like the Amish, personal expression through fashion is virtually nonexistent so as to create uniformity. Amish women wear long dresses and simple head coverings without makeup or jewelry, and men wear collared, button-down shirts and trousers held up by suspenders. However, in American popular culture, fashion is used for quite the opposite reason: to express individuality.
With Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent birthday, the world saw a strange sight: hundreds of people lining up to buy clothing emblazoned with Putin in various heroic poses. The clothing was sold at several state-controlled Glavnyi Universalnyi Magazin — literally translated to “main department store” — establishments all around the country. This brings up the issue of using fashion as propaganda.
Is it just fashion, or something more?
First of all, I was boggled while trying to understand why Russia loves its president so much, even after the Ukraine crisis when Russia invaded and annexed an unwilling Crimea. Tension between the Ukrainian military and Russian forces led to the deaths of at least 2,500 Ukrainians, according to a senior U.N. human-rights official. Numerous politicians, including President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, then accused President Putin of being indirectly responsible for the infamous Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 plane crash because it was most likely shot down by Russian rebels. And yet Putin’s popularity apparently has soared within his country.
According to a Global Attitudes Survey held in Spring 2014 by the Pew Research Center, “Roughly eight in ten Russians (83 percent) say they have confidence in President Putin to do the right thing in world affairs, up from 69 percent in 2012, the last time this question was asked.”
I’m not saying the clothing influenced all of Russia to begin this trend of inflated patriotism, but it has definitely helped by making it the “cool” and “hip” thing to do.
In addition, designer Anastasia Zadorina and public activist Xenia Melnikova started a clothing line and initiated meet-ups where Russian citizens could trade in their Western shirts for seemingly better, more patriotic ones denouncing sanctions (economical limits that tighten restrictions on major banks and corporations) put on Russia by the U.S. and European Union in response to the Ukraine and Russia debacle.
Encouraging the masses to wear this kind of clothing is equivalent to making them wear an idea or a state of mind. By making these shirts trendy, people are forced to overlook important issues and automatically side with the person distributing them.
“We did that here; we did that with Obama. ‘Change’ and all that, and that can be very powerful,” said APU global studies professor Richard Slimbach.
Clothes can be used as a tool to promote political unity among a people no matter what they stand for. Who wouldn’t want a shirt with President Putin holding a puppy on it? It’s cute and funny, so the guy himself must be OK, right?
“There cannot be mass consumption without conformity of thought and style: the masses must be won over (the so-called ‘bandwagon’ effect),” Slimbach said. “That’s why propaganda occupies every moment of our lives: through billboards and posters, TV commercials and online ads.”
Like many forms of media, fashion can be used for a deeper purpose, a purpose beyond mere wearability. Through the people of Russia, we can gather an idea of how powerful fashion can be, even if we think of clothing as nothing more than the material used to cover our bodies.