The politics of fashion: Drugs, designs and society.
Stephanie loves her fashion, but she loves it even more when it becomes political. If you look closely, fashion becomes part of many political situations. Everything is connected.
Moschino courted controversy in 2016 when it delivered a “capsule” collection themed around pills. Clutches looking like pill blister packs and bags shaped like pill bottles took to the runway.
An American drug counsellor criticised Moschino and Nordstrom (who stocked the collection) in an article published on FOX News: “I’m really disgusted that any retail store thinks this is OK, especially when our country is going through what the CDC has called a drug overdose epidemic.”
Moschino responded by pointing out it became famous for its “Just say MoschiNO” slogan.
The ‘Just Say No’ slogan harkens back to the Reagan era of American politics and continues today as a primary anti-drug message.
A Guardian article speaks about the slogan’s damaging effects: “Reagan’s message [is a] continuing campaign to justify and perpetuate a “war on drugs” with racially and economically disproportional targets.”
Experts now agree that the “war on drugs” has failed and harm minimisation should be the primary focus of drug policies.
Australian Sex Party Leader Fiona Patten MP agrees, introducing a private member’s bill in Parliament on 8 February 2017.
The bill would establish a medically supervised injecting centre in the ‘Richmond rectangle’ – the epicentre of heroin overdoses in Victoria.
“There’s six ambulance call-outs for overdoses every week in north Richmond. There are three deaths due to overdose every month. There are 60,000 syringes discarded, and that are picked up, every year in a 300 square metre area. Now this is absolutely desperate.“
In Sydney over 6,000 potentially fatal drug overdoses have been prevented. Not one death has occurred in the Sydney MSIC. The statistics show supervised injecting rooms work.
Sign the petition now to help get a supervised injecting centre in Richmond.
Sources:
http://www.highsnobiety.com/2016/11/15/moschino-glamorization-drug-abuse/
http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/09/fashion-is-more-political-than-ever-what-is-it-saying.html