With this Press Fold issue on Resistance, we show a series of critiques of and propositions on resistance. Many fashion houses and labels have been incorporating concepts of ‘protest’ and ‘resistance’ in their clothing and collections over the years: from the protest T-shirts created by Vivienne Westwood and Katharine Hamnett in the 1970s and 1980s to the Chanel Spring/Summer 2015 show, featuring ‘traditional’ models (skinny and mainly white) carrying protest signs emblazoned with texts such as “Ladies First”, “Women’s Rights Are More Than Alright”, and “History Is Her Story” while wearing thousand-euro outfits, and the Dior Fall/Winter 2018 show which attempted to channel the resistance culture amongst students of the 1960s to advocate for women's equality. However, considering fashion’s entanglement with capitalism, we must wonder: how seriously should we take these statements? Rather than a genuine attempt at protest and resistance, the examples mentioned present a palatable and aestheticized version of the action, which allows the consumer to buy into a narrative of activism, rather than actually doing something concrete.

People have been adapting their clothing styles to show signs of protest and resistance for many years without having to buy (into) the fashion industry’s notion of it. From the suffragettes’ white dresses in the early 1900s and the Indian Khadi movement in the 1920s to the black berets of the Black Panthers in the 1960s, from the pink pussy hats of the 2017 Women’s March and #metoo movement to the green bandana of the pro-choice movement in Argentina in 2018, and the COVID facemasks with “I Can’t Breathe” written on them of the 2020 BLM protests: clothing has enabled wearers to show their political affiliations and solidarity with people and movements through visual signs and sign systems. But often, co-option by the fashion industry looms. Missoni created an expensive version of the pink pussy hat for their Fall/Winter 2017 collection, and the Black Panthers black beret appeared on Dior’s catwalk that same season.

This Press Fold issue on Resistance presents conversations, propositions and imaginations of fashion and resistance outside of fashion’s industrial context. For protest and resistance to become effective, it depends on community to generate, support and further it: with this issue we think further on these ideas of protest, activism and resistance in and around fashion, and not only in terms of clothing, and how it is portrayed in (fashion) imagery, but also in terms of how fashion is structured and organized: is fashion only able to thrive within a capitalist structure, or are there other possibilities as well? What ideas, initiatives and structures can be developed for fashion to become inclusive and generous to all participants? What needs to be resisted and what needs to be embraced? In that sense this issue of Press Fold, as well as the previous issues, is a world-building exercise, and wants to show what we can do without, and what we need to move fashion towards becoming a generous to all participants involved?

From luxury characterised as uniqueness created by lowly and anonymous artisans in pre-democratic times, to made-to-measure haute couture and the cult of the star designer at the end of the 19th century, from the merging of mass market and prestige into ‘masstige’ (a term coined by Karl Lagerfeld, introducing his H&M collaboration in 2004) to the hunger for street credibility by luxury fashion houses causing them to sell 2000 euro hoodies, and from the conspicuous consumption showcased on Instagram to the explosion of wellness and self-care culture; luxury has had many faces over the past few decades.

Among a new generation of fashion designers, researchers, writers and curators, very different views on luxury, and fashion in general, exist. Motivated by the sorry state of the current fashion system and its exploitative labour practices, environmental pollution, depletion of resources and exclusionary marketing language among other things, this generation is not only critiquing the system, its individualistic approach and its limiting views on the concept of luxury (among other things), but also seeking to create alternative, more inclusive ways of defining luxury. In this issue of Press Fold, we give voice to these new ideas and propositions on contemporary luxury and its material and immaterial characteristics.

These new imaginations on luxury show a radical departure from the classical interpretation of the concept; a concept that is firmly rooted in the idea that luxury is above all about abundance and indulgence, and therefore is not absolutely necessary, but a privilege for the happy few. But what actually is a ‘necessity’ in contemporary society, and what do we define as ‘abundance’? In the context of late capitalism and its inequities and growing political polarization, the ideas on what luxury constitutes are rapidly shifting. Self-care is making way for a collective form of care: for creating together, performing together, learning together, regaining agency together.

In this issue of Press Fold, you’ll find the views of our contributors on the meaning of ‘luxury’ in the context of today’s and tomorrow’s fashion world and society at large. We aim to show a plurality of perspectives, but all seem to have its root in the common understanding that change is required, not just within the fashion industry, but beyond. And as fashion can be regarded as a social practice – something we all participate in – why not start here?

For its inaugural issue, Press Fold reflects on the relation between fashion and the street, as the street has always played a pivotal – but ever-changing – role in the generation, presentation and perpetuation of fashion. A short overview of the content:

Beau Bertens researches the impact of visual language on the street by deconstructing the shopping bag and examining its rhetoric power by placing it in an editorial context, Johannes Reponen critically examines concepts of ‘street style’ and ‘streetwear’, Laura Gardner writes about how 90s art groups such as Art Club 2000, Honey-Suckle Company and Bernadette Corporation presented a critique of the institutions of fashion through the concept of ‘collectivity’, Renee van der Hoek discusses with Camiel Fortgens how to find one’s place within a changing fashion system, Ricarda Bigolin of D&K explores the slippages between workwear, streetwear and branding in the context of current high end and luxury fashion practices, Duran Lantink shows his daily observations from the streets of South Africa, the urban tales of streetwear brand AVOIDSTREET are imagined in an advertorial, Tenant of Culture reflects on narratives surrounding waste in fashion, Ruby Hoette documents items of clothing found in public spaces, reflecting on concepts inherent to the current fashion system such as newness, brand value versus material quality and uniqueness, Femke de Vries constructs a fashion column, and Elisa van Joolen proposes an alternative fashion editorial that shows the material properties of clothes by Dutch streetwear labels Bonne Suits, By Parra, Ontour and Patta with the precision of an X-ray vision.