WORLD| Toxic Positivity is OUT - Fashion as a Medium For Political Resistance

Intellectual honesty is not just important to me because of its natural cosmic or karmic return but because I become physically and mentally tormented by playing a active role in rejecting my full self. My birthday just passed and during the last few years it has evolved into an intentional moment of deep refection, celebration, and acknowledgment of gaps that require tending to. This year I decided to revisit bell hooks' All About Love which was gifted to me at another infection point a few days after graduating college. In the mist of reeducating myself on the practices of love I also watched almost live as America under the pretense of good faith diplomacy (for the second time) in partnership with "Israel" carried out an unprovoked and illegal attacked against the sovereign state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. My horror only grew when learning shorty there after of the identities of the first martyrs: the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along his daughter, a son-in-law, his infant granddaughter, a daughter-in-law, and several government officials, staff at a elementary school and over 160 little girls between the ages of six and 12 - some of which could only be identified by DNA; a building where girls were playing volley ball, and a hospital.

America has become culturally and morally bankrupted - a cult of personality, compulsive lying, and the perverted use of religion as a tool to justified carpet bombing. Compounding matters the state has no respect for the rule of law - both at home and for those internationally recognized - and conducts itself in an manic, irrational, and incoherent manner. 

Just three weeks into the war prominent Trump appointee Joe Kent the now former Director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center resigned from his post and in his resignation letter stated "...Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby...". Our "elected" officials are in large part compromised they are brought and sold to the highest bidders; these political elites regurgitate empty promises to the American people and throw stones back and forth across the aisle while all of them live in glass houses. There are some analysts namely economist, former CIA intel analysts, and ex- Marine Corps intel officers who describe this moment as the start of World War III. This is a turning point in world history and will expose or increase the shift that is already taking place from a global perspective - the reallocation of influence among new and old world powers, prolonged global economic instability, and in America the surge in the general publics distrust of legacy news media and rising legitimacy of alternative information outlets such as YouTube. 

As the Fall 2026 Fashion Week has just concluded I initially had a review queued for publish however I founded it difficult to block out all that had transpired in an effort to mask the death, destruction, and chaos that the Americans and Israelis had wreaked upon Iran. The fashion industry in large part thrives on escapism and when it is "fashionable" or makes for a good hashtag to enter into political or social discourse it usually veers toward common consensus from a "left" leaning "liberal" perspective. The fashion and retail business although externally promotions a carefree existences which almost approaches on toxic positivity as a way to discourage substantive conversations. In reality the fashion business does not operate within a vacuum and similarly to previous environmental and geopolitic problems that disrupted global commerce in recent years the attack against Iran will also cause a noticeable ripple effect for the fashion retail industry.   

In 2024, in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns global shipping was hit with both climate-based and geopolitics trade disruption. In solidarity with the Palestinians the Yemen militant group the Houthi began to intercept ships or those bound for the ports of "Israel" causing a massive reroute away from Egypt's Suez Canal to Southern Africa through the Cape of Good Hope. To no avail a U.S-led coalition was unsuccessful in curving the group's activity and in response the Houthi started to also target American vessels. The attacks upended international shipping routes causing massive delays and increase to the cost of the journey. Compounding matters the Panama Canal in its century of operation was in the midst of one of the driest periods in the manmade waterway history resulting a string of delays.  

Women's Wear Daily recently reported that while the Strait of Hormuz does not pose a risk to fashion supply chains it does however threaten to drive up fuel and insurance cost - the narrow waterway located at the southern coast of Iran transports 20% of the world's oil export. And while some companies may reroute shipments to air according to WWD air freight costs have spiked up to 50% in the last week. In recent years the Middle East has also seen increased interest and investment by fashion companies seeking to divert from regions like Asia that has experience consistent sales decline specifically in China. 

As I mentioned earlier most fashion companies are fickle minded when it comes to political and social discourse. However, communication and consistent messaging is important in today's business environment where consumers can easily pick up on duplicity - and at times will call it out. The positions companies take on various issues like "sustainability" practices, "women empowerment", and "diversity and inclusion" initiatives are included in public debate in times of social turmoil similarly to the killing of George Floyd or when the Trump administrative rolled back DEI initiatives and companies like Target that pulled the plug on DEI programs received an onslaught of negative public criticism and significant decline in sales. 

While there are outliners, like fashion house TELFAR who I initially came across during the early years of the brand's partnership with White Castle. During this time the companies collaborated on a limited edition collection in which proceeds were donated to the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Liberty and Justice Fund which provides bail to imprisoned minors. 

Recently TELFAR released a capsule collection inspired by Ibrahim Traoré the interim President of Burkina Faso and military leader that topple the Western aligned government and who continues to make strides in removing the remnants of historic imperialist and modern day neocolonialism from West Africa. 

Shortly after the attack on Iran the TELFAR Instagram and projected on screens at its New York City store a user generated video of a scathing monologue regarding the military action. And recently announced on its Instagram account that it would pledge 100% of net profit from its popular handbag the Shopping Bag for "...Relief and Resistance in the unity of our struggle from Gaza to Brooklyn, from Sudan to Havana."