Fashion in Utopia, Utopia in Fashion

Editorial paper for the guest-edited special issue Utopia and Fashion

“Utopia and Fashion” comes at a time when the fashion industry faces a self-inflicted crisis that forces it to fundamentally rethink its own future. The desire to address the wrongs of the status quo and imagine alternatives and future possibilities has always been the driving force behind utopian thinking. The production of this special issue, “Utopia and Fashion,” at a time when the future of our relationship with fashion is being so widely discussed is not motivated by a wish to find “a stick with which to beat contemporary fashion,” which, according to fashion historian Aileen Ribeiro, has often been the case in utopian writing.19 On the contrary, this special issue is intended to be an initial contribution to what we hope could become a long-term dialogue regarding both the role of fashion in utopian thinking and the potential of utopian thinking to reimagine and inspire better futures for fashion.

Included in this issue are three articles with a historical focus; two of these examine the role of fashion in selected utopian and dystopian texts, while the third explores more radical early twentieth-century visions of nudity as liberation from the oppression of dress. The other contributions engage with the critical issues surrounding fashion production and consumption. In addition to the essays in the “Articles” section, we include contributions from contemporary artists and designers whose practices, in different ways, challenge how fashion and clothing are currently used, experienced,and appreciated. By including the “Artist Statements” section, we aimed to bridge the often unhelpful gap between theoretical discussion and practical implementation and so complement some of the discussion in this issue with tangible examples of how fashion and our relationship with clothes can be rethought through art and design practice.