Fashion, capitalism and the difficulty of reparations

This chapter presents the first systematic discussion of reparations in relation to fashion and dress assets expropriated as a result of catastrophic events of displacement and genocide. It offers a comparative examination of the fashion and dress heritage of three displaced communities from Western Asia—Armenian, Palestinian, and Kurdish—during and in the aftermath of World War I. The chapter explores how this heritage was impacted by the intertwined forces of ethnonationalism, racism, and capitalism, and considers what forms of reparations are necessary to restore and sustain that heritage today.