Violence against women has been one of the resounding themes of 2013’s storybook with riots breaking out in India and South African communities taking to the streets in protest against gender-based atrocities. British fashion designer extraordinaire Vivienne Westwood has tailored the fashion industry with her daring designs and fearless opinions. While advertising in fashion has been the centerpiece of a number of fiery disputes, Westwood has shocked Italians by showcasing a window display that boldly challenges domestic violence in Italy.
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Teaming up with ad-agency Leo Burnett Milan, Westwood has crafted a visual that draws awareness to the growing brutality against women in Italy. Statistics indicate that one in three Italian women are victims of domestic abuse – a chilling reality that clearly inspired Westwood’s provocative appeal. Stereotypically, mannequins are painted with flawless complexions and aloof pouts. Burnett and Westwood courageously ripped into this aesthetic and juxtaposed a bruised mannequin against the polished dolls of fashion’s trademark advertising. The result is a fragile victim seated timidly between two glamorously confident femme fatales. While the haute-couture dames are draped in sparkling colour-bright material, the hesitant Jane Doe wears a simple black dress that is slightly dishevelled from her violent struggle. Instead of make-up, she is covered with purple-black bruises that bite marks from the hollow of her eye to the arch of her battered shin, transforming her into a model of domestic abuse victims across the world.
The idea of fashion labels using their brand power to market slogans that defy acts of gender violence is becoming increasingly relevant amidst claims that seek to explain or justify the harmful treatment to which many women are subjected. Last December an Italian priest, Piero Corsi, made headlines when he wrote:
The core of the problem is in the fact that women are more and more provocative, they yield to arrogance, they believe they can do everything themselves and they end up exacerbating tensions
The article was pinned to a bulletin board inside a church of the northern Italian village, San Terenzo di Leric. Ultimately, the text argues that women spend too much time wearing provocative clothing, and too little time cleaning bathrooms and plating food, encouraging their male counterparts to strike out in frustration. With attitudes like this still finding a place in society, the activism of women is vitally necessary. As an empowering force of fashion, Vivienne Westwood is emblematic of the fight against using clothes as a scapegoat for crime, and her mannequins illustrate that the bruise of a cheekbone is far more serious than a pair of cut-offs.
The window display is the face of Westwood’s store in Corso Venezia – one of Milan’s most exclusive ultra-extravagant avenues. Passersby who walk the catwalk of this high street runway are accustomed to the poised glass portals of Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Miu Miu, Burberry and Prada. A stroll past Westwood’s cutting composition would undoubtedly lead to a misstep. Italian mainstream media have splashed images of the storefront across their pages, while crowds have gathered outside Westwood’s fashion-house in both astonishment and solidarity with its message.
Image: facebook.com
Image: facebook.com
Image: facebook.com
Image: facebook.com
Images: Facebook
Words: Ra’eesa Pather
2 comments
Nadia Pather says:
Apr 15, 2013
We need more people like Vivienne Westwood. Beautifully written Raeesa Pather!
Ciao, Bella: Death in Italian | Cate Mackenzie says:
Sep 5, 2013
[…] advantage of the chance for a publicity stunt’ may sit better with your sensibilities) for a campaign in her shop window in Milan – making the private public. When abuse takes place in secret, […]