When you picture heads of state, you probably conjure an image like the one above: mostly men, in blue or black suits, standing ramrod straight. Nothing could be more conservative and unchanging than what the men in the picture above are wearing.
And yet over the last few decades, the outfit evolved. A small change to be sure, but something that most male heads of state have adopted: the flag lapel pin.
Richard Nixon was the first president to consistently wear the flag lapel pin and the trend took off after September 11, 2001. Barack Obama tried not to wear it when, as a candidate, he said that instead of a pin, “I’m going to try to tell the American people what I believe.”
It didn’t work. The tide had changed and rather than fight the criticism, Obama wore the pin throughout his administration.
That he felt compelled to wear it is a sign that the fashion, even for the most conservative and anodyne outfit in the world, had changed. The most powerful people in the world had no choice but to adopt it.
The impact of the little lapel pin is worldwide. In this recent picture of the BRICS summit, heads of state who imprison people that think or worship differently, forbid gay rights and abortion and steal the patrimony of their own people every day, understand that to look legitimate they need the little lapel pin that the elected leaders of free people are all now wearing.
When the world’s most powerful people, even including the tyrants and despots, have to obey certain fashion rules, you know that fashion has power.
Why Is This Important
You may say to yourself, “not me, I don’t care about fashion, I wear what’s in the closet, or what’s on sale, or what’s simple and won’t draw attention.”
Meryl Streep addressed that best in the film “The Devil Wears Prada” when she said to Ann Hathaway playing her new, no-fashion assistant, “You think this [fashion] has nothing to do with you.” Referring to Hathaway’s plain blue sweater, “You, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room.” Even no choice is a choice.
From the world’s most powerful people, to a young, new college graduate in her first job, no one is exempt. Even people who have armies they use to threaten and invade their neighboring countries, are mobilized to change when fashion says they must. When fashion changes, it affects everyone.
The need to use fashion as shorthand for values can lead to a rise in minimalist fashion where practicality takes precedence over trendiness. Fashion may become more about functionality than self-expression, reducing its role as a vehicle for individuality.
If you’re a head of state and your position is based on the barrel of a gun rather than a free election, it means you try to look like the people who are legitimately elected. But it also means that whatever your job is, you want to look like you do what you say you do or aspire to do so that people will think of you a certain way.
Even if you don’t run a country but you work in a conservative environment, getting out of line with your clothing is risky. When there is that kind of pressure, it makes sense that people conform and fashion gets homogenized.
Fashion Is Harder Than Ever
If you’re a retailer trying to sell to that customer, it’s a subtle sale and it’s harder to create differences. When fast fashion is enticing consumers to pay less, getting consumers to pay more is challenging when there’s less room to demonstrate creativity in fashion.
That homogenization leads to a lack of innovative fashion in stores which is one of the reasons for the decline of department stores. Their encyclopedic offerings are not as important when people going to work don’t want to vary their clothing.
So how does a brand or retailer distinguish themselves when the most powerful people all want to look the same? And if everything is the same, how can you succeed when consumers will cut through sameness by choosing the lowest price?
Fashion can never get away from the three big questions:
- Does it fit me?
- Do I look great?
- Is it priced right?
But the way consumers answer those questions is making it harder for fashion brands every day. For consumers who work in environments where clothing is not expected to stand out, that is harder and harder all the time.
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