Fashion in peril: an investigation into how fashion mirrored change in UK society

This article investigates and compares how fashion reacted to the deprivations of the Second World War, with similar deprivation, in the economic recession, beginning in 2008. This resulted in many parallel initiatives that have either been revived or have evolved. The initiatives often threaten recognised systems of fashion, design and consumption. It is driven underground only to re-emerge in different interpretations. Indeed, a backlash against ostentation has been a driving force in sustainable fashion, which emerged before the recession. Consumers embraced an environmental consciousness that radically altered perceptions towards fashion products and the messages they sent out to the world. The article also details how final year fashion design students were set a live two-day brief that asked them consider the concept of ‘fashion in peril’. This exercise introduced students in a practical way to how fashion can mirror change in society and also how a sense of individual style and fashion can be maintained in a crisis.