Understanding Fashion Scandals

All publicity is good publicity? Perhaps not. In recent years, multiple local and global fashion brands have been called out for cultural appropriation, racism, misogyny, and even flirting with fascism. Understanding Fashion Scandals is the first book to explore this changing landscape of contemporary fashion through case studies showing how 'shock value' lost its currency. The book focuses on the changes since the late-1970s and early 1980s, when brands like Calvin Klein and Benetton first used controversy as a promotional tool to build their brand identity, to the contemporary industry where avoiding social media backlash is critical to survival. Analyzing the tactics brands including Burberry, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana and Prada adopt to avoid or mitigate scandals, Vänskä and Gurova map the fashion industry's journey towards cultural sustainability.

Annamari Vänskä is Professor of Fashion Research at the Aalto University in Finland. She is the author of Fashionable Childhood (Bloomsbury, 2017) and Understanding Fashion Scandals (Bloomsbury 2024) and the co-editor of Fashion Curating (Bloomsbury 2018). Vänskä's work spans fashion as embodied culture and digitalization of fashion. She is currently the Deputy-PI of the consortium "Intimacy in Data-Driven Culture" and PI of the research project "Intimacy, Creative Work and Design," funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland (2019-2025).

Introduction The Two Types of Fashion Scandals Scandal as Politicization of Fashion Decolonizing Fashion Positioning Ourselves Epistemic Positionings Structure of the Book PART ONE THE FASHION SCANDAL-PAST AND PRESENT 1. Framing the Fashion Scandal: The Platformization of Fashion Visualization of Fashion Mediatization of Fashion Social Media and the Platformization of Fashion The Instagramification of Fashion 2. Fashion Brands Negotiating Identity Politics Cultural Approach to Brands and Branding Negotiating Identity Politics 3. Changing Strategies of Fashion Brands: From Shock to Scandal A Short History of the Fashion Scandal: Deliberate Shock Contemporary Shock: The Unintentional Scandal Social Media and New Identity Politics Dismantling White Privilege and Introducing Intersectionality to Fashion 4. Emotional Effects of Social Media on Fashion: Calling-out and Canceling Emotional Branding Emotional Reactions and Canceling New Cultural Intermediaries and the Creation of the Unintentional Scandal Consumers Empowered to Speak Up What if a Brand is Canceled? PART TWO CASE STUDIES 5. Russia Love is (Not Just) Love Feminist Resistance in a Conservative World Race Across Time and Space 6. Finland Maternity Clothes for 12-Year-Old African Girls Flirting with Fascists 7. Global Scandals Whose Identity? The Problem with "Cultural Appropriation" Casual Racism: "Eating with Chopsticks" Blackface and Structural Racism in the Fashion Industry "Mental Health is not Fashion" PART THREE THE RESPONSE TO FASHION SCANDALS 8. Just Don't Do It! Corporate World Response, Part One: Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate World Response, Part Two: Brands as Political Actors Corporate World Response, Part Three: Diversity Officers Academic Response, Part One: The Danger of "Diversity Washing" Academic Response, Part Two: the "Glossification of Diversity" Academic Response, Part Three: Reimagining the Fashion Curriculum Political Response, Part One: Supply Chains and Human Rights Political Response, Part Two: Advocacy Groups Benchmarking Business Conclusion: A Call for Cultural and Social Sustainability PART FOUR EPILOG 9. The Counter Narrative Heidi Karjalainen, Finland Ervin Latimer, Finland Jahnkoy, USA Claudia Lepik, Estonia Muslin Brothers, Belgium Kristian David, Sweden Bibliography Index