As the Fashion Theory Magazine founder, I’ve been asking myself how our team can raise awareness on the current political climate of the world. Heaviness is felt globally, and we’d like to explore that through a fashion lens.
Fashion has long functioned as a political medium that reflects and critiques global power structures. During the Civil Rights era “protest dressing” made an appearance through runway statements on immigration, gender, and war. Designers consistently use clothing as a visual language of resistance.
At the most recent Paris Fashion Week, fashion’s relationships with politics was only intensified. Designers responded to a world increasingly shaped by geopolitical instability, wealth gaps, and public distrust in elite institutions and governments.
American designer Willy Chavarria has used his runway to address immigrant rights and systematic injustice, proving that fashion can act as both storytelling and activism on a global stage.
Legacy houses often participate in abstract, conceptual ways to embed political tension within their silhouettes, staging, and symbolism.
Matières Fécales Fall/Winter 25/26 at Paris Fashion Week
The latest Matières Fécales show in Paris by designers Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran has sparked conversation through it’s unsettling, symbolic references. While concrete show theme links to specific figures like Jeffrey Epstein remain largely interpretive and driven by public discourse rather than confirmed intent, the cultural reading of the show reveals deeper anxieties about elite power systems.
Matières Fécales Fall/Winter 25/26 at Paris Fashion Week. Images sourced via WWD.
Here’s our deep dive on the powerful symbolism found within the show, and yes, it’s meant to make you uncomfortable:
-
The use of distorted masks, money over model’s eyes, and obscured faces suggests anonymity among the powerful. In today’s political climate, elites often operate behind closed doors. The mask represents that invisibility, protection, and lack of accountability. The money blindfolds in particular suggest a paradox - that wealth provides access, but simultaneously blinds moral clarity.
-
The red paint on white gloves visually reference the elite having blood on their hands. The contrast of white, traditionally associated with purity, being disrupted by the contrast of deep red is undeniable symbolism of violence, guilt, and complicity.
-
The inclusion of real-world billionaires walking the runway collapses the boundary of power performing for itself. It’s a live demonstration where the elite are no longer portrayed as observers of culture, but instead become the spectacle.
-
Celebrity Makeup Artist Alexis Stone created exaggerated, theatrical makeup (second image below) to create a manufactured identity that blurs the lines between fashion and nightmare. In a sense, this could symbolize power being a carefully designed illusion.
Matières Fécales Fall/Winter 25/26 at Paris Fashion Week. Images sourced via WWD.
-
The “CULT” and “I ♥ Power” text on garments removes all abstraction from the meaning behind this collection. ‘Cult’ suggests blind allegiance, while ‘I ♥ Power’ frames domination as desire.
-
In terms of the fashion design itself, it remained restrictive and exaggerated, utilizing constricting silhouettes that limit movement and distort the human form. Models turned into controlled figures rather than individuals.
-
The uncomfortable circular formation finale resembled a ritual, secret, cult-like society. Models formed a tight circle and evoked in ritualistic behavior, becoming a direct illustration of secret societies and exclusive gatherings. Many note the scene reminded them of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut film.
Rather than being subtle and unspoken, the Matières Fécales show in Paris staged it’s messaging through direct symbolism of ritual, wealth as moral blindness, and through this brought awareness of global political instability on a fashion stage.
View Matières Fécales FW 25/26 Collection Via WWD.
From Couture to Fast Fashion: John Galliano Hired by Zara
As a deep fan of John Galliano as a designer and individual, I was deeply shocked by this news. However, I will be watching Zara closely to see what Galliano executes due to my own love for him.
John Galliano will have a two-year partnership with ongoing seasonal releases, making his position closer to a creative directorship than a one time drop. Historically, John Galliano’s work has been confined to elite fashion audiences but is now entering a global retail system with extensive reach.
This news shook the industry. This is historically a high-low collision within the fashion industry, where a high-level couture designer is designing for fast fashion.
A famously notable design by John Galliano includes the newspaper dress for Carrie Bradshaw’s character in Sex and the City that she wore the Christian Dior dress during her confrontation with Natasha in a restaurant, asking for forgiveness for sleeping with Natasha’s current husband Mr. Big.
Carrie Bradshaw (Sex in the City) wearing John Galliano’s FW 2000 Newspaper Dress. Image sourced via Pinterest.
Galliano is recognized for theatrical, high conceptual work, and entering Zara signals a complete disruption for traditional fashion hierarchies.
According to Zara, Galliano will be reworking the Zara archive, deconstructing past designs into new forms. Will his couture mindset be present in a fast fashion collection? In a sense, Galliano’s presence at Zara blurs the definition of what luxury actually means.
Following Galliano’s exit from Maison Margiela in 2024, this is his first return to fashion and is seen as a major career reinvention. Zara as a company is being majorly strategic, using high-profile designers to elevate their brand perception. They’re hiring of John Galliano and recently Willy Chavarria as a designer and director, represents a more long-term repositioning strategy.
This brings mass accessibility to high-level designers. More exciting, is that the brand is taking a production-level shift. They are taking a circular approach by having John Galliano re-work their archival designs.
Fashion Retreats to Thin, a Reality Check: Vogue Business Model Size Inclusivity Report Results
Vogue FW26 Size Inclusivity Report. Image Sourced via Vogue Business Instagram.
First and foremost, this is not a talent issue. As Vogue Business stated, we’re seeing the erasure of real women’s bodies in current times in fashion.
The report revealed a sharp decline of body representation across the last season’s runways. The report revealed 97% of looks portraying straight-size models (US 0-4).
Mid-size representation was at 2%, with plus-size models accounting for just 0.3% of looks across major fashion weeks. This is a record low for the industry in terms of body inclusivity across global stages.
Casting directors describe the current moment as a regression, where diverse bodies are not just underrepresented, but actively disappearing from fashion’s narrative.
Industry insiders emphasize that the inclusivity push of the early 2020s felt performative and wasn’t a real structural industry shift.
The data signals a cultural shift toward extreme thinness, only adding to systematic barriers for inclusivity. This is not seen as a plus-size talent issue, but rather can be caused by sample size limitations, production costs, and resistance from major luxury houses themselves to participate in body inclusivity.
Smaller, emerging designers show more willingness to cast inclusively, but industry standards are often dictated by the scale and visibility of major luxury houses.
When diversity did appear on the runway, it was often minimal with one or two models per show reinforcing the idea that inclusivity is being used as a visual gesture rather than a core value.
The report highlights a major disconnect with real women falling within mid to plus size ranges. Seeing runways overwhelmingly exclude them is not only cultural failure, but a missed commercial opportunity for brands.
With runway shows now widely accessible via livestream and social media, their impact expands beyond the industry and shapes global perceptions of beauty and body image more than ever.
View Vogue's FW26 Size Inclusivity Report
Subscribe to our Newsletter for articles sent directly to your inbox. 🌎