Lately, fashion's turned feminist in a lot of ways. It's obvious whenever you happen upon a garment that allows you to become more yourself; when you're able to remain comfortable and confident and on-trend in the same outfit. Collectively, we're freeing the nipple, we're wearing more comfortable shoes and less constricting jeans. And now, thanks to the fall '15 Marc By Marc Jacobs collection, we're blasting our propensity for "fighting the power" all over our clothing. (Public Enemy's anthem played loudly for a lot of the show.)
In Luella Bartley and Katie Hillier's latest outing, they've raged against the machine by emblazoning "Suffragette," "Our Future," "Solidarity," and "Unite" on printed peplums, black jumpsuits, and loose, silky blouses.
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The messaging takes Chanel's spring '15 runway protest and marries it with the Marc by Marc sensibility. There wasn't a staged protest — the clothing did the speaking itself. It was unapologetic, youthful, loud, and inescapable. But, the rebellious feelings didn't only come through on the branded garments. In fact, we think showgoers would have arrived upon the same vocab had it not been emblazoned on the clothes.
We noticed a practical militarism in pieces like sleek fanny packs and large, snap-front uniform pockets. Even the cocktail dresses were long-sleeved and belled out to create a feel of force and femininity — without being too revealing or in-your-face. These, for us, were the strongest moments. But there was so much strength throughout the presentation we realized we wouldn't want to come up against any of the MBMJ girls in any alley. There's a lot of them, and, well, they seem pretty badass.
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