Politics can wear on you
Political participation has never been more fashionable. Rockers campaign for candidates, actors appear in pro-voting commercials, and hip-hop stars found organizations aimed at getting fans to the polls. It was inevitable, then, that fashion would also get political: Not only does the industry keep its finger on the nation's pulse, all those celebrities need something to wear on the campaign trail.
Election messages have found their ways onto hats, buttons, and even racy undergarments, but the T-shirt is the prime conveyor of political views. "The T-shirt has always been a walking billboard," says Sondra Grace, a professor and head of fashion design at the Massachusetts College of Art. "That's what has made it a classic garment, like docksiders or pearls or a double-breasted navy-blue blazer."
But, classically, the political T-shirt has been a fairly utilitarian piece of apparel, often just a white background with a red and blue logo stating the favored candidates' names, sometimes with a strident or ironic message. This year, there are plenty of both utilitarian and message shirts ("Kerry for president -- of France," "Re-defeat Bush in 2004"). But there is also a newer breed of political T-shirts: ones that get the message across with style. They come in cool colors, with a focus on eye-catching graphics and flattering cuts.
Take the John Kerry shirts made by the company Politipunk, sold locally at Pluto in Somerville and Jamaica Plain, as well as online (politipunk.com). The line includes a bright orange shirt that says "John Kerry is a rock star" underneath an image of the candidate looking more like Malcolm X than the junior senator from Massachusetts; there is also a pale yellow one that pictures the young Kerry surrounded by groovy pastel hearts. A black concert-style shirt features Kerry's airbrushed face. "Everything sold really quickly," Pluto manager/buyer Melisa Ford says of the Politipunk merchandise. "We did a lot of reorders."
On the other side of the campaign, a shirt sold on the website Zazzle (zazzle.com) riffs on Teenage Millionaire's hipster-friendly "Jesus is my homeboy" apparel. "George W. Bush is my homeboy," it reads, printed over an image of Bush. The T comes in an array of styles and colors, and it is a hit on Zazzle, where customers can rate products. "What an AWESOME shirt!" writes one. "I just received mine and I can't wait to wear it! FOUR MORE YEARS!"
But most of fashion's political action is nonpartisan, focusing on getting citizens -- especially young ones -- to cast their votes, regardless of for whom. Declare Yourself, an organization that expressly targets the youth vote, enlisted designers Isaac Mizrahi, Todd Oldham, and Richard Tyler to create T-shirts. On Mizrahi's ringer V-neck, the "V" forms the first letter in the word "vote," spelled down the front. Oldham's gray shirt features a rustic wooden sign that says "Gone voting." And Tyler goes back to the '60s with a rainbow tie-dye tank that says "Love" (complete with a peace sign and butterflies) on the front and "be the change you want to see, vote" on the back.
DKNY and French Connection also have provoting shirts (DKNY's were created for Rock the Vote), and the "Vote or Die" shirts made by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs's political organization Citizen Change have become ubiquitous among the celebrity set.
So are all these designers truly motivated by politics, or are they simply jumping on a trend?
"It's a combination," Grace says. "The designer would say, 'If I'm designing for my times, I'm designing for the young, and I'm going to design something that expresses their point of view.' . . . But if Isaac [Mizrahi] says something and it doesn't sell, he's going to say something else."
In other words, designers welcome the chance to express political views through fashion -- as long as doing so remains fashionable. And for now, at least, as the Politipunk website says, "Apathy is so last spring, and unabashed opinions are the new pink."
