What is fashion?
As a verb it means to give shape to something. As a noun it underpins how we perceive things to be, based on certain filters we have created as a collective. And to follow a prevailing custom or style of the day. This episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast explores our relationship with fashion. How we can bring into alignment the way we reflect authenticity in our fashioning. Both in the way we reflect the outer world, and the things we create that reflect our inner world.

Who Are You?
What drives your relationship with the material world? For many gentle rebels there is a natural inclination to distance ourselves from the overtly popular. We might tend to stay in the margins, away from the mainstream. Our inner rebel seeks to avoid the crowd, both in a physical, and metaphorical sense.
This inner voice might tells us that when something is popular it has lost its value (sold out etc). A message that is not always helpful, healthy, or indeed true. As we will explore.
Slow Fashion
Fashion is a mindset. It influences our thoughts, opinions, and judgements. It clouds our view of the world, and tells us the value of things based on whether or not they are seen as acceptable at this particular time.
We have seen the destructive force of fast fashion. Tearing through our environment as demand for and supply of cheap clothing, technology, furnishings etc, spirals in a world of endless marketing and extreme consumption.
How can we nurture a slow fashion approach to the material world? So that our lives reflect our deeper values, and leave us with a richer and more meaningful experience.
Influencer Culture
The ‘Influencer’ label is pretty fashionable right now. We hear about those social media power users who are at the heart of different fashion-driven industries.
Certain people set the standards of what is worthy of attention. And they are rewarded for their role as ‘tastemakers’ in the world. Essentially fashioning the desires of consumers so that they will spend money on things that will ‘make their life better’ in some way.
In the modern digital world, fashion has become much more diffused. There are very few all encompassing movements of fashion. Instead we have many disparate tribes and micro cultures, defining their own look. We have a rich plethora of lifestyles, appearances, and opinions.
‘Influencers’ reside within each area. Some intentionally, while others become figureheads and role models without setting out to do so. But the natural human impulse is the same: to follow, to fit in, to belong. Which happens by looking the part, acting the part, and getting the label.
Fashion Labels
When I was a kid I remember being obsessed with wanting to get clothes made by particular brands. And to have the label on the outside so that people could see. We didn’t have much money when I was growing up, so this was a rare occurrence.
I remember getting a new coat when I was about 12. It had a big logo on the back. A reputable brand. I didn’t really like the style, but it was the only one from that brand within budget. As long as people could see it was branded, that’s all that mattered.
But I didn’t really want to wear it that much. It felt horrible, and it certainly wasn’t one of my favourite items. But kids value labels, and it was something I thought I should do in order to fit in (or not stand out too much).
Paying to Advertise
A few years later I went in the opposite direction. I became very aware that I was being used to advertise any brand I was wearing. And doing so, not just voluntarily, but I was paying for the privilege. What a ruse. Genius. Pay some ‘influencers’ (eg sports stars), to wear your clothes as a company.