Photo Essay on the use of Religion and Spirituality in the Fashion and Cosmetic Industry.
It is nothing new that pop culture producers have been appropriating religion and spirituality to market their products and cultural artifacts. However, this commodification of religion in pop culture consumerism is particularly salient in the fashion and cosmetic industry and serves as a prime example of the theory of religion IN popular culture. It is nearly impossible to go a day without viewing religious and spiritual symbols or themes on fashion items as well as advertising for those artifacts, some of which cause serious controversial debates within the fashion industry (Sanchez 2013)The purpose of this photo essay is to provide various examples to support the claim that the fashion and makeup industry indeed use religion to further their economic success.
According to Forbes, and other religious scholars, religion can either implicitly or explicitly be embedded into popular culture with explicit depictions being blatant representation of a religion or religious figure and implicit being through the use of allegorical themes and symbols(Forbes, 2000). Using this theoretical perspective, it is easy to identify various ways in which fashion and cosmetic “consumerist culture uses religion as a backdrop against which to set it’s cultural productions” and to advance its desire (Santana & Erickson, 2008: 52)
The appropriation of religious themes, symbols, and culture is not a marketing tactic used simply by religious companies but also incorporated into more secular companies with no religious affiliations. Forever 21 in one example of a fashion company run by devout christians that incorporates religion (particularly christianity) both explicitly and implicitly into their secular products. Forever 21 explicitly has shirts that refer to the christian religion such as “Jesus loves you” or shirts that say “God”. They also market christianity in more implicit ways that may be foreign to some non believers such as their famous yellow forever 21 bags that have the hidden message “John 3:16” on the bottom of the bag (Wiseman, 2011). Not only is this tactic selling their products to those who subscribe to the faith but also subliminally endorses their religion to those who may not. In this way religion serves as a means and also an end. Thus as Santana and Erickson suggest, both consumer culture and religion have a reflexive relationship in which the other is used to market (Santana & Erickson, 2008)
Less religious affiliated fashion companies such Victoria secret and Dolce and Gabbana also utilize religion in their artifacts, perhaps not so much as a tool like Forever 21 but simply as appropriation. Victoria secret, known for its lingerie and models, virtually has nothing to do with religion but however they use the term “angels” to refer to their models. The use of the term angel to refer to the models borrows quite explicitly from the christian beliefs in heavenly angels. This points to the notion that Santana and Erickson explain as the use of religion to fuel desire (Santana & Erickson, 2008). This is a brief except from an article on hungertv.com discussing how Dolce and Gabbana borrow from religion:
“It comes as no surprise then that fashion designers have long since looked to the church, and in particular Christianity, for inspiration. Dolce and Gabbana are famous for their ornately Catholic ensembles that have utilized religious imagery in some form or other in virtually every collection since their inception in 1985, and this season is no different with their mosaic-clad-everything making for one of the most striking collections of the year” (Carlin, 2013).
The designers have attributed their use of these religious imagery (pictures 5–8) as inspired by mosaic art and as a means of telling a story and contextualizing their clothing (Phelps, 2013). Thus, for them religion serves as an inspiration, and a way to advance a story. For them it is not about religious faith in itself, but rather the beauty and art found in the religious contexts centuries ago (Phelps, 2013). In this sense, Dolce and Gabbana utilize religion to carve out a niche in the high fashion industry and thus exemplifies what Carette and King refer to as the selective appropriation of culture and religion that then becomes repackaged and resold as somethings else- from catholicism to high unique and high end fashion (Carette & King, 2005).
In the cosmetic industry, the intersection of religious undertones is also explicitly and implicitly used, thus revealing the ways in which religion and popular culture intersect. The form of appropriation can range from the names of various shades allegorically representing religious names or themes to blatant use of religious figures and symbols (Forbes, 2000). For example, Mac has a lipstick named sin. While on the surface this does not seem to reflect religion a deeper analysis of term sin and its religious connotations suggest that such a term is deeply rooted with religion. Looking at the shade alone (dark red) suggest that the association of red and sin are borrowed from normative notions as well as religious notions of a ‘fiery burning hell for sinners’. Kat Von D, a famous cosmetic retailer is also another example of the use of religion to promote products. In her shade and light palette, Kat appeals to the theme of death and incorporates this into her product. The shades in her palette are named after demons and the packaging of the product reflects as such mimicking a dark, coffin like shape.
Another trend in the makeup industry is the appropriation of Hindu makeup, specifically the bindi and face jewels. This tradition, commonly worn by Hindu women to represent their religion and ‘the third eye’ is now being used by companies such as Urban Outfitters and making a wave as rave apparel with many decorating their foreheads much like Hindu women (Religion as fashion, 2016).
Other companies such as philosophy take a less demonistic approach to their product line. They use a more positive, wellness oriented to marketing religion or rather spirituality in their products with items named: the micro-delivery peel, purity, hope, miracle etc (Philosophy,2016). This brand again, perhaps more so than other mentioned, manipulated the notion that religion saves and heals to enhance their publicity. While the names of their products are clearly an example of what Forbes refers to as explicit religion, such terms may also be ignored and viewed more secularly than religiously thus also making it an implicit intersection of religion and popular culture.
To conclude, based off of all the images provided, it is evident that religion borrows from popular culture and popular culture borrows from religion. Companies utilize religiosity as a means to advance consumerism while others use their products to advance a religion. There is a dialectic relationship in which religion and popular cultural engage in fluid dialogue to advance an agenda (Forbes, 2000). The privatized niche religion as well creates an appeal in which its ideologies can be dominated by consumer values to create something unique that can be sold off as old time religion (Carrette & King, 2005). This intersection of religion and popular culture however does not always yield positive results but rather causes controversy in the industry as many religious people feel as though the incorporation of their religion is not appreciation but rather appropriation that takes away from the significance of their religion. This final quote from fashionableislam.com in regard to picture 11 or Rihanna summarizes the need for caution when using religion as inspiration:
“The alteration of traditional Muslim clothing into a “fashionable” ensemble, as well as the photo shoot itself, trivializes the experience of those who actually wear the traditional garb and worship at the mosque. Turning someone’s belief and culture into a trend takes away from its significance and leaves behind an inaccurate portrayal. By posting this on social media, Rihanna’s Islamic photos were shown to her millions of followers. In a way, her images displayed the commodification of a religion for the gain of followers and likes, an epidemic of the modern digital age”
REFERENCES
Photo 1 retrieved from: http://www.1888pressrelease.com/imagespr/imgs/433361/fashion_21_religious_tees.jpg
Photo 2 retrieved from: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/clareoconnor/files/2014/04/forever21bag-e1396374601309.jpg
Photo 3 retrieved from: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/12/16/article-2524614-19A380A700000578-877_634x777.jpg
Photo 4 retrieved from: https://hips.hearstapps.com/cos.h-cdn.co/assets/15/45/1600x2401/gallery-1446581616-victorias-secret-wings.jpg?resize=640:*
Photo 5, 6, & 7 retrieved from: http://www.vogue.com/13407711/dolce-gabbana-catholic-religious-runway-fashion/
Photo 8 retrieved from: http://irenebrination.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55290e7c48833019aff11578f970c-800wi
Photo 9 retrieved from: http://irenebrination.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55290e7c48833019aff115e47970c-800wi
Photo 10 retrieved from: http://www.mtlblog.com/2016/03/montreal-is-opening-an-allsaints-store-on-de-la-montagne-street/
Photo 11 & 12 retrieved from: http://fashionableislam.weebly.com/contemporary-appropriation.html
Photo 14 retrieved from: https://colourofmykiss.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/sin.jpg
Photo 15 retrieved from: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AX6Y4XwvC-Y/Vp_WTQsQslI/AAAAAAAAH-s/t_2gBXJB7YE/s640/kvd%2Bshade%2Bpalette%2B2.png
Photo 16 retrieved from: http://bpc.h-cdn.co/assets/16/11/980x490/landscape-1457983359-best-philosophy-skincare-beauty.jpg
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