Why we can never be good enough in fashion

Self-improvement has no end in sight, so we perpetually hate ourselves.

We started our Reflections newsletter series to think more deeply about the wider social-cultural forces that shape fashion and design thinking. Body image and psychology are themes that are significantly present in our industry but not widely discussed, which is why we decided to explore them more deeply by reading books on the topic and having conversations with experts in the field to learn and find ways to apply them to fashion. For today’s edition of the newsletter, we spoke with philosopher Clare Chambers, a Cambridge professor who wrote the book Intact: A Defence of the Unmodified Body.

It provoked deeper questioning: How do I keep unhelpful or outright damaging ideas about body hatred alive in my work, and how does that impact those around me? What does it actually mean that I design in this particular way, for these bodies – and what does it mean if my own body doesn’t fit in with the ideal I see on fashion runways? What would it mean if I used models that weren’t skinny, white and able-bodied? And what would that signal to my peers or to younger designers who are inspired by my work? Or, more broadly: how can I change my thinking to be more inclusive, critical and open-minded? How can I make a difference in an industry where I feel like I’m just one small player?