Brands are looking to align themselves with more activists and socially or environmentally minded content creators in a bid to stay relevant in the current climate.
The social activist and Black Lives Matter campaigner Janaya Khan walked Gucci’s Love Parade in Los Angeles while a new crop of content creators, who use their platforms to educate about climate change, human rights, or gender fluidity, are striking increasing numbers of brand deals.
For brands, there’s a clear advantage in rewriting the rulebook and letting the activists who would usually boycott — or demonstrate outside — their shows into their world. It keeps brands relevant in the current climate, allows them to keep up with the expectations of the younger generation of consumers — and gain new perspectives.
This already began happening in 2021 with “The Activist” TV show, which was due to air on CBS in the U.S. in the fall. In the show, six activists were meant to compete against each other in drawing attention to various causes on social media and be judged by celebrities Julianne Hough, Usher and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.In addition, asking an activist to take part in a campaign or cover shoot doesn’t automatically make brands or media outlets more eco-conscious, or absolve them from greenwashing.
Venetia La Manna, a content creator who uses her Instagram platform of 148,000 followers and popular podcast to talk about garment workers’ rights and sustainable consumption, believes the onus needs to be on brands to make honest changes with regard to how they work, “and we need laws in place to ensure they’re not greenwashing.”
“When it comes to working with sustainable fashion brands, they have to tick a variety of boxes: the people making their clothes need to be paid fair living wages and allowed to unionize, the brand itself needs to demonstrate inclusivity, both in terms of sizing and the models that they use. “The old testimonial thing is gone, and it’s often so insincere. It’s more about [brands] asking ‘Can you help me out?’ and less about ‘Can I pay you to wear this?’ Inclusivity has to be about hearing these voices and learning from them,” she said.
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