The Punk Philosophy

^{It’s easy to adhere to what the fashion industry tells us we should wear. It dictates and overinfluences. “What’s in this season?” we may find ourselves asking or else we might lament, “Oh, that’s so last season, so not in style...” According to who? Well, the soft power of the industry.}

^{In the ‘70s, the punk subculture stomped through and disrupted this status quo.}

^{Besides having a bunch of subgroups and being anti a bunch of things, punk is anti-establishment. Thus, punk has historically been anti-fashion establishment, too (aka anti-fashion.) Want certain kinds of clothes that are authentically you and the fashion houses or department stores are only making run of the mill kind of stuff? Punk gets it.}

^{“Punk is an entire philosophy promoting freedom of the individual and working against conforming to the cookie-cutter form of existing we are told we must fit into.”}

^{“Punk clothing sometimes incorporated everyday objects for aesthetic effect. Many outfits were made out of pieces of clothing that were readily available, either from secondhand stores or whatever kids had on hand.[27] Emphasizing a DIY ethos, many punks utilized jean and leather jackets as canvases for pins, paint, and spikes.[28] Purposely ripped clothes were held together by safety pins or wrapped with tape; black bin liners (garbage bags) became dresses, shirts and skirts. Mohair, PVC, and other odd, anachronistic elements of fashion were utilized in outfits.[29]”}

^{An early designer of punk fashion was the late Vivienne Westwood. The Australian says of her early style, “She used a crude, DIY and anti-authoritarian aesthetic...”}

^{This kind of aesthetic wasn’t just about looking cool. It identified other members of the tribe who believed in its way of life.}

^{Fast-forward to the fall of 2026.}

^{For their Paris S/S 2027 show, The Ninety Nine Percent, Matières Fécales designers Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj Bhaskaran honored the 99% (we non-elite people) through a series of rather intense looks that included gothy-punky elements culminating in models walking the runway with white man dummies slung over their shoulders—yes, white man dummies—meant to represent the greed of the 1% being carried by the 99%.} (The show was only a few models short of actually reaching 99).

^{It was a spinoff of Matières Fécales’ last runway show, The One Percent, which pointed a finger at the ultra-wealthy elite class.}

^{Yet we must consider the four fingers pointing back at fashion houses like this and ask: Exactly what is the point of designers picking on the 1% if they continue to participate in a system that fosters the elitism and overconsumption which they’re critiquing?}

FASHION INTERMISSION | Street style looks with punk aesthetics from PFW S/S 2027 WWD

^{According to the Matières Fécales founders themselves, as quoted in AnOther Magazine:}

^{The irony shouldn’t merely extend to the brand’s name in contrast to the durability of its clothes. There’s also the irony in a brand named after the toxic excesses of fashion that then turns around to add to the excesses—durable or not.}

^{Now, perhaps, the most ironic thing about the label is that the clothes are too expensive for most of the 99% honored in the latest runway show.}

^{Technically considered avant-garde, the brand’s recent salient critique of capitalism more or less crosses its philosophy into punk territory. Yet, if fashion houses like Matières Fécales truly embodied punk, feeding into the seasonal cycle of trends and runway shows would simply not be done. Let alone catering to the 1%. (Hello, Rihanna in the front row?)}

^{So were Matières Fécales’ two most recent shows rage bait??? Were they earnest critiques of elites or mere cosplays of concern? As consumers, this is where our understanding of symbolism, reality, and designers’ intentions can all get muddled.}

^{Let’s assume that the designers at Matières Fécales really did want to make a genuine statement about capitalism and the financial freaks spawned from it: the millionaires and the billionaires and all the rest (ahem, Elon Musk, ahem). The problem is that because they labor under capitalism like everyone else, the fashion house primarily represents a subculture like punk through the relatively slim aperture of aesthetics. That is, without truly espousing its core philosophy. Even if its criticism is sincere, there is a fundamental contradiction between the message and the fashion system through which it’s being communicated.}

^{The system transforms the criticism into commodities—it can commodify the criticism of commodification. Now, say that three times fast. :)}

^{Deeply shaped by capitalism, the modern fashion industry is just too good at turning everything into a product, even resistance.}

^{It’s why someone with no real ties to punk culture can buy into a punk/edgy look through brands like Matières Fécales, but it’s only a look…more like a costume.}

^{It’s funny that nowadays, to be reasonably anti-fashion, we don’t actually need to wear our hair in a mohawk or put on DIY-looking, tattered clothes.}

^{No, we don’t have to don the associated “look.”}

^{We only have to consciously limit the influence of an elite juggernaut like the fashion industry by refusing to let it unquestioningly dictate what is cool, what we wear, how we wear it, what we consume, and how much of it we do.}

^{That’s radical.}

FASHION FINALE | I’ll end with some anti-fashion tips for taking care of your clothes:

Some methods may not always work out for stains. You could be like me and just consider a stain to be the “edgy” part of an outfit…or, maybe, you can hide it with

a quirky brooch you already own?

or your hair?