The term decolonization, in its literary sense, refers to the withdrawal of imperial powers from colonies and the restoration of political and economic independence to the colonized regions. At present, it is used especially in connection to the dismantling of European colonies in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, after the 2nd World War. However, decolonization does not stop with reclaiming political and economic control. It is a complex and gradual process, that is never quite finished because the legacy of the colonial rule, especially with regards to culture, continues long after the emancipation took place. For this reason, the term decolonization is increasingly used to refer to the emancipation from cultural dominance, or what is sometimes called the ‘decolonization of mind’(1).(1-4) The issue of decolonization is now also widely discussed in connection to fashion, highlighting that the Western fashion system has enforced a global fashion identity that is seen as a universal norm. The dominance of Western fashion decimated the diversity of other fashion expressions and suppressed the richness of indigenous fashion forms that do not fit into the Eurocentric aesthetic.(5-9) The homogenized view of fashion also contributed to the loss of regional artisan and heritage crafts traditions with damaging knock-on effects on local economies, cultures and the environment. The global climate crisis urgently requires that we “imagine and propose ‘differently’ dressed worlds”(6) that allow for multiple fashion narratives, as the global expansion of the Western fashion system has proved socially, culturally and environmentally unsustainable.(8) The narratives presented in the fashion media have a critical role to play in this respect, as they can potentially transform and decolonize the fashion system from the inside out.(9)
DECOLONIZATION
