Everything You Need to Know About How Fashion Met Voting at NYFW 2024
BREAKING NEWS! THE HOTTEST NEW FASHION TREND OF 2024 - VOTING.
by Arielle Gin ★ OCTOBER 2 , 2024
In a world where fashion and political opinions often live in vastly different worlds, Jill Biden, Anna Wintour, and over 1,000 other fashion moguls bridged this gap on the first day of New York Fashion Week. With one month until the November 5th election, fashion industry members took it into their own hands to promote voter registration by gathering in Herald Square for a “nonpartisan march.” Prominent fashion designers such as Micheal Kors, Tory Burch, and Thom Browne showed up and showed out in support of the first lady, all clad in Fashion For Our Future shirts designed by Old Navy designer Zac Posen. Aiming to influence Americans to register to vote, the fashion industry united as one.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Vogue teamed up to spearhead Fashion For Our Future, an initiative that raises awareness for voting registration by sharing resources and assisting first time voters with registering.
With a high-stakes election on the line, American Fashion Designer Aurora James called on all voters saying, “[Elections are] about opportunities to exercise democracy, to actually help shape and empower the people, the ideas and the policies that empower all people, not just some people.” First Lady Jill Biden also attended the march, reminding voters of the times the fashion community has come together to raise awareness for issues such as the AIDS epidemic and breast cancer, uniting as one to fundraise money for research. She concludes by expressing that “Fashion has always been our future. You walk the walk, and you've always done it together. And that's what we have to do again this fall. Vote! Vote early, then help others do the same.”
Biden also reminds spectators of the precarious situation the election brings, "These freedoms [to make your own choices, be who you are, love who you love, and your freedom of creative expression] are at risk because of court decisions, book bans, and shrugs of apathy when people forget the power of the vote,” she shares.
But the collision between fashion and politics doesn’t just stop at New York Fashion Week. Hundreds of fashion designers have taken it into their own hands to encourage voter registration. With Designer Ulla Johnson organizing voter registration booths at her stores and Kenneth Cole creating a line of “I am a Voter” t-shirts.
Stores and brands alike are also incorporating voting into their companies. SAKS Fifth Avenue has displayed window designs reminding spectators to check their voter registration status. With NEST launching a “Get Out the Vote” candle collection and Citizens of Humanity releasing their “My Vote My Choice” merchandise.
This could serve as a pivotal movement for the elections, with NYFW reeling in over 230,000 visitors and hosting more than 300 shows in the span of six days. Fashion designers have joined together to use fashion to drive change in the hopes of protecting abortion rights, immigration laws, and climate measures—something thousands of Americans are hoping for in the upcoming elections.
Learn more about how you can register to vote: