Fashion and Labor: The Connection between Fashion and the Labor Movement

Written By Bryesen Cooper

Photographed By Braeden Cooper

Modeled By Billie Collins, Chris Pajda, Chloe Holt, & Bryesen Cooper 

The first thing most people think about when they hear the word “fashion” isn’t labor unions. Likewise, when people hear about labor unions, they normally don’t think about fashion. Yet, both of these are inextricably connected through one major source: working class people. An interview I conducted with Justine Medina, a Cuban American woman, activist, and rank and file union organizer for the Amazon Labor Union at the JFK8 Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island, New York helped clarify what they do.

 “A labor union is an organization of workers. They’re formed in and across workplaces by workers to advocate for their rights at the workplace, such as proper treatment and fair wages, but can and often do fight for wide and expansive fair treatment for workers,” said Medina. 

 So how do labor unions tie into the fashion industry?Some of the oldest and most powerful workers organizations in US history have been the textile and garment unions, from the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) to the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) and many more. These organizations, representing mostly women and immigrants, have been responsible for factory legislation, safety laws, fair labor practice laws, and labor laws for women and children, all done through the power of strikes and organizing. Though these unions no longer exist, the representation of garment and fashion workers can be found with unions such as Workers United, Unite Here, and others.  

“When most successful, labor unions are often militant and rank and file led. They support other workers across unions, and work together in alliance to struggle to change other political issues as well. Labor unions are key to ultimately changing society because they struggle against oppression at the sight of capitalist production, which drives our society…unions and unionists have always played an indisputable role in civil rights, human rights, and socialist revolutionary politics everywhere you find these struggles globally,” says Medina.

 Labor unions are, of course, still in fashion, and it’s looking like they’re going to be in next season as well. When turning on the news or checking social media, it’s hard not to notice the increase of striking workers all around the country. Whether it’s SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America, Starbucks Workers United, the 340,000 strong UPS Teamsters doing practice pickets, or the 140,000 United Auto Workers hitting the picket line, it’s all of organized labor that is utilizing fashion to advance their goals. When looking at these striking workers, you’ll see that matching shirts, jackets, hats, and pins promoting their workers organization are front and center, and that’s on purpose. 

“Often, union shirts and buttons are worn strategically during a specific union campaign, such as when they are building towards a strike; workers and organizers will coordinate all of the union members in the workplace to wear the same shirt in solidarity on a certain day, to both signal a threat to the company (to try to force demands), and show each other that the union support is strong,” says Medina.

Union wear has even spiked in trendiness, as Gen-Z is more pro-union than any other generation, with unions having an average approval rating of 64.3%, compared to millennials at 60.5%, Gen-X at 57.8%, and 57.2% for Baby Boomers. The use of union clothing in recent trends has grown. As designer wear becomes increasingly unaffordable, unions and union-made clothing are catching people’s eyes. It certainly isn’t rare to see someone online or in person rocking a union hat or bomber jacket! 

Recent uses of union and union-made clothing have fallen in the categories of streetwear and vintage wear. Pair a vintage AFL-CIO SAG-AFTRA shirt and cargo pants, maybe throw a Teamsters hat in there as well. Or, rock a United Auto-Workers jacket with one of the seemingly endless amounts of union enamel pins! Not into streetwear? Try checking out the vintage ILGWU dresses and jackets online to see if they fit your style.

Though a large number of clothing brands have moved their jobs overseas to break up unions and exploit cheap, unprotected labor, there are still several ways you can support unions and union-made clothing. Some union-made clothing brands include Justice Clothing, Demoulin Apparel, Kenneth Gordon, Leather Coats, Sterling Wear, Union Shirts Supply, Ethix Supply, and even a portion of Carhartt’s workers is organized under the UFCW union, among other unionized fashion and apparel brands. So go out and rep your fellow workers and do it with style!