What Does Cultural Appropriation

High fashion is often considered a pretentious and petty industry, the driver of materialism and body image issues. And while these side effects of the industry may very well be true, what most people look past is the creative aspect of fashion. Fashion designers regard themselves as artists and their material cloth, leather, fur, sequins, and countless other items. Like all art, fashion is highly scrutinized by the public for being too expensive, unrealistic, and overdone. Perhaps the most repeated criticism faced by high fashion brands such as Marc Jacobs, Valentino, Dquared2, Givenchy, and Dolce Gabbana are the critiques of cultural appropriation. Accusations of cultural appropriation are prevalent at almost every Fashion Week, Vogue, or …show more content…
I will do this by first defining cultural appropriation in a general sense, then providing insight into two academic discussions on the relationship of cultural appropriation with the arts and morality. Next I will apply the academic discussions of cultural appropriation to real world examples of cultural appropriation in high fashion to determine if the use of another culture is used appropriately. From this basis, I will determine when it is and is not acceptable to appropriation cultural elements in the high fashion industry. Based on my findings I will argue cultural appropriation in high fashion is morally just when the message, it creates accurately represents the borrowed culture at …show more content…
One of the foremost debates in this conversation is whether or not a cultural outsider can authentically replicate a cultural style. James O. Young contributes to this perspective in his article “Art, authenticity, and appropriation”. In this article, Young dissembles a claim he calls the cultural experience argument. This argument carries value as it argues an artist cannot authentically use a cultural style, unless they are part of the given culture (“Art” 457). I initially agreed with the cultural experience argument, until I analyzed Young’s counterclaim. Young states “artists who engage in cultural appropriation may produce works of considerable aesthetic merit” (“Art” 456). However, Young explains, in order to do so an outside artist, like any artist, must be properly trained in their medium and learn about the techniques, materials, and the significance of cultural symbols (“Art” 462). The conditions Young sets forth are rational for any artist, regardless of their culture, as any art requires some level of