Balenciaga, Chanel or even APC... With the revival of 90s and 2000s fashion, brands are proudly displayed on t-shirts, shirts, and mini bags. And when the brand name is not in the middle of the garment, the logo is sewn from one side to the other. Now, there's no need to ask if it's "branded?" anymore, but for some, true elegance would lie in the idea of not needing to demonstrate the vulgar prices of the clothes we wear on our backs.
In 1999, Naomi Klein's activist book No Logo was published, becoming a reference for alter-globalism, opposing liberalism and economic globalization. She criticizes the "branding" that emerged in the United States in the mid-20th century, highlighting commercial logos of different companies, made possible through earlier industrial mass production. Campbell's Soup of the 20th century and today's Balmain t-shirt, same battle?
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To display a brand is to embody a certain class, affirm one's value, belong to a world. In a society where affordable fast fashion imitates the designs of high-end brands so well that anyone can get their hands on a knockoff Birkin bag from Hermès, Chloé sunglasses, or a Burberry trench coat, we need to find an alternative way to show... that we don't belong to that class after all. It's like a race for visibility and an ego boost; wearing a logo is proof of authenticity, even if it means becoming a walking billboard.
Branding = branling?
But for some, true elegance lies in the absence of a logo. It's a way, like Naomi Klein, to not succumb to liberalism (despite still spending a fortune on clothing), to advertise a brand that doesn't need it, and to avoid vulgarity... While Gucci, Moschino, Kenzo, Supreme, and Louis Vuitton leave their mark,Always more with their clothes and accessories, Abercrombie & Fitch reduced its logo until it disappeared on some models. Same thing with Paco Rabanne or Stella McCartney: the visible becomes ostentatious, and we don't need that. The idea even inspires designers like Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, who, brimming with irony, plays with codes and modifies existing brand logos, transforming Marlboro into marathon, among others.
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They are not the only ones to think so, since on YouTube there are plenty of tutorials to learn how to de-logo your sweater. With the help of a cutter and an absorbent patch, it only takes a few minutes to remove the embroidered or printed logo or name of a brand from a garment without any damage. Goodbye, green crocodile, upside-down comma, or polo player, we now move on to the no logo trend. As long as you have previously purchased a branded piece, of course. Nonconformism, discreetness or simply being a consumer full of contradictions? It doesn't matter, there will always be people trying to stand out... without ever truly succeeding.