T Magazine's Fluffy, Furry Ancestral Creatures by Toby Coulson with Cherokee Jack and Briana Michelle
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Modern-day nomads are slowing down, honoring traditions and the roots of our culture. This T Magazine fall 2021 feature on ‘Winter’s Fluffiest and Furriest Outwear’ highlights not only whimsical textures in which we are one with furry creatures in an animistic, psychological relationship.
Presented by models like Briana Michelle and Cherokee Jack with close, ancestral ties to the land, we are all invited to pay our respects to cultures and a biosystem eons older than the prevailing patriarchal, white-man’s so-called Christian vision of dominance over the the earth and its peoples.
AOC isn’t suggesting that all references to indigenous cultures belong to ‘the good guys’.
Consider the Arizona man Jacob Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, who led an insurrection against the US Capitol on January 6. We must not be naive about men wearing big, furry hats with horns. They can kill you.
The majority of humans who are inspired by photographer Toby Coulson’s [IG] images of large, furry fashion creatures styled by Ian Bradley in Balenciaga, Canali, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, J.W. Anderson, Givenchy, Hermes, Marni, Prada, Valentino and more embrace values centered around biomorphism.
The cultural trend line is to show respect to ancient cultures and Mother Earth in our fashion choices. This reality begs the question — what are the sustainability credentials of these T Magazine fashion choices? I don’t believe either Stella McCartney or Gabriela Hearst through her eponymous collection or Chloe are represented in the T Magazine fashion story.
Besides not being animal fur [AOC assumes] and celebrating talents/models Briana Michelle and Cherokee Jack, do any of these furry fashion creatures carry any sustainable credentials? We don’t know the answer, but the question should be asked.
Being a responsible fashion consumer carries a lot of weight on our shoulders these days. At the risk of being a nag, AOC will ask the questions.
As for Cherokee Jack, his recent Richard Phibbs fashion story gave me the opportunity for a very deep and painful reflection on the treatment of America’s indigenous peoples at the hands of white settlers.
Like I wrote a play for my school in sixth grade on statehood for Minnesota and have no recollection if I shared the story of the Mankato hangings.
Just seeing Cherokee Jack again in these T Style images triggers that July 2021 reflection and its awareness that the American story has never been fully told by fashion media or any other media except PBS.
AOC IS deeply committed to changing that narrative at every fork in the road where our words have an opportunity to resonate. And we WILL be a nag — a sexy nag, but still a nag. Oh well, wearing one’s identity and values is always difficult in our modern day world. ~ Anne
