A coin always has two sides, just like a brand. The voice of the director and the voice of the brand. We buy into the ideas of a brand to convey a message about ourselves, to be perceived as a certain type of person. Each garment symbolizes what we think, what we support not through slogans that typically tell the onlooker but through the brands we chose to portray. But what happens when the brands we trust and believe in are actual the enemy? 

 

Dolce & Gabbana made a very public statement branding IVF children as synthetic, offending the majority of the public, brands are typically run by the public opinion, it acts as an independent force and can lift a company to its highest or destroy the brand.

Elton John started the hashtag #BoycottDolceGabbana vowing never to wear the brand again, Forcing Stefano Gabbana to admit sales were affected by the boycott. There is no doubt they tried to mend their tarnished image as their fall 2015 campaign was all about celebrating families.

 

New Balance supporting Donald Trump branded as “the official shoes of white people” to Ivy Park running sweatshops, brands will forever be made and destroyed by the public. Once sales fall they retract their statements.

 

Should the brand and the person be separated, self-thought vs sales? In large corporations there is no competition between the two. But we as consumers do have a choice. Do we shut them out of our lives and make a personal stand? Or do we carry on as usual and brush it under the rug as something that just happens?Can one person really make a difference?