The rise of ‘fashion signalling’

An outfit can speak volumes, says Bethan Holt, as she reveals what this week’s power dressers are really saying

You might think that this was the week when Brexit came close to breaking point, Prince Louis looked as cute as you would expect in a christening gown and England dared to dream we might win the World Cup. And you’d be correct. But as well as all those things, we have seen a phenomenon we’re calling fashion signalling reach a new peak.

You will have heard of virtue signalling, whereby people post #reallyworthwhile messages about right-on causes on social media, or flash their fluorescent reusable cup in Pret, to conspicuously demonstrate their social conscience and environmental credentials.

So what is its relation, fashion signalling? At its most simple, it’s the art of saying the unsayable, or really driving your message home, via the medium of an outfit that speaks volumes. Because as much as holier-than-thou types like to claim that they just throw any old thing on in the morning

– or Melania

Trump’s director of communications insists that “it’s just a jacket” – what we wear really does matter. And the mattering is appreciably amplified when the eyes of the world are upon you.

Herewith, six of this week’s most powerful fashion signallers…