Susana Saulquin, the great Argentine sociologist of fashion, hand in hand with Infobae: "Men and women will no longer wear the cliché of the feminine or masculine" masculine
The cliché of the feminine and masculine will disappear. Saulquin was a true forward in understanding fashion as an object of study. (Getty)
- How is that relationship of fashion with the construction of the concept "being a person" beyond gender?
- Formerly, in the pre-industrial stage, there was a being, people were; then it was the importance of having, you had to have. In the nineteenth century there was a multiplication of objects that had to boost consumption, and the being ceased to occupy a transcendent place. From that moment on, in the middle of the 20th century, the importance of the view, the visual culture, also began. You had to be young or look it; you had to have money or look like you had. Appearances were totally deceptive. Appearances comes from pretending, but I take it in the sense of how you show yourself to the other. Also with appearances you can show authenticity. So now that we go from having and looking, we can slowly go affirming our being to have our identity. It does not matter if you're a man or a woman, it's important to be a person. "
"A colleague told me that I could not comment on political issues 'because I was too well dressed'. The prejudice was very big. I was the frivolous one. They could not stand it "
-What is coming?
-Gender equality: neither machismo, nor hembrismo. The men have been left behind, they will not go forward neither them nor the women. They are going to get on par and the first symptom will be men and women earning the same. It will arrive, it will arrive.
-What is your reading of the incorporation of models of real bodies to the catwalks and brands that bet on collections for people with disabilities and diversity in their campaigns?
-All that is very strong. It's the new thing, it's the individualism, it's showing the individualities. Each time is advancing more individuality and less the massive, the total. The advancement with the LGBT collective is extremely important and is seen in dress, in the ways of acting, now with more freedom.
-But there is a pending account with the real bodies, there are twelve laws in force in Argentina and even then it is difficult to find clothes for any type of body.
-I said it from the beginning of this debate: the law of sizes is nonsense. They are changes that take time and are not achieved with a law. For me what falls is the mass, then in this question the search does not go by the side of a law that requires all locals to make garments of all sizes. It is necessary to discuss among all the actors involved, explain, conceptualize and, fundamentally, that the State think and implement public policies. With the theme of this law something similar happens to what we saw in football these days: the lack of union, each one goes by his side, all separated. Consensuses are very difficult. And to all this, the complicated economic context in which the garments are expensive is added: 45% of the costs correspond to manufacturing, design, marketing and profitability; the rest, 55%, are taxes, rents and other expenses outside of production.
"Now the forecasters are social networks, through celebrities and influencers."
-What changes are coming in the textile world in terms of production, costs, environmental impact and others?
- Industry 4.0 is coming, the new industrial paradigm: integrated manufacturing, augmented reality, collaborative robotics, artificial intelligence, the analysis of data from big data, interactive design, new materials, biotechnology, everything so that the design comes out faster and the logistics of retail and management in the supply chain become efficient. At the same time there is a strong ambivalence between the digital and the artisanal. All this has arrived. It's complicated. There will be a great transformation of the textile industry.
