No Logo, No Job, No Garment 

A case study of deindustrialization and its contribution to the disappearance of the garment from the fashion campaign 

In Naomi Klein’s seminal book ‘No Logo’, she dedicates a chapter to the outsourcing of manufacturing that occurred in late 20th century. The chapter, titled ‘No Jobs – The Discarded Factory’, brings to light the separation between branding  which remained in the West to production which moved East. 

At the same time, Richard Avedon, the legendary fashion photographer, completed his landmark photography project, ‘In the American West’. The project, which consisted of a series of portraits – those of drifters, miners, cowboys and factory workers - put in the spotlight those that were left behind by overwhelming deindustrialization that Klein described.

The two works seem to be in tense dialogue with one another.

With the closure of factories and erosion of product manufacturing in the fashion industry, the garment has all but disappeared from the campaign and story of the brand.

No Logo, No Job, No Garment