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Model protested Gucci's runway show for their use of Straitjackets

"Mental health is not fashion". - by Bianca Mastroianni
  • 25 Sep 2019

Gucci just had its SS20 runway show at Milan Fashion Week, and it's made headlines... but probably not for the reason Gucci wanted thanks to runway model Ayesha Tan-Jones.

The model held a peaceful protest while walking the show, with their hands in the air: "Mental health is not fashion" written on their palms.

The model felt the need to do so because the clothing line was glamourising what was once worn for mental patients when mental illness wasn't understood the way it is today. Inside the show was set up like a hospital waiting room as well.

Model protested Gucci's runway show for their use of Straitjackets

“As an artist and model who has experienced my own struggles with mental health, as well as (having) family members and loved ones who have been affected by depression, anxiety, bipolar, and schizophrenia, it is hurtful and insensitive for a major fashion house such as Gucci to use this imagery as a concept for a fleeting fashion moment,” they wrote after the show on Instagram.

ayeshatanjones View Profile
16.5k likes - View Post on Instagram
Hello ✨ I just want to say Thank You for all the support so many of you have given me since I lifted my hands in peaceful protest on the Gucci Runway show yesterday 💖 I feel very blessed to be surrounded by supportive comrades, and to know that there are so many people sharing support online for this action ✊🏽 I want to use this opportunity to remind people that this sort of bravery, is only a simple gesture compared to the bravery that people with mental health issues show everyday. To have the bravery to get out of bed, to greet the day, and to live their lives is an act of strength, and I want to thank you for being here and being YOU ! ☀️ The support people have shown to my act is more than I could imagine, so I only trust that we will share this same support to our friends, siblings, loved ones, acquaintances, internet friends or even strangers, who might be going through tough times with their Mental Health. Showing up for them may come in many forms, check in via text or DM, listen to them with patience and without judgement, offer a helping hand with household tasks like food shop, cooking or cleaning, regularly remind them how amazing and strong they are, but also that is okay feel the feels too, Lets show up for people with mental health and help end the stigma together !🌻 Many of the other Gucci models who were in the show felt just as strongly as I did about this depiction of straightjackets, and without their support I would not have had the courage to walk out and peacefully protest. Some have chosen to donate a portion their fee, and I 100% of mine, to mental health charities, who are doing amazing work for people today! Below are tags to some amazing charities that I encourage, if you have the resources and capacity to, please donate in any way you can, and in my linktree ( in bio ) is a google doc to websites for more charities ! <3 Also, please comment any other Mental Health organisations globally you would like to support and share, as my resources are UK/US based currently 💫 blessings, love & rage - Ayesha / YaYa 🌈 ✨ ✨ ✨ @projectlets @mindcharity @mermaidsgender @qtpocmentalhealth @stonewalluk @switchboardlgbt @lgbtswitchboard @papyrus_uk

“Straight Jackets,” they continued, “are a symbol of a cruel time in medicine when mental illness was not understood, and people’s rights and liberties were taken away from them, while they were abused and tortured in the institution.”

Gucci has defended the straitjackets, claiming they were using them for story telling purposes.

“Uniforms, utilitarian clothes, normative dress, including straitjackets, were included in the #GucciSS20 fashion show as the most extreme version of a uniform dictated by society and those who control it. These clothes were a statement for the fashion show and will not be sold. @alessandro_michele designed these blank-styled clothes to represent how through fashion, power is exercised over life, to eliminate self-expression. This power prescribes social norms, classifying and curbing identity.”

gucci View Profile
147.5k likes - View Post on Instagram
Uniforms, utilitarian clothes, normative dress, including straitjackets, were included in the #GucciSS20 fashion show as the most extreme version of a uniform dictated by society and those who control it. These clothes were a statement for the fashion show and will not be sold. @alessandro_michele designed these blank-styled clothes to represent how through fashion, power is exercised over life, to eliminate self-expression. This power prescribes social norms, classifying and curbing identity. The Creative Director's antidote is seen in the Gucci Spring Summer 2020 lineup of 89 looks, he has designed a collection that conveys fashion as a way to allow people to walk through fields of possibilities, cultivate beauty, make diversity sacrosanct and celebrate the self in expression and identity. #AlessandroMichele

While one can appreciate the message the creative industry may be trying to send with using themes of mental illness for fashion, it's important to remember that these are not people suffering from mental illnesses that are telling the story.

It's a major fashion house profiting from it. The models can remove those Straitjackets after the show and go about their day, a luxury a lot of people didn't once have in relation to those uniforms.

Tan-Jones has since donated their earnings mental health charities.

Need help? Call Lifeline on 131 114, visit www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/get-help-home, or call beyondblue on 1300 224 636.

If you would like to talk to someone about mental health, you can call the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or Headspace on 1800 650 890.

WATCH: R U OK Day: Home And Away stars talk mental health

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Bianca Mastroianni
Bianca Mastroianni
Deputy Digital Content Manager | Entertainment & Family

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