As someone who knows fashion, I’m appalled by the catwalk

The tyranny of fashion endured by our women is as heavy-handed as forcing Islamic women to don the burqa.

A model walks the runway as part of Paris Fashion Week. Picture: Getty

There is much talk about fascism in these troubled times. But today, with Paris Fashion Week in full swing, I wish to focus on “fashism” – the word I’ve coined to describe the fascism of fashion. Where to begin, though?

Australia’s Mode magazine was a vague attempt to challenge the dominance and authority of Vogue Australia. Vogue, Mode ... like Woman’s Day versus the Women’s Weekly, the similarity went beyond the names. And each year as a publicity stunt, Mode announced its Worst Dressed Man in Australia award. I won it. Not just once or twice, but (drum roll) thrice. Of all the awards, honours and gongs I’ve got in a long life, this was – is – the one I most treasure. Forget your Orders of Australia – the OAMs, AMs, AOs. There are oodles of those. But only one WDMIA.

Trouble is, Mode needed to move me on. So they invented an Order of Infamy, and promoted me to its pantheon – leaving the pedestal empty for a new WDMIA. And I passed my torch to Premier Don Dunstan, he of the notorious pink shorts.

South Australian Premier Donald (Don) Allan Dunstan wearing pink shorts in 1972.

Given this history, my views on fashion carry some weight. And I’ve coined the word fashism to describe the tyranny of fashion endured by our women, which is as heavy-handed as forcing Islamic women to don the burqa.

I’m appalled by the fashism of the catwalk, as young models are forced to goose-step its length by predominantly male dictators. The whole thing reeks of misogyny. These poor kids often look emaciated; eating disorders are par for the course in the fashion industry.

A bit like the racecourse, perhaps? Though racehorses and greyhounds are treated more kindly than some of these miserable models. Even supermodels, the thoroughbreds of fashism, risk their long-term health for the big fashion/fashism houses. How they manage to make it down the catwalk without fainting from hunger remains a mystery.

And it doesn’t stop on the catwalk. The eating disorders that have swept the western world are symptomatic of fashism’s fanaticism. An aphorism from the ’60s said the West spends more on dieting than the East spends on food. You can see the results on the streets. Then add in the Botox phenomenon that freezes faces, making women into walking mummies. The whole world seems intent on “fat shaming”, with every ounce above the skeletal deemed fat. Being overweight isn’t just unhealthy; it’s considered sinful. Everything’s low-cal, sugar-free. Healthy eating? Better not to eat all. It has become so pathological that some lunatics claim to be able to live on air, with only a few sips of water. (Some might remember a 60 Minutes story on this alleged ability. You will be shocked to learn it was found to be fraudulent, with the program’s air-eating advocates raiding the minibar.)

So forget your honorary doctorates, like the one Gina Rinehart is using as she joins the ranks of the fashionistas via her recent purchase of Driza-Bone - and aim to be the WDMIA, or the WDWIA. Surely this issue transcends gender.

Sadly, Mode gave no actual physical award for my three WDMIAs. No trophies for the mantlepiece. Yet I will treasure these awards forever as I mince down the catwalk of life.