Books

Celebrating Fashion and Women’s successes in “From Docs to Dior: Around the World in 100 Women

Ladies all over the world (or better, for those reading this article, can’t blame the ambition) pay attention to this extremely interesting and important project.

First of all, what do you imagine if you think about feminist movement? The general answer will probably associate it with the past, with the glorious fight of the 60s and the 70s. As if it is something not necessary anymore, as if feminists have already achieved all the goals necessary for gender equality and as if the stereotype of the feminist doesn’t really fit in the cool side of an aesthetic culture and society. Wrong!

Not only there is still a lot of work to do, but, outside there, plenty of talented women conscious are of that. They invest their efforts in the construction of something, in bettering other women lives and in doing so they contradict the terrible stereotype of the ugly, acid and neglected witch.

Jacqueline Stein is working in order to give credit to these fabulous women in a collection of anecdotes, interviews and photography of 100 distinguished women all over the world. Diversity in age, nationality and profession will provide a heterogeneous landscape in this soon-to-be-published “From Docs to Dior: Around the World in 100 Women”.

From Docs to Dior

From Docs to Dior

This book is just one of the project carried on by Jacqueline. A wider plan, called Feminist in Fashion, is explained directly in her words.

“‘Feminists in Fashion’ is a concept born out of years of me fielding comments such as “you don’t look like a feminist” or “you don’t act like a feminist”, to which I have always responded, “What does a feminist look and act like?” My reality is that I have, from a very young age, harboured a passion for fashion and style. I love my ever-expanding shoe and jewellery collection, I love piecing together outfits, I’ll regularly do my makeup and hair, and I won’t ever apologize for any of it. I engage with fashion and style because I enjoy it and it makes me feel good about myself.

That being said, I have always dedicated myself to women and girls’ issues. You know that saying, “the professional is personal”? Without question, my professional is personal. I focus on women’s issues in my professional life because I can relate in my personal life. Because I am a woman. Because I love women. And because we need women – healthy, focused, and strong women – to harvest positive changes in our world.

Speaking of which, I firmly believe that my international travels, where I have been afforded the opportunity to meet many inspiring and forward-thinking women, have influenced my work and, more importantly, have reaffirmed the fact that ‘feminism’ and ‘fashion’ do, in fact, go hand-in-hand. The women I’ve connected with are beautiful from the inside out. They have inspired me, not only by their commitment to their causes but also by their radiant personal styles. Through my work, I want to celebrate every aspect of these women. I’m coming at this from a ‘holistic’ angle”.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way” and “I can and I will”. These two mottos helped Jacqueline in pursuing her dreams and ambitions. Working student during her undergraduate in Media, Information and Technoculture, from Western University in Canada, she has also been active participant of the Violence Against Women Day (V-Day) Campaign. She travelled all around the world, volunteering in Europe, Africa, and South America. Always fascinated by fashion, while she is now pursuing her Master’s Degree in International Development and Communications in London, England, she is now focusing as well on the development of this amazing project: From Docs to Dior: Around the World in 100 Women.

As she explains in an interview: it “is being developed as a way to celebrate the significant accomplishments of women around the world who are the modern-day diverse ‘faces’ of feminism. The significance of the number ‘100’ is in honour of the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day, which took place in 2011.

As women, collectively, one of our greatest challenges is both owning and finding significance in the work that we do. Women globally take on so much on both a small and large scale, and yet we’re terrified of ‘tooting’ our own horns. Men will put themselves out there and say, “Look at me! Look at the great work I’m doing!” but women often fail to see and publicly acknowledge the value of their outputs. It’s sad, really, and enough is enough.

Because I work in development, I understand the adversities and battles that women endure around the world, both in my own backyard and further afield. We are very focused on talking about and eradicating these issues – as we should be. That being said, a lot of the focus remains on the hardships. I think it’s high time that we rejoice in the successes, as well!

Yes, women are suffering and they are constantly faced with injustices that relegate them to ‘second-class’ or even ‘no-class’ status, but they are also succeeding in doing inspiring, uplifting, and change-evoking work, and this is equally as newsworthy as what we’ve traditionally been exposed to in the media.

Through ‘Docs to Dior’, we are essentially taking a glass-as-half-empty, flipping it on its head, and looking at the same glass with a ‘half-full’ lens, acknowledging the negative but, in this instance, choosing to focus on the positive”.

At the moment Jacqueline has received a huge number of application for the book, from all over the world. Women “are incredibly excited about the project,” she says, “and are either nominating themselves or others to partake”.

The project is surely ambitious and very important. At the moment Jacqueline is working to assemble a team that will work in order to read over the applications and help with all the organizational behind-the-scenes work. The project also needs talented female photographers that are willing to portrait the women featured in the book and transcribers for the editing of the interviews.

It feels good to know there are so many talented women around the world: surely 100 is just a small sample!

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