Latest news with #classism
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Grenfell should make us all uncomfortable': Olaide Sadiq on making Grenfell: Uncovered
Over the course of 100 minutes, a new documentary on the Grenfell Tower disaster splices footage from the night and the subsequent public inquiry with testimony from survivors and the bereaved. And at its heart is a universal story: classism, the prioritisation of individual profit over public safety, and a lack of accountability for the decision-makers behind it. 'Grenfell might have looked like a unique thing that happened to a select group of people, but there's a universality in being the victim of profit over safety,' the film-maker Olaide Sadiq said. 'Decisions are made by people and in spaces that we're not privy to, which could come to affect us one day.' Many interviewees agree throughout the film, not least Theresa May, the prime minister at the time. 'There were a group of people whose very housing meant that they were in some sense second class to others,' she says. 'I hope that coming out of the Grenfell tragedy, we can erase that sense.' It's a thread weaved throughout Grenfell: Uncovered, which is released on Netflix this week – eight years after the fire that killed 72 people. Sadiq knew one of the victims of the fire, Khadija Saye, a photographer who had exhibited at the Venice Biennale, and who died alongside her mother. 'I remember it like it was yesterday. You always think this country has the resources and money to ensure things like that don't happen, Kensington and Chelsea is one of the richest boroughs in the world. But it did happen, with devastating consequences.' May is forthcoming in the film – she repeats her previous assertion that she will 'always regret' not meeting survivors of the blaze when she first visited the site. It was a surprisingly 'open' conversation for Sadiq, who said she was 'very clear' about the purposes of her documentary. 'May was on board with it. Regardless of how you feel about her as a former PM, it was brave of her to sit down and own what she wanted to own.' Survivors, the bereaved and the firefighters deployed on the night speak of their disbelief at how the fire could have spread so quickly – within mere minutes, because the cladding materials and insulation were so flammable. The documentary details the institutional failures at the London fire brigade and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It reminds us of David Cameron's wider government policy to relax laws and regulations, despite the risks this posed. It also refers to documents Sadiq and Netflix uncovered through a court process, including emails between staff members at Arconic, the multibillion-dollar US company that made the combustible cladding panels on the the tower. 'I always felt like I knew a lot about Grenfell, but I gained a newfound knowledge through making this, including just how avoidable it all was,' Sadiq said. 'There's so much my eyes are open to now, and I want other people to watch this and feel the same. The Grenfell story should make us all uncomfortable. And to this day it remains unresolved.' Last September, Sir Martin Moore-Bick's report on the causes of the fire highlighted the incompetence, dishonesty and greed that made the blaze possible. It said the key companies involved – Arconic, Celotex and Kingspan – had engaged in 'deliberate and sustained strategies to manipulate the testing processes, misrepresent test data and mislead the market'. The companies all issued statements to the effect that they did not accept the findings of the inquiry, and they also denied Sadiq's requests for comment in the new documentary. As did the former housing secretary and Tory peer Eric Pickles, who Moore-Bick said had failed to act on a coroner's 2013 recommendation to tighten fire safety regulations after a similar, fatal fire at another London council block. 'The survivors and bereaved want accountability, they want criminal prosecutions,' Sadiq said. 'They joke that they want the police to watch this. As do I. How has no one been arrested yet? The lack of justice is incredibly upsetting for everyone.' One bereaved person even showed Sadiq a photograph of how they received the remains of their loved one, an image the director said stayed in her head for a long time. 'You underestimate just how harrowing Grenfell was.' If there's anything Sadiq hopes will come from the film, it's the acceleration of 'real change', including the removal of dangerous cladding which remains on thousands of buildings across the UK. She added: 'I really hope that it helps survivors push for accountability. That it ignites conversations about our society, and the systemic issues that exist in this country.'
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Is ‘chic' political? In Trump 2.0, the word stands for conservative femininity
The idea of 'chic' is a fashion-world cliche. At best it is a know-it-when-you-see-it vibe, at worst a lazy adjective chosen by a writer to describe something that reminds her of Jane Birkin. It feels inoffensive enough. But now, 'chic' has become something of a lightning rod online – a shorthand for a type of conservative-coded aesthetic. It began last month, when a creator named Tara Langdale posted a video to her TikTok following of just over 30,000 in which she sipped from a long-stemmed wine glass and read off a list of things she finds 'incredibly UN-chic'. Wearing stacks of gold bracelets and a ballet-pink manicure, Langdale called out fashion choices like tattoos, Lululemon, visible panty lines, baggy denim and hunting camouflage as unchic, because, to her, these choices seemed 'cheap'. 'Remember, money talks, wealth whispers,' Langdale said. The not-entirely-serious video racked up views and sparked a conversation about how style preferences can carry political baggage. 'This is giving mean girl,' one user wrote in the comments. 'Classism isn't chic, hope this helps,' wrote another. 'Voting for Trump is unchic,' went a third. Many took particular issue with Langdale's anti-tattoo stance, which they saw as stuffy or downright rude. Such comments came with a strong dose of projection: Langdale, a lifestyle influencer, does not post about politics, sticking to fashion, makeup or motherhood. Nevertheless, many in the fashion TikTok community felt her commentary on 'chic' aligned with the feminine aesthetic of Trump 2.0, where the rigid and airbrushed beauty standards of Maga officials such as Karoline Leavitt, Kristi Noem and Nancy Mace are celebrated. 'Chic is starting to feel like a conservative dogwhistle that polices women's looks,' said Elysia Berman, a creative director and content creator based in New York who posted a takedown of Langdale's unchic list. 'What chic has come to mean to a lot of people is a very narrow definition of elegance. It's this thin, white, blonde woman who speaks softly and is basically Grace Kelly.' The ideal vision of womanhood from Donald Trump's first term was caked foundation and clumpy mascara, as seen on the likes of Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump. But the facial augmentation and overly sexy aesthetic tied to the president's inner circle – see 'Ice Barbie' Noem, who posts full glam videos while deporting immigrants – does not necessarily match that of the president's more social media savvy supporters, many of whom are now opting for a sleeker presentation. Momfluencers and tradwives celebrate RFK Jr's 'Make America Healthy Again' policies while wearing breezy milkmaid dresses. Evie Magazine, a politically conservative version of Cosmo, appropriates the trending visuals of feminist magazines with headlines that decry body positivity and promote vaccine skepticism. As New York Magazine writer Brock Colyar described young Republicans at a post-election night party: 'Many are hot enough to be extras in the upcoming American Psycho remake.' The word 'chic' has always been tied to a French, or francophile, sense of femininity, usually in reference to a woman who subscribes to Vogue and innately understands how to look good. But those turning it into a dirty word on TikTok, taking note of how it aligns with a changing conservative aesthetic, see it as having a more prescriptive, even oppressive, meaning for women's fashion. Suzanne Lambert, a DC-based comedian whose 'conservative girl' mock makeup tutorials went viral earlier this year, described the right's obsession with all things ultra-feminine as 'just this soulless, boring kind of fashion'. 'Republicans are more focused on assimilating than we are on the left, so it makes sense that they all end up looking the same,' Lambert said. Ultimately, anyone who's attempting to look chic – or wealthy – is probably neither of those things. Those TikTok imitators who equate chicness with pearls and a Leavitt-esque tweed shift dress? 'They think it's giving Reagan, but it's really giving Shein,' said Lambert. (Ironically, some of the unchic pieces on Langdale's list – Lululemon leggings, Golden Goose sneakers, a Louis Vuitton carryall bag – come with hefty price tags and could connote liberal elitism.) In an email, Langdale said that her definition of chic had nothing to do with politics. 'Chic by definition means simplicity and timelessness,' she wrote. 'Reading a neutral palette as 'conservative' conflates style choice with ideology. Conservatism as a moral or political stance varies widely across cultures and religious communities, so tagging a fitting tank top and trousers as 'Republican' is lazy stereotyping.' Langdale called chic 'this year's version' of 'old money' dressing, a TikTok trend that prioritized subdued, luxury items over the loud, brash and individualistic. 'You can own every item on my unchic list and still be considered chic,' she wrote. 'Labeling an item chic or unchic speaks only to its aesthetic, not a person's style or worth. The conversation around chic is ongoing. Other creators, inspired by Langdale's video, posted about what they considered chic in their niches. A medical student said it is 'incredibly chic' to color coordinate scrubs with personal accessories; an office worker considered not letting colleagues in on their personal lives the height of chicness. Kat Brown, a 25-year-old New Yorker who works in fashion PR, made a video talking about how it's 'not chic' to be overly trendy, with chicness coming from a more sustainable wardrobe. 'Smart consumption is chic,' Brown said. 'Chicness is more reflective of your resourcefulness and creativity, rather than any sort of socioeconomic element.' For all the angst on chic-Tok, true insiders probably aren't paying much attention. Fashion editors often make lists of words they consider so dull and unspecific that they prohibit writers from using them in copy; 'chic' is usually right at the top. And when a word like chic is so bland to begin with, who cares if its wielded as an insult? As a British couturier played by Daniel Day-Lewis in the 2017 period drama Phantom Thread bemoaned of 'chic': 'That filthy little word. Whoever invented that ought to be spanked in public. I don't even know what that word means.'
