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A person lies face down on a grey pavement, their body almost entirely covered in cardboard scraps and rubbish. They wear a blue and white zig-zag patterned dress and silver high heels, with a yellow handbag resting beside them.

Yolanda Dominguez work is a hard-hitting plea for an ethical approach to fashion

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Date
31 May 2013

Spanish artist Yolanda Domingues is not afraid to take on serious social issues with her work, particularly through her “livings” which confront people in the street. You may remember we featured her Poses project a couple of years ago in which she had women recreate the ludicrous poses favoured by fashion magazines in everyday situations.

Her latest piece Fashion Victims took place last week in Madrid’s Gran Via shopping street. It was a response to the horrific accident in Bangladesh where more than 1,000 textile workers, including many women and children, were killed when their workshops collapsed last month.

Yolanda had women placed under rubble and various fashion accessories in what she described as “an appeal for responsible production and consumption, both for people and the planet.”

“Brands, designers, bloggers, media,” she said, “the fashion world cannot dodge the facts and look the other way. We are all responsible for this reality.”

Hard-hitting and thought-provoking, this is Yolanda at her very best and once again the behaviour of the people who encounter her work adds an interesting dimension.

A sculpture of a human figure made from cardboard, scrap paper and rubbish lies on a city pavement. A crowd of people stand in a semi-circle around the work, watching and taking photographs.
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Yolanda Dominguez: Fashion Victims

A pair of orange high-heeled sandals poke out from under a pile of cardboard and rubble. The person wearing them lies flat on a grey concrete floor, surrounded by debris and a crumpled white plastic bag.
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Yolanda Dominguez: Fashion Victims

A person lies on a city pavement, their body covered by a white ceramic toilet. A passer-by leans over to look closer as other people walk past.
Above

Yolanda Dominguez: Fashion Victims

A person’s legs extend from a pile of rubble and debris on a paved street. They wear silver high-heeled shoes and a blue and white chevron-patterned garment.
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Yolanda Dominguez: Fashion Victims

A group of people walk along a city pavement, passing a shop with a chef figure standing in the doorway. In the foreground, a sculpture of a fallen person lies on the ground, appearing to be made of crumpled brown paper.
Above

Yolanda Dominguez: Fashion Victims

A person lies face down on a grey pavement, partially covered by torn cardboard and rubble. A bright yellow handbag sits on the ground beside them.
Above

Yolanda Dominguez: Fashion Victims

People walk past a pile of rubble and debris on a city pavement. In the background, a Zara storefront window displays a white mannequin.
Above

Yolanda Dominguez: Fashion Victims

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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