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Fashion v Fascism:
WHAT WILL YOU WEAR TO THE RUNWAY REVOLUTION?
"FASHION V. FASCISM" is a visually immersive evening of Fashion, Art, Music, and Political Theater featuring the works of Julie Wong and four other runway designers. Her 2026 collection The United States of Emergencies is a response to the politics of fear and hate which have taken hold in our country with an alarming level of brazenness — a time when our mere presence is seen as an existential threat and labeled as cause for a “state of emergency.”
(Inaugural Fashion v. Fashion event, Oakland Rotunda, Oakland, CA — October 3, 2026)
Julie Wong's 2026 collection The United States of Emergencies is a response to the politics of fear and hate which have taken hold in our country with an alarming level of brazenness — a time when our mere presence is seen as an existential threat and labeled as cause for a “state of emergency.”
On the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, democracy is under siege, and culture is one of our most potent defenses. Wong challenges us: "If 'fashion is the armor we wear to survive the reality of everyday life,' what will you wear to the Runway Revolution? RESIST."
Standing just over five feet tall, Wong sent four 12-foot tall goddesses celebrating the Native American, Latin@, African, and Asian cultures and communities down the runway declaring, "You will not erase us." Our cultures and communities predate the formation of the United States and are a vital part of its development and future.
As a backdrop for the goddesses, Wong created four huge 6x9 foot banners focused on issues impacting our communities, drawing attention to: "Stolen Lands, Stolen Sisters" / Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women; "The United States of Emergencies" / ICE Detention Centers, "I Can't Breathe" / Black Lives Matter; and "Not Your Model Minority" / Anti-AAPI Violence.
Fashion vs Fascism - Re-edited.mov"Fashion v. Fascism" is a visually immersive evening of Fashion, Art, Music, and Political Theater featuring the works of five runway designers: Erica Varize, La Muerte Maria, Rickie Lee, Tiana Charity, and Julie Wong who created her collection in collaboration with fellow designers, artists, mentors, muses, and models: Sequoyah Tiger Moon, Madame Vincent Destavia, Scott Morse, Sophia Brown, Gwendoline Dekon, Katiria Murguia, Serece Tascioni, Sonia Martinez, Scott Paton, Michelle Haner, Niris Lui, Bakari Santos, Rhonda Surles, Linda Posnick, Anasuya Isaacs, Alisha Rodgers, Angela Xin Hu, Lauryn Aquilina, and Ree Han.
The evening also featured a dramatic work by UC Berkeley Director of Poetry for the People, Aya de Leon, and music by the Mindeullae Project and DJ Emancipation.
The United States' oldest progressive think tank, the Institute for Policy Studies, organized the event with producers Linda Burnham and Christine Ahn, declaring, "At its best, fashion is about creativity, diversity, innovation, experimentation, and the free exchange of ideas. Fascism, by contrast, demands conformity and control, while suppressing dissent. Fashion v. Fascism, because Democracy should always be in style."
The inaugural event took place on October 3, 2026 in the historic Oakland Rotunda next to the Black Panther Party Museum with Angela Davis and Ericka Huggins in attendance. A documentary of the event is in development, and the organizers are developing a playbook for the event which they hope will become a template for other "Fashion v. Fascism" events in cities across the nation. Find out more at: FashionvFascism.org.
THE NATIVE AMERICAN GODDESS is a White Raven, a symbol of purity, healing, and oracular truth among Pacific Northwest tribes. She remembers "Stolen Lands, Stolen Sisters" (#MMIW). We are proud to stand with the Sogorea Te' Land Trust giving Shuumi for the rematriation of the land. Artists: Muse and Mentor: Sequoyah Tiger Moon, member of the Choctaw Tribe, and Madame Vincent Destavia, creator of the original White Raven, Scott Morse for this incarnation of the White Raven as animal spirit guide, and Miho Hiramatsu for the White Raven in human form, Julie Wong for Banner.
THE LATINA GODDESS representing the duality of life and death based on Xochiquetzal, the Flower Feather goddess and Itzpapalotl, the Obsidian Moth goddess, banishes a cowering ICE agent from the runway, thundering: "Chinga la Migra. Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos." We hold in our hearts the 270,000 of our people detained nationwide this year, and especially the 4,790 people detained by ICE in the Bay Area. Lead Artists: Katiria Murguia for the Goddess (and her fabulous green lace outfit) plus two attendants, and Julie Wong for the ICE Agent and Banner.
THE AFRICAN GODDESS, based on Yemojah, Mother of the Waters, who remembers each of the 12.5 million of her children who crossed the Atlantic into slavery, marked the occasion of the passing of Betye Saar this summer by walking the runway with a figure holding a green broom which transformed into a gun in an homage to "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima" and a banner commemorating George Floyd. Lead Artists: Bakari Santos for Goddess, Julie Wong for Homage to Betye Saar and Banner.
THE ASIAN GODDESS based on the gender fluid Kwan Yin, was accompanied by a proudly serene Trans Flag, a feral Yellow Porcelain Vase referencing Anne Anlin Cheng's concept of "Ornamentalism," and a subversive goddess tired of pouring out an "inexhaustible supply of the Elixir of Compassion." All three defiantly declaring to much applause: "We are not your China Doll. We are not your Porcelain Vase. We are Not Your Model Minority!" Lead Artist: Julie Wong for Goddess, Attendants, and Banner.
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