Fashion and Culture
Fashion is a way people express their personality and passions. Yet, Christians are notorious for having either bad taste in fashion or signing it off altogether. The word bland comes to mind for many people when they imagine “Christian clothing.” Christian fashion is considered boring, or Christians just conform to the culture around them, losing a chance of impact. However, this should not be the case. Fashion is a distinct and crucial part of culture. Everyone has to wear clothes, and what you wear sends a message. Clothing is important. But if Christians are sons and daughters of the creative Creator and King of the universe, we should be sending a message of immense imagination and royalty. Yet, also living like servants, as Jesus did. So our fashion should be humble, bold, and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ through our dress.
Fabrics of Faith
“Fabrics of Faith is a Christian based lifestyle brand that offers a wide variety of inspirational Christian Clothing & Apparel designed for men & women to glorify the Good News of Jesus Christ.” Fabrics of Faith seeks to change the way people think about Christian fashion. They explain on their website, “At Fabrics of Faith, we strive to design unique, stylish, spiritually captivating Men’s and Women’s Christian clothing and apparel. Our mission is a spiritual calling to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and His perfect sacrifice for sin to the ends of the Earth, as He has commanded.” Not only do they care about fashion, but they care about spreading the Good News and Word of God. This business uses people’s God-given creativity to give Christians a way to dress in a kingdom-minded way.
Christian Fashion
Fabrics of Faith can only do so much, though. Now, Christians have an opportunity to use the products that Fabrics of Faith design and incorporate them in their own fashion, to share the Gospel through the way they dress. This requires each person to think critically about how they dress, to reflect God’s infinite beauty and creativity, and do it all for the glory of God.
Being able to spread the word through something as simple as clothing just goes to show how simple it is. Culture today has disregarded Christian fashion as bland, but many smaller businesses are making a change to that, such as Fabrics of Faith. In doing so, more believers may be willing to wear them and help spread the word and their faith in a subtle way. This representation of redemptive entrepreneurship is a great way for business owners to do what they love and to fulfill their calling of spreading the Lord’s word and representing His work on the earth.
I never really thought of the “Christian” clothing concept, but it seems as though Christians get judged for what they wear, whether it is too bland/conservative or too scandalous. It’s really important to be able to spread the Word of God without being judged for what you wear. I think it’s really cool that they are designing modern/fashionable styles to wear that have a redemptive aspect to it.
I have never heard of this organization before and I will definitely be looking into it. I like how in the first paragraph you talked about sending messages of “imagination and royalty” and talked about both boldness and humility in the way we dress. When we think of Christian clothing, I think the first thought that comes to mind is modesty and humility. There is a way we can remain modest and humble in our clothing choices while also glorifying God in our creativity by stretching our imagination and being boldly royal. Thanks for giving me a new outlook on clothing!
Within the past couple of years, seemingly hundreds of new Christian apparel brands have popped up. Some of them look absolutely amazing with quality craftsmanship and some that are completely dry and uninteresting. I think that clothing is a gray area that relies on conviction for decisions. Personally, I do not think that Christians need to throw the gospel on their sleeve. The best way to share the Gospel is by living it and speaking it, not wearing it. Humans went century after century without any kind of customizable clothing. It is cool, but not for everyone.