Austria funds $461,000 study on far-right fashion

The Austrian government has funded a three-year study titled ‘Fashion and Right-Wing Extremism’ costing approximately $461,000. Led by researcher Elke Gaugele at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, the project examines clothing styles associated with far-right groups from 1989 to the present, including neo-Nazi fashion, combat boots, and ‘tradwife’ aesthetics.

The study, funded by the Austrian Science Fund, investigated how groups like the Austrian Identitarian movement use clothing to project specific identities, such as a ‘hipster look’ intended to appear smart and hip. However, the research noted that because far-right styles often adopt designs from other social segments, clothing styles across the political spectrum have become increasingly similar. The report concluded that ‘almost any style could be considered ‘far-right’ if it is worn by people the study authors consider right-wing.’