Reflective writing of lecture 11 – “Representation” (1)

The lecture about Representation in week 2 was the most memorable and relatable lecture for me. It was very well said, there was a lot of information, and there were a lot of things that I could relate to and things that I resonated with. Some of the topics in the presentation included what diversity is, why it’s necessary and what it can do for fashion. For so long, the fashion industry has only chosen certain people to represent it, and fashion fits all shapes and sizes and is involved in so many different kinds of people’s lives. Being a person of color, I think it’s really important to include representation and diversity in everything that happens in the fashion industry because you don’t want to make an individual feel like they don’t fit in a certain place when fashion is meant to be for everyone. Thankfully, fashion is progressing in the amount of representation that they have, but it can always be improved and there could always be more because there are still some people that may feel like they can’t see themselves reflected in the industry yet.

Teleica mentioned in her presentation that there are certain types of minorities that are put over others which I also resonated with. There was a slide about lighter-skinned people with longer or looser curls that are favored by society and I’ve seen that with my own eyes. I’m a bit lighter than most of my darker-skinned family members and I can see the prejudice towards them more than myself and that is heavily reflected in not only the fashion industry and entertainment, but the world in general. There are also a lot of racially insensitive clothing pieces and accessories being created by big fashion houses because they “don’t know any better”, but in 2020 they should know better. It should be common sense to know that certain people might get offended by things if you don’t have any research to back it and you don’t credit the inspiration that it comes from. This lecture has shaped my thinking on how fashion can create better lives by reminding me that although there is representation in fashion there is not enough, and there is more room for more people to feel included moving forward and that brands are capable of not offending people and their cultures with what they produce.