BETTER LIVES BLOG 1
- Blog1 :Reflections on one or more of the Better Lives lectures and how they have influenced your thinking
In the lecture by Anna Fitzpatrick, I have learned about what is sustainability and culture that related to fashion. The main concerns come of what do we need to keep doing, protect and change from fashion industry’s perspective. The sustainability of fashion not only matters how the fashion industry develops but also matters the environment and consumers’ behaviors, so we should realize and correct the aspects that undermine the sustainability of fashion and make a better relationship between fashion and future sustainability.
Firstly, the development of fashion incurs significant problems for the sustainability of environment. Fashion elements derive from the nature, where they dependent on land, water, air, animal ,etc. These minimal resources are normally used for producing the fashion products like garment, so when a garment is discarded so too is the oil, water, cotton, and labor used to produce it.( McNeil 2000 ) As the result, resources would be wasted due to the human activity. The issue of how to dispose of used clothes properly, how to balance and reduce waste of resources are urgent to keep a sustainable future. In my opinion, people haven’t realize the problem of discarding clothes is a kind of waste, so I will devote my effort to appeal people to reduce the waste of natural resource when pursuing fashion aiming to reach a sustainable society.
In addition, the overconsumption from the customer and the overproduction of fashion industry have substantially weakened the sustainability. Kawamura (2005) argued that fashion and clothing are distinct concepts, where fashion is immaterial, while clothing is material. Due to the development of the technology, lowering production cost lead to more clothing production. Also, the prevailing of the consumerism encourage people to consume more to gain the happiness, so there are more demand and supply in the society. According to the report, from 2000 to 2014, the average consumer purchases clothing by 60% each year. It is highly possible that clothes they purchased may not be suitable for them even if those clothes are over-consumed. The consumers should consume rationally and make reasonable use of resources to get a sense of happiness. In order to seeks profits, clothing companies produce clothes unreasonably which make the waste of resources. Making money just a part of fashion, but the critical meaning is to maintain sustainability.
After this lecture, I have learned a lot of aspects of how to develop the sustainability of fashion, including reasonable production and rational consumption. Changing the sustainable development of fashion is a way to make fashion develop longer-term and give fashion a deeper meaning. In this way, fashion represents not only unique and beautiful products, but also an important manifestation of social, cultural, and interpersonal relationships.