Blog Post #1 – Better Lives: Sustainable Lifestyle

Better Lives Unit was created for LCF students, including me, to expand our knowledge of the important subjects, for example diversity, technology and inclusion in fashion industry. There were a few lectures that caught my attention. However, because I am a supporter of sustainability in fashion, I have decided to deepen my knowledge of this particular topic.

Better Lives: Power

The lecture began with categorising power into five groups: power and fashion, money, media, consumers, protests, as also power and you. It was informative and thanks to that I gained knowledge of how fashion industry looks inside and why it is important to make changes that may result in living more sustainable lifestyle. As I’ve learnt, we need to believe that everyone has enough power to make a change, although it may seem that, as individuals, we have little to say. However, it all begins with a motivated, full of passion person who surrounds himself / herself with like-minded people that care about changing the World for a better place. Even though there are lots of steps we need to take and it can be discouraging, in the quote mentioned by Julia Crew, Nelson Mandela’s words remind us of an important fact:

“It always seems impossible until it’s done”.

What can we do to spread the idea of sustainability?  

• We can join the protests, such as Extinction Rebellion and Fashion Revolution,
• Buy clothes in second hands, as also practicing clothing swap,
• Share sustainable facts via social media. 

Better Lives: Culture

Thanks to this particular lecture I’ve learnt that if we want to live sustainably, we should stop thinking of ourselves as individuals. That’s because all the actions that we take affects other people, as also the nature. We are all connected to each other. However, it is easy to forget about it and to make choices that satisfy only us. A good example is buying a low-price product in a shop promoting unsustainable practices. In the “Power” lecture, our lecturer Julia Crew made an important point that our purchase is our vote. This vote, even if satisfies us for some period of time, results in showing the brand that we support its harmful practices.

As it was mentioned in the “Culture” lecture, sustainability shouldn’t be considered as a restriction, but as a lifestyle. Also, it would be helpful to think of it as personal improvement: being sustainable could make us be more empathetic, knowledgeable and feel powerful. Deciding to live this particular lifestyle may result in making greater changes and creating a better World for ourselves and future generations.

Sustainable Practice

As I’ve learnt through listening to the lectures, fashion can change lives for better or worse, and that is our responsibility to make the right decisions. So how could fashion improve our lives?

• It can help us to create a union caring about the Earth and spreading the awareness of the impact of fashion on our planet,

• It teaches us how to work together and support one another. It reminds us that we are not in this planet alone and should be responsible for one another,

• Fashion shows us an importance of both our voice and a vote – that, in the beginning, there is only one person needed to start a revolution.

References:

Crew, J. (2020) ‘Power’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion,
10 February.

Fitzpatrick, A. (2020) ‘Culture’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion,
10 February.