Blog 1: POWER
The Better Lives lectures let me have a lot of in-depth thinking, such as ‘power’. Six opinions were raised at the beginning of the class. They are power and fashion, money, media, consumers, protest and you.
Fashion is of individual, but powerful people are always leading the trend of fashion, and they can even define fashion eventually. In ancient times, the more powerful people, the more freedom to pursue fashion. The emperor has a luxurious crown. Ministers and generals have silk clothes. Ordinary people can only wear coarse cloth. Only those who have a certain material foundation can not have the time and money to pursue fashion. However, it is not that ordinary people cannot have fashion. It’s just harder for the average person to get the fashion he wants. Of course, this also depends on the person’s perception and demand for fashion. After all, the founders of most fashion brands were ordinary people when they were young.
For the ‘money’, wealthy people have even more ability. Some brands started from a single store to a chain company. However, many wealthy people purchase these brands for profits. Their income per day may be similar with the annual income of a normal worker. Some corporation leaders are not familiar with fashion, they purchased the brands only for profits. For example, Louis Vuitton was initially a luggage store in Paris. After it grew, it was acquired by LVMH. However, most investors in this company are not involved in the fashion industry.
Media is a good way to advert. Wealthy people and powerful people use media to advertise their products which can make money. For example, in the app tik tok, which is very famous in China, a famous sale star Jiaqi Li sold 30 million lipsticks on live broadcasts within one minute. This makes consumers to know the products clearly. Also, consumers can determine the value of the products. Therefore, wealthy people and powerful people’s fashion products also should cater to the tastes of normal people. If their products result in huge environment pollution or cause discontent, their products will lose their values. In September 2019, extinction rebellion staged a fashion ‘funeral’ outside London Fashion Week, stating ‘there is no fashion on a dead planet’. All products can be combined with fashion, even stationary or tools, as long as they are positive.
Wealthy people have ability and power. Powerful people have the right to define fashion. Consumer can make wealthy people and powerful people to make a good decision. Well, the final votes are in your hands.
In my opinion, power and fashion affect each other. However, fashion is not just a game for the rich. In this century, the world economy has developed considerably. Less wealthy people also have tickets to fashion world. Their consumer votes are also very important for the entire fashion industry. In summary, power is important, but in the end it is only fashion itself that determines the development of fashion.
15th April 2020 @ 11:20 pm
I really like this blog that you posted. I totally understood what are you trying to express, and also agree with the point of the person who has power can change fashion trend and affects the fashion field.
I believe that you said the people who got money and power can pursue fashion, and they can buy more fashion products than poor people in the past. However, I think there are still different classes in modern society but this extreme situation as you say is gradually decreasing. In modern society, people often come into contact with many fashion media, including mobile phones, TV, and radio. These electronic media use advertisements to promote fashion all the time, and through these advertisements, the most popular fashion trends are quickly spread. Fashion brands use this method to give everyone in the city the opportunity to pursue fashion.
“Diversity” the word I learned in the Better Lives unit. Fashion is not only expensive. In shopping malls, there are not only luxury fashion brands but also have cheap fast fashion brands, such as H&M and Topshop. The combination of different price stores in a mall is to serve customers with different needs and customers with different consumption capabilities, so I think fashion is diversified. It is not only reflected in the price tag but also reflected in the clothing. Most of the clothing uses fibre or some natural materials as fabrics now, and the price is only reflected in the workmanship. On the other hand, due to the rough workmanship of a small number of fast fashion brands, which reduces the durability of clothes, it greatly increases waste and hinders sustainable development.
Finally, I don’t agree with your understanding of power in the blog. I think some popular online celebrities can have an impact on the fashion field, such as Kim Kardashian. But the example in your blog is a tik-tok celebrity in China. For me, he is just a salesperson. He can only benefit himself through live streaming and advertising instead of fashion. I think power refers to the ability of designers. The work of fashion designers has a great say in the fashion industry. They use design to change fashion trends and fashion fields.
The opinions in your blog are very attractive to me and bring me very few ideas, we can have a depth discussion in the future.