Better Lives
Blog One: Lecture 4 – Inclusion
After attending the inclusion lecture by Laura Salisbury, it made me think about certain factors of the fashion industry that I never really stopped to think about beforehand. A key factor in the lecture included Laura’s plans for inclusive fashion by constructing a special yarn to then later develop into a unique textile to create clothing that is specially designed to aid the recovery of stroke victims, sufferers of Parkinson’s’, Cerebral Palsy, etc. The difference between this lecture and the other lectures I attended is that it really inspired me to think about the future of the fashion industry and how I could make a difference. I thought although I am a fashion hair and makeup student, what could I do to make this part of fashion more inclusive, what could I do within the beauty industry to make it more inclusive?
The inclusion lecture put fashion under the magnifying glass so we could what was right in front of us; the fashion industry is still picking favourites. What I mean by this is, yeah, a lot of clothing brands such as pretty little thing, misguided and forever 21 have more inclusive ranges such a plus sizes, petite and tall; the main majority of fashion is still on exclusive to anyone that can slip into a size 10 and don’t think to broaden their fashions to the like of curvy women. These fashions are also mainly catered to young women or teens who would thrive in the latest fashion that brands are putting out, but why does no one ever consider the members of society such as individuals who are not body confident and still want to look good or others that can’t wear some of these clothes because their beliefs, cultures and morals.
The lecture also discussed the use of advanced textiles used for creating garments that can be used for an extensive range of situations which I found very interesting and considered to be a very fresh take on fashion and clothing. One example that I was specifically fascinated by was the cute circuit sound shirt; this was a shirt that was especially made to provide music and real-life concert experiences to the deaf community. This was done with the use of special tech that was built into various parts of the garment in which the music was converted to sound data, to then be transmitted into vibrations all over the body so the individual wearing it would be able to feel the music rather than listen. What I learned from this was, even though fashion is often seen as a superficial factor of society we can also use fashion to lift others up that aren’t normally included and provide them certain experiences that we take for granted every day.
To conclude, inclusive fashion is a huge step for the future of the industry and as a part of this industry whether it be specialising in hair and makeup or actual fashion design itself, there is an opportunity for anyone to do so.