Blog 1: Power

In the first two weeks of better lives lectures and briefing, I was watching the lecture online and learn a lot of knowledge from those lectures. After listening to these lectures, I gained a better understanding of the industry and made me realize the connection between the fashion industry and the whole society. There was a lecture that impressed me which was power. Some of the issues mentioned by Julia Crew in the lecture caused me to think about the fashion industry and social issues.
The lecture on power talked about the relationship and influence of power in the fashion industry. In my opinion, power and responsibility are two inseparable things. How to balance the relationship between the two is also mentioned in this lecture. When talking about the relationship between fashion and power, she was mentioned that clothing can be used as a symbol of power. In ancient times, clothes were used to express power. For example, the royal powers are well-known for their expensive clothes and jewellery, which symbolize wealth and power. Military power is a symbol of masculinity and authority. There is also the connection between fashion, power in business, politics, media, music and other aspects. Julia Crew talked about the role of media in fashion and the benefits it brought in her lecture. She cited the example of Instagram. Instagram has a large number of users using this software in just a few years. With the continuous upgrading and improvement of software, more and more functions are available for users, which also brings new business opportunities for businesses. Instagram changed the fashion industry. Millennials are the main users of Instagram. Many fashion brands advertise on Instagram. They target millennials to improve the brand ’s product design and gain huge profits.
The power of the media has brought huge benefits to the fashion industry. In China, the rise of media platforms and live video streaming has brought huge profits to the Chinese fashion industry, which has spawned many video anchors and influencers. The fashionable products on sale were quickly robbed. I think this is a benefit brought by the power of the media. Of course, there are also bad sides, such as deceiving consumers by selling fake goods and poor product quality.
I think that both consumers and companies should follow the principle of good faith when using the power of the media, and they should also think of social responsibility while obtaining huge benefits. Positive messages should be disseminated to society, not to deceive consumers in order to gain more benefits.