better lives – reflection
Over the past two weeks, London College of Fashion first year students have had to attend three lectures per week on various subjects relating to sustainability in fashion. These lectures were very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed each of them. I also appreciated the opportunity to listen to these lectures and that a school so focused and integrated into the fashion industry is teaching its students the importance of building a sustainable future within fashion and its notoriously unsustainable industry. Two lectures that really stood out to me and impacted my way of thinking were the ones on power and empathy.
The power lecture touched on the difference between the influence of the producer versus the consumer in a very interesting way. More than a quarter of the worlds richest people in the world run companies that sell clothing, and in 4 days those people earn what a Bangladeshi garment worker makes in their lifetime. Yet there is also an upper hand of power within the consumers, with the power of the dollar we can choose who we want and don’t want to support. And historically we have put brands out of business from a simple boycott from their goods. Ivanka Trump, for example, had workers living in poverty and violating women’s rights, customers chose not to buy her products and because of this retailers stopped selling her label at their stores and her company eventually went under. The power of the media also has a massive influence on this. We see thousands of advertisements everyday, and with social media, our perspectives and opinions are constantly shifting and being moulding by those we choose to follow.
The second lecture that really spoke to me was the lecture on empathy. The speaker talked about the importance of integrating empathy into the design aspect of making just about anything. Designers should put themselves into the shoes of the consumer and understand their standpoint. There was an interesting example given about creating bags that are “pickpocketing” proof, so the designers spoke to thieves about their methods, and designed the bags accordingly. The speaker also made some other interesting points about empathy, that it is only used when there is an opportunity for profit to be made. When I heard this I automatically thought about Fenty makeup, and how it was really the first brand to include a copious amount of darker shades of foundation. Then when the brand became really popular, it was like every other brand hopped on the band wagon and started to do the same – even though for years people were criticizing these brands for their lack of inclusivity in makeup.
These lectures were very informative, and I think that the college did a great job on including various other subject matters. I believe that it is extremely important as young creatives to take these matters into consideration not only through our learning but also into our future careers to make a difference in fashion.