March 2020

I had entered the better lives project not knowing what to expect, I was sceptical on how I would approach the module as I don’t really engage in ways to help the environment like I should do. I was most interested in the society lecture because I know that fashion is very interconnected with someone’s identity and social factors. While in the lecture, I had been exposes to the different ways in which society affects fashion, and also the other way around. I had overlooked the way in which dressing is a considered a social act due to the fact that we dress to be creative to express our identity; and communicate of taste, wealth and sex appeal  

As well as this, before attending the lecture, I was very unaware of the term ‘throwaway culture’. Due to the fast fashion model being a social issue, popular fast fashion brands such as prettylittlething and boohoo manufacture cheap clothes which are usually disregarded after a few weeks. I had also disregarded the fact that fashion is not just clothing however all that comes beneath it, the way that you dress and the clothing that you buy allows us to become one with society as it is a reflection of their wealth, religion, style and creativity. This also determines your acceptance within society, as many poorer communities have no choice but to shop in high street or local stores, due to living in low income areas and having low income jobs. However due to their society, some make best of how they live by being creative with their fashion.

The lecture had really allowed me to open my mind to the real figures of how the fashion industry affects the environment and the affect has on society also. I had researched the affect the industry has on the environment and had realised that the fashion industry is the ‘second largest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry’ (Environmental Impacts of the Fashion Industry — SustainYourStyle, 2020). I believe that in order to make the fashion industry more environmental and help the sutainable future of the fashion platform, different ways of distributing and manfufacturing clothing needs to change. As well as this, new ways of recycling clothing can boost creative ways of showing your identity, for example, H&M has come up with ways to borrow clothing and some people also like to up cycle clothing instead of throwing it out and creating unnecessary waste. 

Blog Post 1 – reflective task

Over the first two weeks of the Better Lives unit we had the privilege to attend different lectures about really interesting and important topics such as sustainability, fashion, diversity, power and so on. These had made me reflect on the importance our generation has in order to help the fashion industry create better lives in the future. The fashion and well-being lecture by Jekaterina Rogaten definitely stood out for me in terms of how fashion has an impact on people and their being.Within the lecture she underlined how our well-being is not just influenced and determined by our physical health, it in fact comes from a wide range of areas.

She broke down well-being in two different theories: the Hedonic well-being, which is subjective, and the Eudaimonic well-being considered as psychological. The first one is connected to our emotions and feelings and how those are influencing our well-being, how satisfied we are with our life realizing we are the ones responsible to decide whether focusing on the negative or positive aspects of something. Maximizing those positive aspects increasing life satisfaction is a model the fashion industry uses quite well, making us continuously believe we need that last item or phone model to reach happiness and satisfaction. This made me reflect on how much nowadays that is actually true and how we make our happiness depend on those things. Although, more is not always better. Maximizing choices does in fact maximize our freedom but that also maximizes the decisions we have to make, and the choices we leave aside.  The Eudaimonic well-being affects people who have a high level of self-acceptance, they are happy about who they are. In the fashion industry more and more people are starting to accept the diversity of beauty styles and body sizes and that increases the level of self-acceptance generally. This type of well-being is also connected to things such as personal growth, positive relations, autonomy and experiences. 

Having a meaningful life means achieving aspects of needs like the physiological ones going forward to the safety ones, love, esteem and self-actualization. These can be applied in the fashion context. So well-being in the fashion industry is connected to happiness, in terms of wearing something that makes us feel confident and accepted by society, it defines our identity and social relationships. In terms of fashion consumption, clothing choices can enhance our well-being, wearing sustainable clothes make some feel better, consumers find clothing impression a source of happiness and for others creating new things improves their well-being, that comes then from creativity itself. In terms of fashion production, improving people well-being could mean motivate them, promote the environment they work in and increase positive emotions. 

To conclude I think fashion plays an important role in enhancing individual and organizational well-being and that is something we need to remember in the future in order to create better lives for people who work in the industry but also for everyone else; fashion is everywhere, is in everyone and everything is connected so it is essential to understand that every little step could make the difference in a world that yet has a lot to learn and improve. 

‘Fashion touches our everyday lives and we cannot underestimate its influence within society. It connects people from all backgrounds, crossing social and educational boundaries’ (Claire Swift, 2020) The past two weeks of Lectures have made me think differently about how I approach the fashion industry. I now realise that in order to solve the many issues surrounding power, culture and sustainability for which I’ve consequently gained more of an understanding, I need to accept my own social responsibility as a designer, embracing it as a tool to help stand out and change people’s lives for the better. Claire Swift’s lecture on Social Responsibility and Laura Salisbury’s on Inclusion, have made me realise how fashion has the power to stimulate positive emotional and physical change for people from a diverse range of backgrounds.

For example, Swift talked about ‘Making for change’ a community design project that has the capacity for improving female prison inmate’s mental health, chances for success and overall quality of life, by giving them recognition and offering them the possibility to redirect their future by learning how to construct garments for the fashion industry whilst sharing their personal stories on the actual clothes through embroidery. I learnt how the positives of an empowerment design project such as this one, benefit everyone involved, from the women in prison being offered an emotional outlet and chance at change, to those teaching and sharing their knowledge, who experience the fulfilment of impacting someone else’s life for the better. After learning that other social projects such as this, have been so hugely successful, I felt inspired to continue to set up and expand my own female empowerment fashion design project based in Africa working with widows, arming them with garment construction skills in order to fight the present issue of polygamy. The project celebrates Maasai culture whilst acknowledging their heritage within the designs, another factor of importance expressed by Cher Potter in the ‘Perspectives’ lecture that I learnt more about.

As well as designing and using my creativity to help those from all walks of life, I now feel so much more aware of making sure my designs are inclusive to all, despite any disabilities or impairments. In her lecture, Salisbury introduced me to Cute Circuit’s ‘SoundShirt’, a new smart top designed to enable the deaf community to feel the vibrating sensation of live music. What’s so fantastic about this example is that it has the capability of being truly inclusive because even people who can hear, are expressing the desire to test the product as a result of the entirely new experience it’s offering as a piece of smart textiles. The growth of smart textiles is something that really interests me, as does the idea of how we can use it to further improve the fashion industry, making it more inclusive to a broader market. As a costume and Haute Couture practitioner, it has made me curious how new upcoming smart technologies could enhance the world of performance, allowing everyone to be apart of the magic. Although this lecture series broadened my knowledge of issues we need to solve in the fashion industry presently, it also reminded me of why I love fashion and its immense power for positive change.

References

Swift, C. (2020) ‘Introduction to Social Responsibility’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 14th February.

From my past work the three themes of better lives: sustainability, social responsibility and diversity have played a role in my creative process but haven’t always been at the forefront of my mind. However now having been further educated on these vital matters I will ensure that I incorporate them into my practice in the future.

One topic that has been something that I have gravitated towards is fast fashion. In my previous unit one of the things I chose to research was this subject matter, it fascinates me and I find it extremely relatable being a consumer of fast fashion myself. Only through the Better lives unit did I realize how it linked so closely to social responsibility and sustainability. The fast fashion model promotes a ‘throwaway’ culture, this was explained in the lecture on Society presented by Katelyn Toth- Fejel it also means that consumers have an increased access to cheap clothing. The environmental impacts of the fast fashion industry are overwhelmingly negative as due to the increase in resources needed this means there is more waste and pollution created, meaning it is not sustainable in the slightest. 

‘100 billion garments were produced in 2015 on a planet of only 7 billion people’

‘Worldwide, between 2000- 2014 clothing production doubled’

‘The average person buys 60% more clothing than 15 years ago and keeps them for half as long’

Source: Timeout for fast fashion, Report by Greenpeace, 2016- (From the Society lecture)

These statistics shocked me and made me feel guilty for being a contributor to this serious issue of wastefulness. I want to become more aware of what I am purchasing and if it is necessary. It has also become apparent to me that we need to work together to find sustainable solutions and that this is something that comes under the heading of social responsibility. We are all responsible for what we do as individuals but working together we can find solutions to create a more sustainable industry.

One of the themes that resonates with me personally is that of diversity. I am passionate about the fact that the fashion industry should be diverse in terms of representation of race and gender, but also people who have disabilities which became more apparent to me in the lecture by Laura Salisbury who spoke about Inclusion. This has made me think of how in my practice of hair and makeup that I need to be able to adapt to each individual and any specific needs and requirements they may have. I think it is important to be considerate and mindful of everyone and anything that means you need to adapt your practice. Fashion is a creative outlet that should be a space for all and as practitioners we need to be welcoming and always have that at the forefront of our minds. These three themes are now factors that I will consider in my work and encourage others to do the same as it is beneficial to everyone.

The better lives project has reminded me of the importance of sustainability, diversity, and social responsibility in context of their role in the creative industry. It has made me reflect on my previous work and also revisit my morals and values that I hold and carry throughout my work. This project has made me realise what topics I am passionate about, such as representation of culture, diversity and inclusion in society. Before this, I couldn’t really pin-point which social issues I felt strongly about, so I felt as though my work didn’t have a purpose or a role to push conversation or positive change in the world. Now I know what I want to create in order to add to this social commentary in the world that we live in. 

“If one wants to change society, one needs to understand the logic of how it operates” – Babbie, Earl R. (2011) The Basics of Social Research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Crucially, it is important to collaborate together in order to create change in the world. I will aim to collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds and upbringings, as I believe that diversity is not only essential in front of the lens, but also behind the lens – the operation. It took Vogue 125 years to finally have a black photographer shoot the cover of Vogue. This is significant, as it matters about who is re-presenting and creating someone in their own eyes. A young black photographer, Tyler Mitchell to represent and capture a black female artist, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. In future projects where I want to portray and represent another culture, I will do my upmost to learn about their history and engage in conversations to broaden my knowledge before I present it to the world. I will ensure that all, or if not, most of my team and collaborators come from the background that I am capturing to ensure accurate representation and authenticity of my project. 

The most important basis of my work now, is to show equal representation of people from a diverse range of backgrounds; including gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, different body sizes and figures, and abilities. I hope to use Fashion imagery to broaden everyone’s point of views and mindsets – to reduce ignorance. I want people to be able to identify themselves to the people in my images and have someone to look up to. To be able to have the confidence to say, “I can do that too”.

I want my work to be the medium that connects people around the world.

I approached the Better Lives lectures as a sceptic, I was unaware of the magnitude of change which still needs to be done by the fashion industry. I was most moved and inspired by the lectures Wellbeing given by Jekaterina Rogaten and Representation by Teleica Kirkland. We live in a monocultural and Eurocentric society, where thin, white, abled people are predominantly used in consumerism to sell to the masses. Kirkland commented in her lecture that “what this does to the social consciousness of everyone is to believe only one type of person can be and should be seen in everyday media. This then has repercussions on the people who don’t look like that.” 

For Better Lives I am taking part in the Navigating Through Clothing project, in which we are exploring costume design for performance and re-interpreting characters from a given text. Approaching this project after listening to the lectures has given me a new outlook on how the costume design industry can make changes to help create better lives. 

Rogaten in her lecture discussed how the lack of diversity in fashion consumption has led to eating disorders becoming common among models and that the “teen age group have the most apparent development of eating disorders”. This sadly is not shocking, the influence of this can also be felt in the theatre and performance world. In ballet “there is popularly believed to be an ideal ”Balanchine” body type for women, with the jobs going to tall, slender women with long necks, long legs and short torsos.” (Dunning, 1997). In my costume design project, I want to re-interpret characters which do not add to this problematic ideology and make a point of questioning the damage done by those in the industry. 

Outside of the better lives project I am studying BA Fashion Imaging and Illustration, as a fashion illustrator and image maker it is important to also take accountability in ensuring the images made are inclusive and challenge the monocultural norms. Image makers such as Florence Given are using their platforms to make social change with their images. Given commented in an interview with Independent magazine that “we (women) are viewed as existing for male consumption in the media, which in turn reflects in how men treat women’s bodies in real life.” (Petter, 2019). This ideology reflects on those who cast women for modelling jobs or ballet performances, that only one type of body can be seen as beautiful or sexual. 

References

Dunning, J., 2020. Eating Disorders Haunt Ballerinas. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/16/arts/eating-disorders-haunt-ballerinas.html> [Accessed 27 March 2020].

Kirkland, T 2020, Representation, lecture notes, Better Lives Unit FU001708, London College of Fashion, delivered 19 February 2020.

Petter, O., 2020. Meet The Illustrator Who Wants You To Dump Your Boyfriend. [online] The Independent. Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/florence-given-interview-instagram-influencer-dump-him-illustrations-a9002236.html> [Accessed 27 March 2020].

Rogaten, J 2020, Wellbeing, lecture notes, Better Lives Unit FU001708, London College of Fashion, delivered 17 February 2020.

The Better Lives themes have reinforced the importance in social responsibility for me. I cannot simply act through my words of agreement on topics such as inclusivity – I must incorporate the knowledge I have acquired and physically act on it. Social Responsibility works arm in arm with diversity in my opinion. It represents the responsibility of people to equally represent marginalised groups and minorities and to educate ourselves in order to avoid ignorance and communicate understanding and empathy. Through these themes, I have claimed my social responsibility to fully educate myself and use the tools I have been given to help put the positive focus on others correctly rather than solely doing self-serving projects.

The Better Lives lectures and themes have shown me how far we still have to go to have truly become diverse and socially responsible. I chose Fashion Journalism as my Better Lives subject and through this course, I have found that as a society, our journey of inclusion and responsibility has been portrayed superficially as fast-paced when in actuality these courses of action have not been exercised at deeper levels and therefore the genuine progress has been extremely limited.

As a Hair and Makeup student, I feel it is my responsibility to make everyone who I work on feel equally as beautiful or daring. I am going to use these themes to incorporate more inclusivity in my work. I find although I have always focused on inclusivity, I have become comfortable in my work, I feel I need to challenge myself in order to truly be the most socially responsible I can be. I aim to give feedback to my course leader to emphasise the need for more skin-based products that can be accurately matched on a variety of skin tones and skin types. At the moment it seems as though the focus is so small on colour variety and I and my peers, all typical struggling students, have found ourselves incredibly limited by the 4 foundation shades provided in our kits – although the kit has been meticulously planned and has a generous amount of other products, I do feel this is particularly limiting.

I aim to focus attention on makeup companies and apply the pressure for giveaways or more generous student pricing. One massive issue I find, as unpopular as this opinion may be and without taking away from the artists, is that Instagram makeup artists receive large giveaways of sometimes full foundation collections. A large percentage of these MUAs work solely on their own faces or do makeup on friends and do not work professionally on a variety of people. I find this popular giveaway rather aimless as the products given to the various MUAs could legitimately change a training makeup artist’s creative life and remove all limits. Although this doesn’t distract from my social responsibility, I feel this would be incredibly beneficial in aiding Hair and Makeup artists in being able to act on inclusivity further.

Watching all the Better Lives lectures has really opened my eyes about one thing. If I don’t start making the changes in my own practice, then I can’t complain about the rest of the world. This unit opened my eyes on how bad the situations are around us. As bad as it sounds, I thought we are getting somewhere with environmental, sustainable and ethical factors just because I like to keep up to date about it, and I see a lot of “success stories” and new emerging “ethical/ sustainable brands” however, when I took a step back I realised that that is a tiny percentage of the world (close to 1%).

I’m very motivated to learn more about making the world a better place, in any way possible and as a PR Student I will aim to work with, and/or encourage companies that I meet along the way to be as ethical and sustainable as possible. I currently intern for a company and they’re very strong on only working with companies who give back to our planet, the workers and people who need it the most. I really like this mindset, however I also feel like companies who don’t do these things shouldn’t be left out, they should be brought into the circle and influenced so they can try and do better. It’s very easy for large companies to turn a blind eye to problems, especially if it means more money.

I really liked Jekaterina Rogaten talking about a social study where people got to listen to other peoples’ stories and walk in their shoes. I really feel like that is a smart way to get people to understand what one may be going through, as it’s hard to imagine it without the push.

Another thing that I took from the Better Lives lectures is being more cultural. The world is very big and I feel like most of us get sucked into our Western ways. It’s important to learn, to understand and to pay attention to other cultures, histories, religions and people in general. I want to go and travel to learn about different countries, and why they do what they do. This was always my plan, to go after uni and see the world but now I even want to start a project of some sort to incorporate into my travels. This way other people could learn what I learnt if they wanted to and relate to people and places. It feels empowering when you know more than just your own culture ways of living.