CULTURALLY “WOKE”
C
John Lau’s lecture on cultural sustainability was in my opinion the best lecture I have attended during the first two weeks of the better lives unit.
John Lau’s lecture was mainly about cultural diversity, how to sustain culture and how fashion brands and designers use or misuse the idea of cultural diversity.
The lecture itself was very fascinating to listen to and the subject matter is very relevant in today’s fashion world and society as we live in a time where the idea of culture is being either used or misused in certain ways. Fashion brands or designers tend to just create fashion without thinking about the impact it can have on people or ethnic groups E.G Gucci early 2019 collection where they included jumpers that were black with a red mouth piece that sparked an uproar and it was labeled as racially offensive against black people which shows there are brands who don’t do their research before making things and that’s majority of fashion brands so there is a major issue with fashion brands not being culturally aware especially to its audiences or people who shop from them.
This example leads onto another major topic that was spoken about in the lecture which was cultural appropriation and appreciation from a western and eastern perspective which I agreed a lot with as western and eastern worlds take influences from both sides, there’s a level and extent to that as it can become issue when I dives into a cultural aspect for example braids.
Braids are a hairstyle that originates in black culture however in the media there have been multiple times where braids have been appropriated by people who are not black which has been an ongoing thing for a while even in the industry and big brands or designers get away with it.
The way John Lau explained the idea of appropriation and appreciation it was perfect as a black young female student myself that’s exposed to social media.
I find and see a lot of people throw around and use black culture as a “trend” rather than appreciating black culture for it’s beauty and richness. Not even just black culture alot of cultures get appropriated rather than appreciated.
I believe it’s so important especially within the fashion industry to earn about the cultural society that we live in so the new generation of fashion designers can flip the switch and create things that is appropriate and shows cultural awareness because ethnic groups of people nowadays are more protective of their culture because of the way people, brands and designers have misused it without even learning about the culture they take from. On the other hand it’s also not just our responsibility but it is also fashion brands, designers and celebrities who need to also step up to be culturally aware as we live in an advanced time so we have no excuse to be ignorant when it comes to sustaining culture.
educate those who are unaware.