March 2020

Diversity. What is ‘diversity’?

Definition: Diversity

• The state or fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness:

~ diversity of opinion

• Variety; multiformity
• The inclusion of individuals representing more than one national origin, colour, religion, socioeconomic stratum, sexual orientation, etc.:

~ diversity in the workplace

• A point of difference.

(from dictionary.com)

Diversity has been a very prominent word around us these few years. People of Colour are demanding more diversity from White People, the people who are at the head of a lot of these industries. (The rest of this post will be focusing on the fashion industry.) When you look around, we’ve seen many different attempts and implementations of diversity. Whether that be adverts with interracial families, models with disabilities, more black and asian models on the runways, models of all body sizes, hijabi models becoming more prominent, etc. While some of the inclusion feels sincere a lot of it is very clearly just done to keep People of Colour off of their backs and to maintain good pr.

What do I think about all of this? I am a light skin black South African girl who immigrated to England, with my mother and sister, when I was 3 years old. I do agree with the sentiment that we need more diversity in the Fashion Industry. I want to see more people who look like me and even more people who don’t look like me. The Fashion Industry is slowly but surely listening to it’s audience.

Although brands include different races, sexualities, identities, ages, stature, body sizes in their runways, look books, adverts and editorial shoots. The execution can sometimes feel very awkward and that is most probably because the people behind the scenes, the designer’s, stylists, photographers etc. are mostly white with like 1 or 2 people of colour.

And so, how do we become better as an industry? Well the people at the top, the people with the money, the people with the most power have to commit to hiring photographers, designers, stylists, models, creative directors etc. that aren’t white, heterosexual and able-bodied. And commit to letting them tell their own and other people’s stories from their perspectives. And it needs to be the people at the top of the industry because they are the gatekeepers of the industry. And it can’t just be a phase, it has to be something so common that we’re not surprised when we hear about renowned magazines or labels having disabled photographers, Asian designers, Muslim creative directors etc.

Those of us who are just starting out in fashion are trying our best to break down these barriers but the entire industry needs to join in for any long lasting change to happen.

Among all lectures on Better Lives, the lectures that impressed me the most was the first lecture, Power and Fashion, and 13th lecture, Democracy, and Activism. In the first lecture, the tutor explained the relation between power and fashion. There are numerous kinds of powers in the world: Royalty, military, politics, business, media, music, etc. In the fashion industry, money plays a big role. Only a few employees are getting rich by enslaving others, giving workers only minimum wage. Workers are often forced to work overtime and workers don’t get paid enough because the high wage will damage the clothing market. Moreover, the overconsumption problem is getting noticed. 400 percent of people buy more clothes then they did 20 years ago because of the influence of social media and fast fashion. So as consumers, we need to be aware of what problems we are facing and how clothes are made under what conditions. Fortunately, there are few ways To improve defective conditions in the fashion industry: consumer boycotts and protests. The consumer boycott is the most effective way of influencing the industry. In July, Ivanka Trump closed her fashion brand due to Ivanka’s connection with President Trump. Macy’s and Bloomingdales fell almost 45 percent. It was one of the direct effects of boycotting. Furthermore, through protesting, one could bring attention to the public about unethical situations. Extinction Rebellion Activists did a fashion funeral ceremony at London fashion week. And Greenpeace started the detox campaign, calling out brands for their use of toxic chemicals. There’s also pussyhat projects for feminism and Vivienne Westwood often uses a catwalk as her political stage.
Though the lecture, I realized that education for consumers is crucial since there would be no demand without supply. So consumers need to know how their clothes are made and make ethical consumptions. We need to acknowledge the complexity of consumption. Not only education but also practicing is important. I used to buy a tremendous amount of clothes on fast fashion brands. I repeatably buy cheap clothes and throw them away frequently. However, after I know how toxic fast fashion is in terms of labor and climate issues, I started to buy vintage clothes and did not buy clothes often. If I want to wear high brand clothes, I go to the website called, ‘Vestiaire Collective’ to buy second-hand clothes. It’s a minor shopping habit, but I am trying to make ethical choices in my life. Moreover, joining a group or going to a protest is as important as making small ethical choices. I was a queer and left-wing activist in Korea so I went to some protests and volunteered for Seoul queer parade. Through protests and pride parade, discrimination and oppression against sexual minorities are diminishing in Korean society. Likewise, I wanted to join groups like Greenpeace for climate change. Also, on a lecture called, Democracy and Activism, the tutor gave examples like the Collective Dwelling, the Refuge wear, the Exhibition of Salvation Army anniversary so I knew diverse ways of expressing activism and seeing a political message to the public.

My first initial thoughts upon approaching the Better Lives unit was cloudy to say the least, I felt very lost with the structure and what I was approaching in this new project. When discussing it with my peers and my course leader I felt as if I had a better idea and was ready to throw myself into this new venture but there was still a feeling of uncertainty which was exciting but also intimidating.

With the layout of the lectures being accessible online as well as the option to attend physically I felt the pressure was lifted, especially as the lectures were dotted around different LCF campuses, I got a little confused. I attended all of the lectures online in my own time which I found calming as I feel I could really grasp the ideas of the lectures, being able to flick through the slides and listen to the speaker simultaneously, clarifying my learning and what I was taking in. I also liked the function of being able to pause the lecture because I often feel like I miss important points and then get panicked, so by having that function I felt more relaxed and could ease myself into this project more. 

I attended the recommended six lectures which were; Inclusion, Diversity, Collaboration, Religion and Belief in Creative Arts, Sustainability and Power and Empathy in the industry. For the topics on collaboration, diversity and inclusion I found myself zoning out. Granted, this could be because I have covered these topics frequently, with my previous explorations in the ‘intro to’ assignment in the first term and my critical words assessment (within my BA fashion media course). I did feel as though they were helpful as there were some points which I hadn’t picked up from studying these topics prior, however next time I think I will make more of a conscious decision to choose lectures in which I haven’t previously thought about deeply or haven’t touched upon in my study as within the first week I felt uninspired in a way. On the contrary, starting the second week of lectures, I really enjoyed the lectures which focused on empathy and power. It was interesting to dive into these topics which I have never really thought about connecting fully to the fashion industry and my practise. I especially enjoyed the aspects in the power lecture that explored the different influences of power on the fashion industry and the contributing factors such as the power of protest and the power of money.

Leading into my first week of my specialised Better Lives topic of styling, I feel more confident in what I will be working towards in the next six weeks. Reflecting on the first two weeks of this unit, although for me it has started slow, I believe that specialising will give me a better focus to but my energy into and I am excited to start this journey.

Within this lecture, there were different topics she talked about within the fashion industry which inspired me to think and explore specific topics a bit more. Watching this lecture opened me up to different theories and strategies exploring culture and how it is seen through many different people. I believe everyone has different opinions and therefore, see things differently which is a huge part of the way we live in society today. It has a large influence on the challenges people face on a daily basis along with conflicts within people and fashion. But it also has positivity elements as everyone is Individual in who they are, where they’re from, and what they look like so representing yourself within fashion is a very important thing.

She talked about there being this image of one specific vision that everyone idolises and therefore causes conflict within everyday people. This is because not everyone looks the same which leads to the point of not everyone is going to look like the “perfect vision of society”.In this lecture She then went on to talk about diversity within fashion and she went on to say something that really interested me “Fashion isn’t just the clothes we put on our body, Fashion is our interaction with everything” This was very important to me when she said it because not many people within society realise how much fashion influences us everyday. This interested me as it showed me the power and influence that is put on fashion and it all comes down to a specific idolised look that causes controversy. As time has passed, things have changed which has led to more cultures and different beliefs being acknowledged within the industry, which brings more diversity to our lives. This is a very positive outcome as we’re accepting more and more and if we keep changing our perspective of fashion itself, we could start to change it into something with much more positivity than it already has. She then followed on to talk about outrage marketing and how people publish certain images and designs which are socially and culturally unacceptable, purely to attract attention to themselves. This causes conflict and to me is a very important subject which should be changed. This has inspired me in many different ways and got me thinking how and why we got here. We started without covering our bodies at all when conflict and fashion wasn’t relevant. And now we are living a life where some of our every day thoughts and struggles are revolved around the way we look or how we dress our bodies.

In conclusion, this lecture inspired me a lot to think about development within the fashion industry and how cultural appropriation is still being accepted. It has made me realise how badly this could affect people and how lucky some other people are. But it also led me to believe that in the future, fashion should become much more positive as well as accepting to society. 

Overexploitation has become a very pressing issue in today’s global climate as wider society begins to realise how severely we are endangering our earth. This broad theme was touched upon in both Katelyn Toth-Fejel’s ‘Society’ lecture and the lecture on ‘Nature’ given by Kate Fletcher. Both speakers highlighted how the human sphere and the natural sphere are inextricably linked, and how this means we have a deep responsibility in caring for the planet before we destroy ourselves through the normalisation of toxic behaviour and a failure to anticipate the future.

During Toth-Fejel’s lecture, it became clear that our current societal situation is the main contributing factor to our sustainability struggles. Western modernism operates on “an economic system whose core logic is perpetual growth in a finite world” (Fletcher, 2015), meaning our societal rules and norms make it very difficult to make the necessary life-changing choices that will save our environment. This is clearly exhibited in through ecological footprints, which is the amount of land and sea area required to provide for individuals and countries around the world. When I tested mine with Global Footprint Network’s tool on their website, I found out that if everyone lived like me, we would need two whole planets for the amount of resources I use alone. And I thought I was quite good at being sustainable! Clearly, I have a reality check pending. 

Because many people are like me and are actively exhausting the earth of her resources day after day, all living systems are now in decline; a scary fact that Kate Fletcher noted in her lecture. The majority have reduced by more than 50% due to human impact (see below). Easter Island is a microcosm of this human tendency to exploit nature as a resource to our own ends. The native inhabitants supposedly destroyed themselves after they deforested the whole island to use the trees as tools to transport their iconic statues across the land as part of a tribal ritual.

The geological epoch we are now living in has been dubbed as the Anthropocene, as humans have become the largest influencing factor on the world. Until now, this has not been the case. In 2008, the Stockholm Resilience Centre defined nine planetary boundaries which were necessary for a productive earth. The theory is that if any were transgressed, the earth would fail completely. What I found exceptionally interesting was that three boundaries have already been transgressed. And what is exceptionally sad is that we’re not doing anything to change this. Fletcher put this down to there being a huge disconnect between nature and daily life, akin to the Legacy of Descartes. 

So, where do we go from here? I think that social structures need to be rethought if there is to be a sustainability transition, as capitalism is the main driver of our current problems. However, hope can be found in the fact that things can change as capitalism is manmade and, therefore, its solutions can be made by us too. If I had governmental power, I would call for true humanity to be built back into society rather than the superiority of companies and consumerist agendas which has become the norm. Through Better Lives we can hopefully all realise that this requires individual effort to recognise our faults and drive forward collaboration by taking up the reins of humility, boundaries, and togetherness.

REFERENCES

Fletcher, K. (2020) ‘Nature’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 12 February.

Toth-Fejel, K. (2020) ‘Society’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 19 February. 

Fletcher, K. (2015) Routledge Handbook of Sustainability and Fashion. Abingdon: Routledge. 

Image Credit

WWF, 2016 

Stockholm Resilience Centre: J. Lokrantz/Azote based on Steffen et al., 2015 

After watching various of the Better Lives lectures I was invigorated with each lecture and had an urge to dive deeper into what was executed by the lecturers. Personally, listening to each lecture opened a new mind-set where I was able to analyse situations in more depth and conceptualise. Personally, I was heavily inspired by the lecture on Society, by Katelyn, on the 24.2.2020. I was provoked with multiple theories and thoughts about how we are influenced by the smallest things in every day life. The quotation “What we think, what we feel, and what we say and do are all shaped by our interactions with other people”- (Hughes); I was initially engaged and started to brainstorm from this quotation

The study of society and social expectations of all people inspired me to think how we are all socially grouped by extremely popular categories; for example, people are heavily influenced by sport; art; fashion; mathematics, or literature; however, this made me think how we are quick to assume another’s personality, looks, attractions based off of their social grouping and not their own personal identity. I believe assumption is extremely common when approaching identity within society and has made to become almost a social competition. Referring back to the quotation “What we think, what we feel, and what we say and do are all shaped by our interactions with other people” (Hughes) made me acknowledge how we gain our understanding from other humans’ systems and that we would be much more less capable if secluded. This increasingly also goes for our own fashion and identities, and how we represent ourselves to others. We have our overall identity whilst having additional personalities that come alongside that, that have probably been massively inspired by other people.

A question that I ask myself and others after watching this lecture is what would our exact identity and personality would be like if had been secluded from the start; no inspiration, motivation or stereotypical thought process from other interactions. Would we wear the clothes we wear today? Would people be discriminative towards others in society if not influenced by other opinions? Would we all be under the same large social groups and social conditions or would we have smaller marginalised groups were everyone is socially excluded?

In conclusion, I believe even though we are all under large social groups, our society would be increasingly more interesting if we all had our own initial thoughts and were socially engaged with our unique identities. Personally, communicating our true identities to our society is so important as I believe our social being is learning to depict the stereotype of sectioning people under large social expectations, and are finally being accepting/ experimental with who they really are and not what the rules of society say. The better lives lectures have enabled me to be more open minded and to develop my thought process of society in more depth. I aim to be more thought provocative in day to day life and delve into more depth with things that spark a true interest. 

Reference: 

Hughes, Michael, and Carolyn J. Kroehier (2008) Sociology: The Core. 8^thed. Boston: McGraw-Hill 

The first lecture I viewed/streamed online was about POWER given by Julia Crew on the 10th of February. I really enjoyed this lecture because I was able to grasp properly how the concept of power was closely linked and tied to fashion. I have always agreed with the idea that clothes have the ability to acutely describe a person and speak to an audience. As the lecture proceeded I started to notice how not only the broad and general concept of fashion has power, but also the fact that the garments themselves hold specific levels of that power, and said levels withhold some type of authority. If one traces back to years or even centuries ago, the clothes which were most valued and wanted, were those of individuals who belonged to the royalty, suggesting that power in clothing had to do with the status of the person wearing it, as well as the materials used to make these garments which were exclusive given that royalty would be wearing them. Something I also found extremely interesting was the fact that clothes are symbolic and not just aesthetic. Military dresses, as described by Julia Crew, hold a deeper meaning than the one appearing on the surface. Military clothing serves as a portrayal of power, hierarchy, oppression, leadership or even dictatorship. Another example of this would be the classic business suit, which delivers a sense of professionalism and seriousness, making individuals seem to be more trustworthy and clean or put together. Additionally, not only do the garments which are inanimate objects hold their own power, but the people in the fashion industry itself who have a high and respectable status. A clear example of this is Anna Wintour, Vogue Editor. Wintour’s word will weigh much more than that of many other significant people in the industry because of the reputation she has gained across the fashion platform in general, using her own power as a tool for fashion’s success or failure. 

Another interesting “concept” explored by Crew in her lecture was the idea that power should lie in creativity and exist in the presence of original clothing yet in the 21rst century, power lies in economic power, suggesting that a handmade garment made out of precious materials will be less expensive than that of a brand known internationally throughout social media or in the fashion world. In my opinion, this is extremely damaging to the fashion industry given that creativity will decrease constantly and status will be defined by the monetary value of clothing. Another example in the industry of a person who has used the power that he/she has received and built up throughout the years, is Vivienne Westwood. Westwood traditionally uses her catwalks as an opportunity to express political concerns she shares with her audience. She uses activists as models and manages to blend in her fashion practice with environmental activism using her own power in the form of authority to raise awareness on different topics. I believe this is a great example of how power is used correctly instead of misused. 

Throughout the week I have attended numerous lectures, however two particular ones have stood out to me: Power and Cultural Sustainability. Both lectures were very inspiring and full of knowledge that I can use in my practices. The lecture about power was split into multiple sections. I was most moved by Power and Media.

As a student of SMC it is crucial for me to understand that fashion is a medium which visually demonstrates power. For example it can be by looking at military uniforms, particularly how these uniforms explore masculinity and using broad shoulders to symbolise respect, professionalism and conservatism. More recent example would be Beyonce’s garment for Super Bowl in 2020 which was directly inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement which demonstrates solidarity with this movement. Makeup, just like fashion can successfully deliver a strong message of power. As a makeup artist I need to be aware of symbolism and history of makeup. Famously, red lips embodies strength and femininity in equal measures, experiencing particular surge during the Great Depression. This resulted in the ‘Lipstick Effect’, a term used by economists to explain why costumers buy small goods such as lipstick during economic hardship. Moreover, during WW2, red lipstick was associated with political campaigns as red is often associated with power, strength and victory. As a SMC student I was fascinated with how advertisement works. It is believed that only 8% of ads are absorbed consciously and the rest is reworked into the brain and thus advertising is said to be quick and cumulative. This would mean that makeup is sometimes required to be bold and brave to attract attention and thus to be remembered to help the ad be reworked into the brain and therefore I believe that makeup artist has a power to make a statement and eventually to make a change. This lecture highlighted the importance of visual communication and how a creative practitioner can make a difference.

I dare to say that the Cultural Sustainability lecture was the best lecture I attended so far. It was centralised around globalisation, culture, costumes and representation. Culture acts as a filter through which people process experiences. As any creative practitioner, we need to be culturally sensitive and aware of how to avoid cultural misrepresentation and cultural appropriation. Misrepresentation of a culture is usually found in a lazy fashion, meaning the products are only designed due to its aesthetics with no further understanding of the culture. John Lau highlighted the importance of research and consultation with appropriate people in order to avoid cultural appropriation. An example of recent misinterpretation of Chinese culture can be seen in Dior and Gucci designs which focus around exoticism and eroticism, showing too much skin, often associated with the Western world. Additionally, zeitgeist, how current times affect ideas of today, helps me foresee future trends, keep up with the industry and to be an innovative artist. 

In Conclusion, I really enjoyed these series of lectures as I believe that radical change in the fashion industry is required in order for us to move forward. 

By Simona Svantnerova

References: 

Crew, J. (2020), ‘Power’, [Lecture], Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 10th Feb.2020

Lau,  J. (2020) ‘Cultural Sustainability’ [Lecture], Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 18th Feb.2020

How is it that we’ve lost control despite being in control?  

Throughout the series of Better Lives lectures, I have learnt so much that is concealed within the fashion industry in the 21^st century and become more aware of things I knew existed but not to the intensity of which they do. Julia Crew’s lecture on ‘Power’ was one of the most influential and awakening to me, as it directed the fashion industry back to the consumer, reinforcing the fact that if we don’t make a change, the planet will continue to die while simultaneously exploiting those working within the industry. Being a part of the youthful generation today, I feel our need for belonging as a generation is highly influencing the way we see fashion due to the rise of the influencer culture and social media demands. Whether you adhere to it or not, there is a pressure to form our own identities which we express everyday through a conscious choice we make every morning when dressing ourselves. As a result of this culture and the accessibility to fast fashion, it becomes easy to discard the consequences we are causing.

The powerful ideology of consumerism: How to ‘do your bit’: 

I have learnt that as consumers, we have the power. For every item we purchase, we cast a vote to support the designer/ brand or trend. Without us, the fashion industry would be reshaped; but perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad? With 100 billion garments being produced annually, and 75% of this figure ending up incinerated or thrown into landfill, it is time to fix this broken fashion system.

Through our current consumer culture, we often withhold the desire and ability to live beyond basic needs; it is easy to seek happiness through consumption, proven with the number of garments purchased from the average consumer increasing by 60%. As a result, we have lost sight of the cultural influences behind what we are wearing. Fast fashion does not value the ideas behind a piece of clothing; where it is from and its past story, our identities and ideas or relationships and emotions. Cultures are exploited and uncredited, while the culture we are a part of supports this.   

With the up rise of social media over the past ten years, figures show the average American is exposed to 4,000 – 10,000 Ads per day; the volume and speed of advertising is greater than ever before, exposing consumer consumption to be the main driving force of the unsustainable faulty system, resulting in the industry being driven by economics rather than creativity. Our power as a consumer is essentially the last resort, our involvement within the fashion industry is bigger than we know meaning change is down to us as we are the ones driving these unsustainable trends. Small changes can be made to improve the lives of those who are being exploited and the life of our planet earth. We have less than 10 years to change the damage we have caused. Lowering our consumption of fashion products and recycling/ purchasing from charity shops is one of the easiest changes that can be made. Casting your vote through purchase to an organization that exploits no one and is focused on bettering lives will speak volumes within the industry.  

Our current culture is the future. We must credit cultures around us and creativity from the past in order to end the focus being economically driven. Fashion can be inclusive to sustainability and empathetic towards the planet, whilst allowing us to assert our power through what and who we choose to support through purchase. The Better Lives lectures have strongly influenced my thinking through the current statistics and will remain in my conscious mind moving forward in the industry. 

By Grace Robertson

Bibliography:

Sustainability.uq.edu.au. (2020). Fast fashion quick to cause environmental havoc. [online] Available at: https://sustainability.uq.edu.au/projects/recycling-and-waste-minimisation/fast-fashion-quick-cause-environmental-havoc [Accessed 27 Feb. 2020].

Having been lucky enough to receive a privileged upbringing and generally being personally unaffected by the most pressing societal issues, social responsibility was the theme that initially jumped out at me as the one I could engage with most effectively. I was particularly taken with the ‘Making for Change’ initiative that Claire Swift touched upon in her lecture. This is certainly something I would like to engage with in future, predominantly because this is an obvious way that I can put my privilege to use to help others; others ways were not as simple as it is educational rather than monetary. I think the fact that it is with female prisoners makes it all the more worthy as they are such an overlooked sect of society, as is much of the population within correctional facilities naturally because they are by definition out of sight for the mainstream. This relates to a crucial point that Lorraine Gamman touches on in her lecture on empathy while referencing the writing Roman Krznarick. He wrote ‘empathy withers and dies when we fail to acknowledge the humanity of other people’ (Krznarick 2014), and this is a prominent issue for the prison population who, being that step removed from society, are often reduced to a statistic. This interest is certainly not true altruism on my part though, I am sceptical that exists at all. I believe that ‘the creative journey enables reflection and provides a safe space to evaluate life’ (Albertson, in Wilkinson 2015). Therefore while operating in the creative realm of empathy, you are not only helping the less fortunate party but opening the door to significant personal and artistic growth for yourself, a suspicion affirmed in this project by the student response. Something that I feel I have only truly appreciated since I started my higher education is that beauty is authenticity, whether that be the pureness of simplicity or the intricacy of complexity. This makes it apt that the inmates are weaving as I imagine that many of their stories revolve around hardship, and it takes a certain level of detail to truly forget the prejudice and engage with their real, human stories instead. As it is ‘the art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of another person, understanding their feelings and perspectives and using that understanding to guide your actions’, empathy can also then be evoked through artwork and thus a third party, the viewer, enters into this beneficial cycle. My conclusion is then that the project is a win-win-win situation. I also found that this seemed to overlap organically with the other themes, for example the up cycling of waste bound high vis vests, not to mention the boundary breaking inclusivity of the concept.

Krznarick, R. (2014). The Empathy Instinct [p. 38]. London: Rider Books.

Krznarick, R. (2014). The Empathy Instinct [p. 42]. London: Rider Books.