Better Lives: Lectures reflection, Blog post 1
Having watched a number of lectures for the Better Lives unit has made me reflect on the impact that fashion can have and the various ways in which people use it in their lives. The lecture that I feel has changed my thinking about fashions influence was the lecture on Power by Julia Crew.
“Fashion, as an affirmative life force of human togetherness, is a celebration of life and community between people… However, it is also an industry, a system, an apparatus of visual judgement, a conglomerate of capitalist powers that affects our togetherness.” Von Busch & Cuba, 2014. This quote that Julia included in the lecture reminded me of something I feel that I tend to forget sometimes, that fashion is an industry and is often focused on money and business. Oftentimes brands sell us the idea of the clothing and as a styling student I tend to focus on the visual aspects but it is important to remember that behind the aesthetic value there is a massive industry reliant on sales.
In the lecture Julia explored the power of fashion: it has been used for centuries to create hierarchies imposing literal power, it can be used as a marker of identity, but more recently fashion is more linked to economic power and the imbalance of wealth. Those at the top profit by exploiting those at the bottom, e.g brand owners have millions yet the people who produce the clothing will be paid a minimum and struggle to survive. There are many good companies that ensure the fair payment and treatment of their staff, however there are still so many companies that are simply for profit. Reflecting on this point I think that consumers have alot of the power in the choices they make when purchasing items, and a lot of people do not realise how important it is to understand where their items came from. Companies that have good ethics and are more sustainable should therefore be vocal about what they are doing, so consumers are aware and start to question the ethics of brands they have previously purchased from. Consumers have the power to make informed decisions and in larger numbers acts such as boycotts have the power to create change in the industry.
Media was another aspect that Julia brought up in the lecture. We are all influenced by media everyday, often without realising it, especially in more recent years with the rise of smartphones and social media. Fashion has become more than just clothing worn outside, we can now see images of clothing online 24/7 and access to fashion has become far wider spread. The need for newness and pressures of looking good have driven us to consume far more fashion than ever before, and this links back to the fact that fashion is a business, so brands are always pushing for more sales and faster.
Referring back to the quote at the beginning of the lecture, I think that there needs to be more of a focus on the togetherness and community of fashion. People need to make more informed decisions about purchases in order to reduce the demand for fast fashion as collectively we have a lot of power, however the brand owners need to take responsibility and make changes too.
References:
Crew, J. (2020) ‘Power’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 10 February