Blog post 1 Ryan Lewis
Blog post 1
By attending all the lectures regarding the better lives unit there were three lectures that I enjoyed the most which was lecture 1, lecture 3 and lecture 10. These covered a range of topics within the fashion industry and has consequently helped my view broaden wider.
The first lecture in which I enjoyed was lecture 1 and this outlined power within the fashion industry. Within this, a major question came up about who holds the power in the industry. Progressing through the lecture power can mean a range of things and can be portrayed in different lights. Power could mean fashion, money, media, consumer, protest or you. An example is fashion has always been a symbol of power within culture and how people dress can symbolize a range of things such as how much money they have or what their job involves. This has changed my perception of power as power can be identified in everyone, not just people with high paying jobs or known people.
The second lecture in which I liked was lecture 3 and this outlines emerging technologies in fashion. Technology has become a very important resource in everything we do as fashion gets vital information from technology to progress through the years. It helps with interaction, communication, and collaboration on a huge scale around the world to further improve collections and more. On the other hand, technology can destroy techniques that have been used in the past and proven to work, an example of this is that the iPhone has overtaken the place of big camera companies and will continue to reduce sales within camera companies. Overall this lecture has helped me realize that technology can be a good and bad thing but overall will help the widespread coverage of fashion around the world and connect communities in a diverse way.
The final lecture I enjoyed was lecture 5 and this outlined nature. Nature is a huge part of the world we live in and fashion is one of the leading pollutants to nature around the world. Exploring the links between natural systems and fashion products within this lecture has highlighted that more and more brands are trying to become sustainable but some of the major fast fashion brands need to progress with sustainability immediately. All living systems are now in decline and many species have become extinct. Some of the problems that have occurred due to the fashion industry include deforestation and intensive agriculture. This has opened my eyes that nature is under tremendous stress from the fashion industry and I will continue to not buy into fast fashion companies and prioritize sustainable brands when shopping, and so should you!