Blog 2- Maria Gonzalez Paramo
After watching the power lecture, I started to think about the effects that power had on the overall fashion industry. I did not agree with the fact that status in a way was more highly valued than creativity in terms of money, and in the future I would like to embrace the fact that creativity is harder to possess or reach than status as a position. I think this has affected me or opened my mind in the sense that I have started to value clothes for their creative/fashionable/original… qualities instead of just wanting it for its numerical and monetary value. Even though it may seem awful and embarrassing to say in a time like today, most of our self esteem for fashion fanatics, relies on the price of the garment worn. This is due to the fact that in modern society, there is a misconception that style means pricy clothing. As a stylist in formation, I obviously disagree with this belief.
It is also worrying to me that young creatives do not get payed the money that they should be payed (only of they are fair prices). Making quality clothing is extremely expensive in terms of textiles, fabrics and other materials needed, and due to the lack of status or reputation that these creatives have, they will never be able to make up for all the costs payed in the production and possibly post-production process. A viable way in which I could help and avoid this barrier, is by purchasing clothes from young designers and creatives and waste “big” amounts of money when and where they are due instead of feeding into the extremely high fashion and high reputable industry, where a tag is considered more beautiful than the material within the garment itself.
As for the way I will contribute with my power? I think my involvement would be political. I would make sure that my work space has an ideal or, evidently, almost ideal work ethic, considering equality, diversity and sustainable work ethics/practice. It is very important that everybody can add their own grain of a sand in today’s fashion industry and contribute with their insight. Being informal, I would say, “the more the merrier,” in the sense that regarding history and past times, the fashion industry has always included and considered voices all over the globe in order to strive to become a more neutral, equal and overall ethical practice/industry. I think power does not necessarily have to come from status, power can also come from the individual with a good set of values. An individual with fair, ethical, contemporary and considerate values represents strength and perseverance since they should be willing to stand up for these things. Being powerful in that sense, can allow for big changes to happen.