Blog 2 Themes reflection
Social responsibility is the notion that, I used to consider as somewhat daunting. The magnitude of the problem of the detrimental impact fashion industry has on the environment as well as societal concerns may seem so overwhelming that consequently can become ignored due to the feeling of powerlessness. What I thoroughly enjoy about ‘Better Lives’ is that it unpacks numerous socio-economic issues within fashion industry in order to provide us with most in depth understanding, but also strongly encourages to take action in our own creative process. A great example of that merge between fashion and politics as Carbone points out were slogan t-shirts designed by Katharine Hamnett (1975: 67) which bore the simple yet effective political message therefore becoming a form of activism. In her brilliant lecture ‘Society’ Katelyn Toth-Fejel proposed a fantastic variety of the tangible socially-conscious responses towards the implement of a greater change. Even though it may seem like a small input, I wish for my final look for the Make-up Break Down project to be informed by those values by using ethically manufactured products or homemade supplies as well as found natural objects.
As discussed in the earlier post I have gained a far greater consideration for the notion of sustainability thanks to ‘Better Lives’. Now, it does not only mean for me being environmentally aware, but also, within that, being extremely attentive to the great importance of the cultural aspect of it, too. Consequently, I deem both of those understandings of sustainability as inextricable and essential in my future work by not only paying careful attention to the sources of clothing to be used in photoshoots, but also in addressing further consideration of cultural contexts that I will be referencing.
As a stylist I believe that I acknowledge diversity in my casting quite subconsciously without any prior meditation. Although I may believe and practice certain values it does not mean however that racism in today’s media ceased to exist, unfortunately it just took different form. In his essay, Hall (2003) argues that despite of various attempts towards representation, people of colour keep being misrepresented in media due to the pre-existing clichés drawn from sources such as the early cinema. I strongly believe that fashion can have an impact on confounding those, hence from now on I will aim for my future projects rather than just to ‘fit within a frame’, to actively make a statement promoting this and previously mentioned values by not only seeking the diversity within casting but also my future collaborators.
Carbone, C. (1975) ‘Support a Cause, Wear a T-shirt’, in Busch, O. (ed.) Just Fashion: critical cases on social justice in fashion. New York: Selfpassage, pp. 67-71.
Hall, S. (2003) ‘The Whites of Their Eyes’ in Dines, G., Humez, Jean M. (ed.) Gender, race, and class in media : a text-reader. Thousand Oaks, California : Sage, pp. 90-92.
Toth-Fejel, K. (2020) ‘Society’ [Lecture]. Better Lives. London College of Fashion. 19 February.