Blog2 – Reflect themes
In the past, it was not easy to hear ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Fashion’ to be discussed together. But in recent years, the gap between these two words has gradually disappeared, when we are talking about fashion, people have frequently mentioned sustainable development.
I am currently studying Fashion Illustration as my Betterlives course, and the function of illustration is to make audiences to perceive the concept or the deep meaning through the image that the illustrators want to pass through. What is more, we have also seen from many brands how sustainability is cleverly combined with fashion. Therefore, it’s significant to discover the sustainable story of each brand helps my way up to do a better drawing.
For example, FREITAG uses the waterproof tarpaulins of abandoned trucks, the wheels of used bicycles, and car safety belts to become the bags we carry every day. ERDOS connects nature, goats, and grasslands to form a cycle. Prada’s recycled nylon handbag is made of fishing nets, discarded nylon, carpets, and industrial wastes. After chemical degradation, these wastes gradually return to their original purity. There are more and more factories in Italy that convert these recycled materials into polymers and fibers through new polymerization processes.
All the goods have their stories, and the way they were produced affects our lives and the planet. In the past, people have been against nature for a long time for the sake of economic development. As a student of fashion illustration, it is essential to enhance people’s awareness of sustainable development and environmental protection through my own major.
When I learned the stories behind many brands from many reading materials, I began to think from the perspective of viewers: if I am a viewer, what kind of illustration image can make me pay more attention to the relationship between fashion and nature? Then, I find that people always use vivid colors or materials to highlight the value of things. So as long as these things measure sustainable development, it can attract readers’ attention. For instance, when I was drawing my first pic in class, and I discovered that using waste materials [such as plastic package paper and waste cotton] to make clothes for the naked body image helped me to go in deep of sustainable fashion. Therefore, fashion illustrators could make images based on brand stories, then use waste materials from our daily life to raise people’s environmental awareness and a sense of social responsibility.
In conclusion, I want to thank Better Lives for giving me an excellent opportunity to represent my thoughts and make me think about my future work. Last but not least, I believe that fashion illustration will always be a good way to convey the meaningful idea of sustainability and wake up those who have not yet been engaged with protecting the earth.