How the Better Life Theme Might Change How I Work In The Future?
Originally, I am a Creative Direction for Fashion (CDF) student however during the duration of the Better lives project, I decided to study Fashion Styling and Production (FSP) because in Creative Direction for Fashion you go to know everything which means the more skills you have in different practices, it’s more beneficial for you. After attending many of the lectures in the first two weeks, I recognized that it helped me get an idea of what the three themes which are Diversity, Social Responsibility and Sustainability is before I started my FSP class. The three themes go hand in hand with FSP however I am the most passionate about Diversity and I just started becoming more interested and aware about Sustainability.
As I’ve mentioned before, the topic of diversity has always one of my key interest and is something I always explore in my Creative Practice CDF. As someone who isn’t been represented in Fashion or Media in general, it only makes senses for me to want to challenge the system and showcase those who aren’t the norm. Diversity, I would say is one of the most essential factors in fashion and from what I’ve seen, it looks very bland which doesn’t make any senses because diversity is a reality so it’s not hard to start showing what you see. Aaron Philip, the first black, trans, disabled model was just signed to Elite Model Management 2 years- it should be taking us this long to accept someone like Arron in fashion when we are the ones who are deciding and making the trends.
To be honest, I always forget that diversity isn’t just about Race and body shapes but it’s also about Age, Disability, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Religion and Belief. In FSP classes, I’ve learnt how to showcase diversity through clothes. I’ve worked with Silhouettes and Shapes to reinvent body shapes and create Gender-neutral fashion and how to send a message and express your thought and beliefs through clothes. Even after learning these new skills, I need to remember that diversity is also about inclusivity and as Creative Director and stylist, I have the power to bring diversity to of my project and showcase them.
When I was younger, there was a stigma about people who shop in charity/thrift stores, where they dirty or digesting because it was used clothes. So, as a teen, I never shopped in any of those stores because I cared about my image and I didn’t care about where it was from or who made it. But as I’ve gotten older, I started learning more about sustainability and sustainable fashion and how I could use this in my creative practice whiles still able fashionable. As a creative director, I have the power to create any form outcome and after attending FSP classes, I’ve been introduced to multiple Sustainable brands, new materials, how to Customise and how to shop Sustainable which is very useful because now I know new ways that I can still create the outcome that I want but in a more sustainable way.
In conclusion, as someone who’s in the creative practices, I have the power change people view on diversity and sustainability and show that it can become the norm. These 2 topics are extremely important in this generation and are something that we have to take into consideration for everything we do. In the future, I want to start working with a more diverse group of people and get their side of the story and also maybe start to experiment with items and fabrics.