Blog Post 1- Empathy
Throughout these two weeks of the Better Lives unit, the lecture that I could connect the most with was the one by Lorraine Gamman on Empathy. The way she connected empathy to fashion was what drew my attention to this lecture. Empathy is something that we all possess in our day to day lives. In the beginning she spoke about empathy, our emotional response and understanding. She started by connecting empathy and the arts, like theatre, film, paintings make us step into someone else’s shoes and makes us see things from their perspective and how they feel about it. She also spoke about the exhibition she did where people could listen to the stories of the prisoners in order to understand their situations better.
She spoke about empathic design and how fashion reaches out to different people differently. A designer has to look at a number of aspects like the audience, what are their needs, how will they perceive their work etc. Later she explained empathy probes and different phases of research which were discovery, immersion, connection and detachment. It was quite fascinating to realise how most of us already do this unknowingly to understand the feelings of the other person in a better way. She also spoke about the “Design Against Crime Research Centre” that she set up and discussed about the way how bags are designed and the “use” and “abuse” of bags. She further emphasised on ‘design against crime’ which really drew my attention as I never thought about this before. I like how she went in depth about psychology behind crime. She also referred to ‘The Empathy Instinct’ Bazalgotte (2012) which stated that ‘empathy is partial’ and ‘not simply a good thing’. When I came to think of it I realised how human nature is not only influenced by other people’s emotions but also environmental factors and their surroundings.
All the lectures in this unit have taught me something or the other and have further enlightened my take on sustainability, diversity and social responsibility in fashion. As a fashion styling student it made me realise how I should think about empathy and be more empathetic in all that I do not only work related but as a whole in my personal life as well.
References:
Gamman, L (2020) “Empathy” [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 25th February.
Bazalgotte. P. (2012) The Empathy Instinct: How to create a more civil society. London. John Murray Publishers.