Blog Post 2

Nowadays, with social media, everyone can see fashion anywhere, anytime and can claim itself a fashion mogul or a fashion pro quite quickly. Social media made us see fashion everywhere and made it accessible to everyone (which is a good thing, because thanks to these platforms, people finally managed to see diversity and inclusivity in the fashion world) and sometimes, people that didn’t have an interest in fashion would discover that they loved clothes, aesthetics, styles and everything that surrounds this world. And once you discover your love/interest for it, it becomes very hard not to drown yourself in the perpetuous flow of informations, new collections, looks and more. We all know that with globalization, fashion brands are emerging everywhere, relocating their factories in poor countries where labour is cheaper and where they can produce at high speeds without having to pay a lot for the whole process of making a piece of cloth. Everyone can now buy an item the second they see it on someone’s Instagram, you don’t even have to go to the store, everything can be delivered to your door and you don’t have to make any effort of some sort. All of this means that you can see fashion everywhere, anytime, but also that you can buy fashion everywhere, anytime. People buy and buy and buy, sometimes without even knowing how much they’ve spent or how many items they’ve purchased. Fashion is all around us, all the time, and we want to use it as much as we can. But at what cost? What’s the point of buying clothes in high-street shops or to buy them from big luxury brands when you know that either way, the labor making the clothes is probably underpaid and that the factories are all relocated in poor countries? When you know that some brands are destroying what they couldn’t sell rather than recycling or donating it? All of this becomes even more noticeable during this time of pandemic. Everyone is at home because of the lockdown and you can still see that people are buying fashion items online everyday, sometimes only because it makes them feel like everything is normal. Where is the sustainability, the social responsibility and the diversity in all of this? 

The Better Lives theme made me realize that we can all be very selfish and that we could all choose to be more aware of everything that revolves around the fashion world to create a positive and lasting change in it. I intend to be more careful in my work and my research, I want to learn as much as I can about every issue that exists right now to be aware of the changes that need to be made and to be self-conscious. Because sometimes, when you do something at your own scale, you can inspire others to join you and that’s when the big changes arrive. If we all try, then someday we will all succeed to have Better Lives.