Better Lives: Themes reflection, Blog post 2
Having heard the Better Lives themes being discussed over the past few weeks has made me reflect on how I would incorporate them into my work as a styling and production student. I think that I was already aware of these issues, however this project has made me realise just how big of an impact there can be by ensuring they are part of everyones practice.
I have always been concerned with sustainability within fashion as I know how bad the fast fashion industry is for the environment. In my most recent project I focused on informing consumers on how they can make better choices when buying clothes and how to avoid fast fashion and I want to continue to spread this message. My opinion is that consumers need to be more educated on the impact that their buying habits can have on not only the environment but also the workers who produce their clothing, therefore as a stylist I will continue to promote more ethical and sustainable brands as well as encouraging second hand buying. When choosing clothing or brands to include in my work I like to find ones that use dead-stock material, have zero waste, use recycled materials, made clothes to last or offer repairs on their clothing as all of these reduce the need for fast fashion. There is also far more craftsmanship in these types of clothes as opposed to fast fashion so it looks better in photoshoots too.
Diversity is also something that I always try to incorporate within my work. Through the better lives lectures it has made me realise this can go further than simply visual representation; it should also include the teams and brands I work with. In my future work I want to make sure I include a diverse team of people who I work with and diverse designers. This is important as a stylist can have a large impact on what people decide to purchase as they are showing people what they think they should wear and minority groups do not always get the support they deserve. Working in a diverse team also means you have a bigger variety of opinions and ideas that can help the outcome of the work to be more diverse and inclusive in its impact.
As the fashion industry is so big, small choices can have a huge impact on peoples lives, therefore it is vital that everyone is considered in each choice that is made. Social responsibility can include ensuring fair pay of workers, but also ensuring that things such as cultural appropriation are not taking place and that people are aware of their power within fashion. In my own practice I think that I will always think about the work I am creating and try to imagine it through other perspectives to make sure I am being responsible.
27th April 2020 @ 1:02 pm
Having delved into fashion styling during my previous year in the foundation course and within my personal free time, I found Eloise’s blog post extremely interesting because it shed more light on the different ways we can connect the better lives themes of diversity, social responsibility and sustainability to everything we do within fashion.
I completely agree with the fact that the lack of knowledge contributes to the popularity of fast fashion, and the other reason being that not everyone is able to afford sustainable products as they are more expensive. Fast fashion brands produce items that are cheap and that have lower quality, which encourages consumers to buy more often and this is where the problem persists. Brands are unable to sell all the stock that they have produced, and these products end up in landfills and go to waste, which harms the environment. It is definitely important for brands to now focus on producing less and utilising sustainable production methods. Even though this might increase overall costs, the consumer base must understand that this is the correct way forward. The importance and rise of sustainability is definitely a threat to popular fast fashion brands such as Zara, H&M, Bershka, etc that create cheap clothing and have a high turnaround. It is interesting that Eloise, during her styling work, chooses to represent brands that have zero-waste policies, ones that use recycled materials and make clothes that last, because although that might make the process of sourcing clothing for her shoots way harder, she chooses to take that route so that she can spread the correct message to her audience.
Additionally, she delves into the idea of diversity and lends an interesting view that focusing on diversity goes beyond just visual representation, but also involves the people within the team. Her understanding is vital as she mentions that she would like to work with different designers in the future, ones that are not as mainstream, which might make her creative process more fluid. I find that when we focus too much on bringing out diversity, it may seem very superficial to an audience. Hence, enveloping different people with new thoughts and ideas into the process might make it effortlessly diverse and original. She goes on further to acknowledge the role of a stylist and mentions how important it is for stylists all around the world to promote small brands and items created by minority groups, as stylists do influence the way people choose to dress. This connects to the idea of sustainability as well because smaller brands and minority groups create products on a made-to-order basis, which reduces the overall wastage of materials. Furthermore, the aspect of social responsibility connects diversity and sustainability as it is important for brands to promote fair working conditions and fair pay. Customers must be informed of the brands’ working practices and must only support a brand if they are focusing enough on maintaining corporate social responsibility.
After reading Eloise’s work, I was able to look at these themes from a different perspective. Being a PR student, I have definitely looked at the three themes from another lense, and hence hearing her viewpoint definitely aided in my understanding of how we can make fashion more environmentally, socially and consumer friendly.