BLOG POST 3 PROJECT OUTCOME REFLECTION
Fashion activism is a depiction on what social change means, and what actions we can implement to make a point.
As a collective, from Fashion Activism, my group was assigned to create a moving image for a brand, Nubian Skin, and adapt the approach with inclusivity. We started to strategize on what we wanted our message to uphold. Prior to this, we made steps to start our research on the ethos, brand positioning, aesthetics and target consumer on the brand.
Finding out that, Nubian skin is a lingerie brand, by Ade Hassan, challenged the assumptions on the word “nude”. Which connotates that beige is a tone that blends with all shades, by Expanding the “one dimensional view” on blackness, creating undergarments for minorities. Therefore, made her more determined to cater to people of colour.
Within my research of the brand, I notice that not all shades of melanin were being promoted, which concerned my views and the beliefs of Nubian skin. I believe that if you’re going to make a brand that is all inclusive, analyse and research each shade of colour to include your target consumer, so they can engage, interact and promote items that ranges for any person, regardless of gender/ colour/ disability or sexuality.
Continuing to analyse the brand, we decided to gain as much knowledge as possible, independently, to put our own views on the brand, and how we could still keep the same values, but also make it more inclusive to all shades. Collectively, we wanted to Incorporate all of our skill sets (fashion styling, photography, illustration) to create a fresh, new approach to our interpretation of what the brand could be. From brainstorms, to collages, it was our next step into figuring out what would be included in the moving image.
We created our home video, depicting transparency, diversity, sustainability and no form of discrimination. By changing the narrative of our moving image, we had a male (he/ him/ them) as the main visual.
Due to my groups research, we evaluated that a males point a view isn’t promoted as much in mainstream media, which forced our ideas to form a new version of life involving a person that has no attachment with media, connoting that any gender, sexuality has a voice, emotions, and is capable of feeling vulnerable and can understand their strengths and weaknesses.
It promotes a point of view on a person’s transition in life and forcing the viewers eyes to see that we are slaves to society because we uphold the norms/ values that society has set for us to be our norms. However, to the lack of support we get emotionally, for our mental as well as physical health.
In this project, the outcome influenced by way of thinking. Be transparent with who you are and how you choose to work in groups, evaluate your own opinions and let others have their own, regardless of agreeing to disagree. The framework produced as a group made us gain trust within each other to listen, explore and obtain new knowledge collectively to make a piece of work that can relate to us individually.
6th May 2020 @ 11:43 am
My feedback is on RIAH ASHANTAI BENT-STEDFORD project outcome and personal development reflection. I think you reflected fully especially on the themes of Diversity. Her group got assigned to produce a moving image campaign for the brand “Nubian Skin”, a undergarment brand, and from her research she realised that the brand isn’t as inclusive as it could be. She commented on how there was only one shade available and expected to fit every darker shades of brown.
This reflection alone shows how successfully she understood the real struggle behind not being inclusive and even critically explained her point.
She also dived in deeper onto diversity by realising that the brand didn’t care to cater to that specific audience, darker skin tones, therefore along with her group chose to make the video specifically aimed at darker skin tones this time around. Which shows, how she would act in case this happened in an established brand she had power over. Furthermore, the explanation on how the project came together also showed the understanding of the brief and how they managed to stick to it step by step.
In conclusion, the finished product represented a male in the campaign video, changing the narrative of always having females in them, this shows again her grasping the concept of diversity effectively and overall in this project I really enjoyed the full reflection with valid points; though she only mainly spoke about diversity it is a major issue in the industry and has been swept under the rug for too long. I don’t think mixing it with sustainability and social responsibility would have made her point on diversity as clear with effective examples to back up her reflections. And it would have come across as less genuine: just a way of ticking “woke” boxes. This way it comes off transparent and helpful.