Blog 3: Styling and Sportswear Project Outcomes
For my Better Lives module, I chose the styling and production: in and outside of fashion, sportswear fashion language and sub-cultures project. I was particularly interested in this project because I love playing sports and staying active in my everyday life. As a consumer of sportswear and a creative illustrator, I also wanted to experiment in design so I thought this styling opportunity would be a perfect way for me to combine two of my passions.
From subcultures to streetwear, I was truly blown away by all the different styles that were introduced to us. I was only familiar with athleticwear built for exercise such as the basic t-shirts, shorts, trainers, sports bras etc. Although I did feel a little bit lost in discussing subcultures such as punk, hip-hop, grudge and skinheads, it was fascinating to learn about their influence on modern fashion and sportswear. The lectures delivered by the styling and production team were also very informative, including many references of designers and stylists that helped inspire our own looks that we put together in the masterclasses. Within our projects, we were encouraged to consider the Better Lives in our styling practice and were introduced to designers that worked used recycled materials and worked sustainably such as Adidas, working with AMSilk and Parley for the Oceans, finding new purpose for waste.
In the first masterclass that took place before the Easter Break, we had the opportunity to bring in items from our own wardrobe and experiment to create some styled looks using sustainable, second-hand clothing and pieces of scrap material. At first, I was quite nervous about this as my everyday clothes are quite plain, all I had were actual activewear and I didn’t have anything cool that could be considered streetwear. With my limited knowledge of subcultures and few material contributions, I wanted to take a step back in the masterclass but instead, I volunteered to be one of the models when no one else wanted to. Despite normally shying away from the centre of attention, I had a rewarding experience by going out of my comfort zone. One of the looks that we came with was composed of a graphic novel bodysuit with padded arms and shoulders paired with a hot pink mini skirt and metallic high boots. This first look redefined femininity and body types, allowing for more representation in media. The second look was composed of a red jersey and a red plaid skirt, creating more of a streetwear look. As a Canadian Chinese person, I always enjoy seeing more representation in media so it was great to have the opportunity model in this masterclass. I am really grateful that we could conduct the masterclass workshop. The final styled looks that we came up with were unconventional and strayed away from gender stereotype, allowing me to consider more diversity and representation in my work.
References: Savage, K. (2020) ‘The Better Lives Themes and Your Creative Practice’. [Lecture]. Better Lives, In and outside of fashion: Sportswear Fashion language and sub-cultures. University of the Arts London. 1 May.
4th May 2020 @ 6:54 pm
Peer Review Task (Drishti Kumari Singh 19002741)
I enjoyed reading your blog post as I can tell taking an active role in your project has lead to a lot of development personally for you and you have successfully reflected on the better lives themes of Sustainability, Diversity, and Social Responsibility while talking about your experience. You chose a project that was completely different from your field of creative illustrating because you wanted to experiment and combine your passions. I find this extremely commendable especially since you managed to learn new things about different subcultures and have a successful outcome even after being anxious initially.
I found it interesting when you mentioned learning about designers that worked using recycled materials. One such designer who stood out to me does something similar to this, her name is Bethany Williams. She is a London based menswear designer and all her clothes are sustainable. She even collaborated with a model agency that helps support homeless youth in London for one of her collections, I think this is a good example of two of the better lives themes Sustainability and Social Responsibility and how they are so much more effective when they are interlinked. My Fashion Journalism project’s outcome was closely linked to proving the importance of the interconnectivity of these two themes. A large number of designers have started adding sustainable clothes to their collections including big names such as Adidas, Stella McCartney, and H&M. While this is a big victory for sustainability in the fashion industry I still think there is a long way to go as many brands still need to follow in their footsteps.
It was nice to read that during one of your masterclasses you had to style looks using your own clothes, scrap materials, and second-hand clothing. This is an effectual way of representing the better lives theme of Sustainability. Even though you were nervous and felt like you didn’t have the right materials to contribute to the task, instead of stepping back into the background you volunteered to be a model because no one else stepped up. Not only do I think that this was incredibly brave but this action also displayed a sense of Social Responsibility. This is because by doing this I believe you made the whole class’s experience better as some of your peers may not have felt comfortable enough to model so no one had to forcefully do something they didn’t want to do just to complete the task.
The looks you styled depicted diversity not only in terms of race and colour but also body types which I think is incredibly important because so many people especially the youth still continue to have body image issues. The fact that your styled looks moved way from gender stereotypes also displays diversity in an important way. So many young people are identifying as non-binary and I think they definitely need to be represented more in the media. I’m happy to know that you felt empowered while modelling the looks since I’m from an Indian background I’m certain I would’ve felt the same way. I’m a Fashion Public Relations student and I’ve learned about tokenism and how diversity can be a buzzword in the fashion industry but it feels genuine in your experience.
The better lives unit has definitely impacted you in a positive way as it has given you an opportunity to think about Sustainability, Social Responsibility, and Diversity in new ways and you have been able to learn new things about styling and different subcultures. You have also managed to gain more confidence by stepping out of your comfort zone and engaging in the activities and completing the tasks given to you in your project.
References:
Fashion Revolution (2018) ‘7 fashion brands that are designing out waste’ Available at: (https://www.fashionrevolution.org/usa-blog/7-fashion-brands-that-are-designing-out-waste/)
(Accessed 4th May 2020)
11th May 2020 @ 1:38 pm
Peer review: When I was reading some of my peers work at the SMC blog, it felt almost impossible to choose one for a review, with so many interesting options and posts to choose from. But there was one, which really stood out for me- Elanka Jiang’s 3rd Blog post on Styling and sportswear project outcomes. As I am a Styling and Production student, it was fascinating for me to read an experience from a different perspective- someone who is interested in different fields, like creative illustration, wanting to experiment with designing and sportswear.
Elanka writes about the variety of styles being talked about throughout the lectures, from subcultures to streetwear. She discusses how informative the lectures were, being given different styles, designers, stylists, which could be used later as inspiration for the projects. It is mentioned how it was suggested to the students to consider Better Lives themes in their outcomes, and therefore they have been introduced to some sustainable brands, like Adidas. Elanka Jiang clearly understood the lecture delivery well, taking inspiration from it and actively using it further in her project.
It is mentioned that during the first masterclass, students had an option to bring in their own clothing and/or materials and then create looks with the use of them, which is an active method of bringing the Better Lives theme of sustainability into the classes. I feel like a really important part for Jiang was stepping out of her comfort zone and deciding to model. Modelling can definitely develop one’s confidence and bring out a new experience of being on the focus, so I’m glad to hear that the masterclasses and the project in general had brought some new experiences for Elanka. She later mentions how as a Canadian Chinese person she appreciates the opportunity to model, because of lack of representation in the media, which makes the whole experience stronger and powerful. The styled looks were well thought out, touching upon redefinition of femininity, as well as a streetwear inspired look.
Additionally, because of the final looks being unorthodox and against gender stereotypes, another important theme of Better Lives, diversity was moved. The idea of showing different body types fits well into this unit and makes a really engaging styling outcome, especially for a person, who is an illustrator and decided to experiment with styling. In conclusion, Elanka Jiang’s blog post was very inspiring, when it comes to a creative and original use of Better Lives themes throughout her project journey. It has enabled her to gain more knowledge on designers, stylists and subcultures as well as more confidence through the experience.