BLOG TASK 1: Reflections on one or more of the Better Lives lectures and how they have influenced your thinking
During the first two weeks of Better Lives we all had the chance to hear the voices of very good lecturers about issues which nowadays involve and invite us to reflect. Among these, the one which mostly captured my attention and my deliberations is “Power”, directed by Julia Crew.
As the title reveals, it is a dissertation on how the Power was and is still expressed through some strong aesthetic symbolism which will always be reflected by our clothes and how also it will be forever connected to such matters as MONEY and form of PROTESTS. The lecture was introduced by a very truthful quote which briefly states that Fashion celebrates life and community between people belonging to different cultures but that at the same times it hides or maybe not longer, such a strong Capitalism which negatively affects people’s life.
Obviously, this all is attributed to the way Power today is used and controlled by such “big” characters who, because of their need to expand profits, go to the detriment of those who work to guarantee themselves the simple rights of living and survive. This sad statement brought me immediately to a question: can we do anything to slightly change what is really happening or can we at least try to work collectively in order to make our world a fairest place where we can all more or less benefit of the same rights?
Yes, this is absolutely possible as we are also the reason why things have been always conducted this way. We have indeed contributed to certain realities, in this specific case we let some colossal fast fashion companies miseducate us and teach the audience to constantly fill up their wardrobes for just a pure aesthetical and social need.
Therefore, it led me to another question: “How those business can raise a bit more of awareness towards the people’s necessity of over consuming?” As the same lecture pointed, the answer is in our POWER and how it turns into something extraordinary when it is invested in democratic acts of protest and humanity gesture.
In my opinion, the greatest encouragement comes from the activism of big designers, such as Vivienne Westwood, who has always raised her voice against a cruel capitalism and who since ever has embraced a sustainable way of making and producing clothes. Another great example is represented by Giorgio Armani, who has transformed all his four Italian production sites to produce medical overalls for the individual protection of health care providers fighting the coronavirus. Moreover, he has declared that this emergency should be an opportunity for big business and not only to slow down and reflect on how things can be done better in the future, in favour of our planet.
So, as also proved by these pioneers, we can all come out with a cure for our world’s illness. Primarily all the big fashion ambassadors should change their attitude in terms of their incessant production and to be an example for their competitors and the small businesses. In the meantime, as consumer, even if in a smaller case, we can all contribute at using our POWER in social contexts where a change is needed and then be finally responsible of our planet complete recovery.
REFERENCE:
Julia Crew (2020) ‘Power’ [Live lecture]. Better Lives London Fashion College .10 February . Available at: https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/81f5f93f-89c9-4e6d-a3ff-17d0eafcfc76?referrer=https:%2F%2Fmoodle.arts.ac.uk%2Fmod%2Fpage%2Fview.php%3Fid%3D397690 (Accessed: 10 April 2020).
Zargani, L. (2020) ‘Giorgio Armani writes an open letter to WWD’, WWD, Available at: https://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/giorgio-armani-writes-open-letter-wwd-1203553687/ (Accessed: 10 April 2020).