Blog post 1
The Better Lives unit has been an engaging and enriching experience for me the reason being, I find the core themes discussed imperative for the betterment of our future on a societal and environmental level. A lecture that struck a chord with me was the one on ‘Power’ given by Julia Crew, co-founder of ‘ Here today, here tomorrow’. Questions such as ‘who holds the power in the fashion system and does it equate with responsibility?’ were asked. There are various forms of power within the industry. One being the power of actually wearing a garment. Its message can be silent but it’s always impactful as it expresses how each individual identifies themselves. We were shown numerous examples of this, one being the dress of royalty. Clothing was always a visual demonstration of wealth. It was always handcrafted and had elements of rarity and exclusivity. Just by looking at the garments one could assume the status and other characteristics of the person. We also looked into the theme of ‘money and power’ and were shown shameful statistics such as the reality of a CEO of a top fashion brand earning in four days what a Bangladeshi garment worker will make in their whole life. It is information such as this that gripped me as a consumer who buys into this exploitation, to take responsibility and stand for systemic change. It was also noted that there is little diversity in the people who sit at the top of the industry, as referred to in the lecture, majority are ‘pale, male and stale’. Unfortunately the reality is that these stakeholders are part of a small percentage that benefit financially from the fashion industry. Most workers are paid minimum wage leaving little room for anything but hand to mouth living. As the garments become more in demand, the production becomes cheaper and faster, leaving labourers overworked and underpaid, not forgetting the emotional effects of intimidation and harassment by authorities – the harsh truth behind your shopping spree to Westfields. We then moved on to talk about the power of media and influencers. With the new age of social media, we are purchasing more than 400% of clothing than we did 20 years ago. We see our favourite celebrity wearing a Topshop dress on Instagram and we just need to have it because it bridges the world we live and a life of luxury. Sadly, 75% of the 100 billion garments produced annually land up in landfill, a very unsustainable way of living. It supports the idea of a linear economy instead of circular and has harsh consequences on our environment. As a consumer, I have learnt it is my job to take responsibility. Without my wallet, these corporations are nothing. We hold the power, we drive trends. We need to turn the system around to ensure the people behind our garments are dignified and not exploited. Boycott if need be, disrupt the system, work as a collective. We all have the capability to create change no matter who you are.
3rd May 2020 @ 1:29 pm
While looking for a blog to review, I found yours, Nicole Pereira’s extremely interesting to read and decided to review it. The reason for this was because of your take on the lecture ‘Power’ given by Julia Crew. You dissected the lecture very well and explained different facets of power in fashion. You very clearly expressed all the three strands of the Better Lives unit too.
It is fascinating to see you discuss your take on money and power in the fashion industry. Which you have linked to the social responsibility element of the unit. The association between our consumption habits and the lecture helped me understand the lecture from a personal point of view. Such as the specific example of the “Westfield shopping sprees” that not only holds us, but all shoppers accountable to their actions that contribute to the exploitation of workers in the industry. I, completely agree with you on this point where you say we influence trends and the market and if we find alternatives to buying fast fashion we can break this vicious cycle where the owners of fashion brands keep getting richer and the labourers get next to nothing.
It was interesting to also see you relate power to sustainability. You examined how much
waste fashion business produces and the dire effects of it on our environment. By calling out celebrity culture and their effect on the consumers you shed a light on our current problems with the power dynamics of buying goods which is severely influenced by social media. Mentioning brands like Topshop, also informed us of the harm caused by fast fashion companies in creating “linear economies”.
It was refreshing for me to see you take personal responsibility by the end of the blog post and be transparent about your actions. Often the issue with “cancel” culture is that we end up blaming others but never get around to change our own actions. It is evident by this blog that you have realised you are a part of this community as well and you along with the support of others can bring the change you would like to see. By identifying, money as the motive for big corporations you tell us how we should be investing this in the right brands that support our collective belief of sustainability and social responsibility towards workers. It was quite enlightening to read your perspective on the lecture and understand the importance of accountability and power in the fashion commerce. The arguments you made I believe are the harsh reality of this overly glamorised industry and is crucial to understand and implement to get a positive change we need in the fashion business.