#2 Blog Post – Themes Reflection

The Better Lives unit offered a range of projects and lectures that allowed us to engage with sustainability, diversity and social responsibility through the artistic practice. I have decided to deepen my understanding of these ideas via Fashion Illustration course.

Over the weeks, we got to know various techniques of operating a line, colour and shape, including creating collages, drawing from templates and using materials that would be generally recognised as trash. The spirit of sustainability was also present during the online classes where we were encouraged to use cardboard, old newspapers and generally supplies we already had at home. Apart from undertaking such eco-friendly actions, I have also realised that learning Photoshop may turn out a very useful skill for me and will help reduce possible material waste in the future.

           Sustainability is a concept that has been influencing my life for some time now. To give some examples, I come from an artistic family and if the no more needed garments were not given to the charities, I would see my parents use them as artistic tools or to protect surfaces from paints. Now, before buying any clothes, mostly from the second hands, I always try to assess whether the contemplated piece of garment would match to the ones I already own. It prevents me from storing cloths I would not actively use. Fashion plays an important role in expressing my identity but I do not want my experience to come into existence via depriving other people of proper living conditions or damaging nature what at the same time seems unavoidable in the today’s world situation.

As a makeup artist, I am automatically most passionate about the makeup and skin care industry which is regrettably becoming increasingly focused on the overconsumption that is fuelling companies to produce more unrecyclable packaging and include harmful ingredients in their products. We are constantly encouraged to put more substances on our faces when actually it would be better for both the environment and us to follow the minimalistic approach and make our everyday beauty routines simple and pleasant, not tiring and stressful.
In this case, one of the most inspirational brands I have come across is KraveBeauty whose founder, Liah Yoo, shares her knowledge via a YouTube channel and it is literally everything I have been asking for lately.

Nowadays, another responsibility of the artists is to create inclusive culture, where diversity is rather a rule than an exception. From my personal experience, seeing my peers’ illustrations during classes was very inspirational and gave me a wider context of how different each of our minds works and how many unique possibilities the ‘diversity’ aspect offers me as a creative thinker. As Lorraine Gamman said in her lecture Empathy:

A designer needs to be able to put themselves in somebody’s else shoes.

These are the words I would like to implement permanently in my work ethos. Fortunately, the aspect of social empathy is becoming strongly celebrated among the creative industries, especially when looking at brands and organisations embracing inclusivity, such as the Dazed&Confused magazine, Daily Paper or gal-dem to name a few.

In my future career I am certain I will strive to include diverse symbols of cultural otherness and sustainability related ideas in my projects because creating a positive social impact is inextricably aligned with my values. Better Lives experience has confirmed my conviction that empathy towards other people and environment is my social responsibility and, eventually, indicates what kind of person I am.

• Gamman, L. (2020) Empathy [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion (Accessed: 25 February 2020).

• Krave Beauty (2020) #PressReset. Feed Your Skin What It Craves. Available at: https://kravebeauty.com/ (Accessed: 02 May 2020).