Blog Post 1 – Empathy
Empathy should be a key factor in determining the personality of a fashion brand, their designs and the way they communicate their vision and ideas. Lorraine Gamman’s lecture, Empathy, truly broadened my horizons and made me have a better understanding on how psychology and fashion fuse together, as well as the importance of taking empathic design decisions.
Art in all forms is created by people to people. However, in order for a fashion statement to have a visible impact, it needs to be clearly addressed to a certain community of individuals. Ranging from celebrating an underground subculture, to combating gender inequality or to sending political messages, the art who is wanted to emerge to the top needs to deliver a strong message.
But what is the meaning of empathy in the process of creation? I believe that in order to understand a community’s needs, one needs to fully engage with its members. Only then, a designer, communicator or photographer can feel what the bigger purpose of a underground societies is. By embracing a group’s real wishes and desires and transposing them onto a piece of fabric, reconstructing and rethinking how personal messages can be sculpted, fashion can become an authentic method of representation.
Unfortunately, because of materialistic motivations that fuels a variety of designers, the pure intention of promoting a glimpse of culture, or tackling serious political issues can degenerate into an idea that simply sells itself out. Diversity turns into tokenism, underground becomes mainstream and suddenly ego driven individuals are rapidly hopping on the “niche” and emerging trends that loose more and more bits of their identity.
One example concerning this situation is what followed UK’s “Second Summer of Love”. Investors of all types saw great potential of gaining profits, but the Smiley Face that appeared on pre-made tie dye T-shirts was one of the signs that unfortunately announced the beginning of the end. Cash started flowing, followed by a massive increase of uneducated people (for that specific context) attending events, who did not fully understand how to respect the culture.
Moreover, the same exact concept emerged at companies such as Zara and H&M regarding pieces of clothing with the name and aesthetic of alternative bands, building a superficial category of people who wear a Guns’n Roses graphic hoodie without knowing who Axl Rose is.
Fortunately, it is not to say that there is no respect for culture anymore. Companies such as Nike are making great steps regarding empathy by including a Hijab for muslim women who practice sports, as well as Alexander McQueen’s SS show from 1999 portraying society’s perception of women in the past.
To conclude, this lecture really made me think about how important it is to make empathic decisions in order to celebrate and preserve culture effectively.