Blog post 1
“We can’t address the topic of sustainability without addressing consumerism and the buyer power” Anna Fitzpatrick started off a Better Lives Conference on Fashion, Sustainability and Culture, a lecture which greatly influenced my understanding of sustainability and our consumerism behaviour. I tend to forget that these social issues go hand in hand. Seen as, I take my power as a fashion buyer for granted, I fail to recall the value of garments, where they were produced and the working conditions of the labour force. Because of this reason, I lose my cultural practise. Not to mention, consumers are encouraged to purchase something everywhere they go. For instance, when we go on holidays, we have a habit of returning home with personal souvenirs, but also for friends and relatives. How can we fight this urge to overconsume?
Consumer culture can be loosely defined as the desire and ability to live beyond basic needs. It arguably became a truly mass phenomenon during the 20th century, and particularly after the Second World War (Hall et al.2008.89). This definition can be linked to the idea of cultural swift. This is to say, in this day and age, we as consumers instead of having more leisure time, we decide to buy more. Feel tired? Buy a coffee! Buy clothes to reward yourself for passing an exam. This is a vicious cycle which seems difficult to break, as statistics confirm consumers buy 60% more than they need every year. According to Fitzpatrick the percentage will be higher in 10 year.
At some point in the conference, Fitzpatrick made mention of Kawamura (2005), who argued that fashion and clothing are distinct concept, fashion is immaterial, while clothing is material. This statement prompted me to think once again about how much I consume. Fashion depends on nature resources (land, water, air and animals) and there will be repercussions if we simply use them and don’t find a way to put them back, like the cotton to make those plaid skirt which girls like me love so much.
Having learned more key points about consumerism and sustainability in this lecture, I now understand I must do something to alter my consumerism habits. Starting with small steps, like buying less clothes, and when I want new clothes, get them from charity shops or vintage shops and not from fast fashion stores/brands. This understanding is essential to me as a learner of the fashion industry. However, I like to think that I already do small things to save the planet, such as reusing the same plastic bag every time I go food shopping or reusing the same bottle of water for months. I understand it would be better to just own a portable water bottle, but I can’t just use a plastic bottle of water once and put it in the bin.
To conclude the lecture, Fitzpatrick reinforced the importance of bringing up the issues of sustainability and consumerism when having conversations with friends. As I next step I have to, in some way, bring more awareness to these issues.