Blog Post 2
Social Reponsbility, Diversity and Sustainability.
3 deeply important pillars of the fashion industry. Learning about these different values have really made me reflect on the best and worst parts of the fashion industry and appreciate how important it is to emulate these values. I feel great hope for the future of the fashion industry, one of the main reasons for this is that institutions like the University of the Arts London are taking great care to educate the leaders of tomorrow to understand the importance of these three pillars. By doing so, they are releasing new minds into the industry who will implement these values.
One of these pillar that specifically struck me was that of sustainability. This really is the be all and end all of humanity. Naturally, we are aware that we are on the precipis of global devastation due to global warming and it is our generation who will have to deal with the fall out. Therefore, because of this, it is deeply important that we as fashion students understand that we are going into an industry that has a detrimental effect on global warming. Although the fashion indisutry doesn’t have a reputation like the oil industry, it still contributes a sizeable contribution to warming the planet – to put things into perspective, it contributes slightly less carbon dioxide than Russia.
Now that I have fully comprehended the importance of sustainability within the fashion industry, I undwerstnad how this may alter my role in fashion pr. It will become increasingly important for companies to have stellar records of sustainability. For example, in 2018 many were disgusted with major british brand Burberry incinerating millions of pounds worth of products to ensure it did not “get in the wrong hands”. This was seen as deeply irresponsible and many condemened the brand. As a PR it will be my job to ensure that the brands reputation is not ruined after revelations like this. I imagine I will also be responsible for reparations, for example donating money to environmental charities. When this revelation first came out regarding Burberry, they arranged to create a capsule collection with Vivienne Westwood. This was a very clever move as many are aware of Westwoods efforts in regards to the environment and she is a staunch Green Party supporter.
Reflecting on sustainability and this better lives project has really allowed me to understand how my responsibilities will differ slightly from the generations before me. I will have to specifically be aware of obstacles the generations before me were not aware of. This is due to consumers now being more informed and having slightly stronger values. For example consumers are thinking more before buying, they don’t want to purchase clothes that were made in sweatshops, generally they would rather pay more for a higher quality, sustainable product. Due to this, I will have to promote sustainable values within the brands I work for not just because it is the right thing to do, but evidently it is actually more profitable.