Lecture Reflection
During quarantine, I have watched all recordings of the Better Lives lectures and some lectures have impressively influenced my thinking on how fashion can create better lives. Nina Stevenson’s lecture which talks about ‘Fashion and Sustainability’ attracts me most.
In her lecture sustainability is defined as: ‘The imagining and conceiving of cultural, nature-based, societal and economic prosperity involves the creative exploration of fashion’s artistic, culture-shaping and business practices in the context of a changing world.’ (LCF’s Education for Sustainability Transformation Strategy 2016-22.) This shows that sustainable fashion is closely related to four main aspects: culture, nature, society and economy. So how do they affect the sustainability in fashion industry?
Nina Stevenson has emphasized a point in her lecture, which is ‘all fashion comes from nature.’ While designers draw inspiration from nature, fashion industries are also consuming its resources. The fashion industry is one of the largest, most dynamic and influential on the planet, yet it is also one of the most polluted in the world. Nowadays, the environmental water resources are extremely unbalanced and water resources are scarce, however, it takes up to 20, 000 liters of water to produce a kilo of cotton and as many as 8,000 chemicals may be used to make a garment, from dyeing to final treatment. In addition, the use of animal fur is, to some extent, an overexploitation of natural resources by fashion companies. The good news is that now More and more fashion enterprises pay attention to these problems and take corresponding measures. For example, Stella McCartney always puts “sustainability” more important than design when designing new collections and Gucci as well as Burberry have banned the use of animal fur. We, as one of the fashion consumers，should try to buy less, spend wisely, and invest in clothes that last.
Expect the natural aspect, the remaining three aspects of economy, culture and society are interrelated. On these three aspects, we have to talk about fast fashion. We all know fast fashion is a popular sales mode. But there are many problems with this consumption mode. Nina Stevenson pointed out the social problems in her lecture. According to the lecture, the value of the clothing industry is rising, the production of clothing is doubling, the consumption rate of people buying clothes is increasing rapidly, and at the same time, the number of used clothes going to the landfill is increasing. Additionally, she listed in a slide: In Uganda 81% of tall clothes are sold from the west – influx of secondhand clothing in dev countries is destroying local crafts, textiles and tailoring economies (Brooks, 2015).
The rapid development of fashion industry has brought about some negative effects on nature, social culture and other aspects. It is because people are aware of these problems that they put forward the concept of sustainable fashion. For the better development of this industry, what should relevant enterprises and people do? There was a passage in the lecture that impressed me very much: ‘We need a fashion system that has an ecological heart, a socially conscious mind, a culturally diverse body and an economy forms the muscle that enables it to move in flow.’ (Prof. Dilys Williams, Director, Centre for Sustainable Fashion) We should keep this in mind and sustain a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.