Blog 3 – Project outcomes and personal development reflection task information
The Better Lives unit has encouraged me to think beyond just the creation of fashion images. Over the last three months or so, this project managed to bring so much awareness and has changed my perspective and opinions on fashion and the way it functions. This entire unit showed me both the positive and negative sides of the fashion industry and, most importantly, underlined the urgency and the need for action. I had a chance to indulge my knowledge on diversity, sustainability and social responsibility. Despite doing Fashion Photography as my main course, I was always intrigued by Creative Direction and Activism in particular. By working in a group and being assigned a brand, our goal was to produce a short video for “Nubian Skin”, which was established in 2014 by Ade Hassan who decided to create a different kind of nude.
In my opinion, this brand hugely represents and supports diversity. For our group, it was important to discover the intricate details of the brand’s background and aesthetic. This brand brought a truly innovative product to the market because of the way they empower women of colour. This brand, in particular, made the term “nude” more inclusive and has had a huge influence on many parts of the fashion industry. “Nubian Skin” is constantly evolving and expanding its reach, not only by delivering worldwide but also by communicating with their clients on social media platforms and collecting feedback. By doing our research, we managed to establish the main goal of the brand and started generating our ideas about video’s outlook. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our final edits and communication, in general, was tested as we had to switch to online. This gave us a chance to truly understand how challenging it can be to work as a team. By collecting the information, we realised that male figures aren’t represented as much as female figures, so it was a great opportunity to add more transparency to brand and the video.
It was one of a kind experience participating in this project. Due to the current situation, it will forever impact our way of thinking and working when it comes to fashion. “Nubian Skin” was designed to tackle tokenism, combat stereotypes and promote diversity and identity. Every member of our group felt like it was vital to highlight the fact that every woman and man deserves to be powerful, beautiful and connected. Our video offers authentic portrayals of black and minority ethnic communities. Finally, the Better Lives unit showed me how principal the making of an advert is, especially in these complicated and uncertain times. Working with other creative individuals will provide me with great connections and it gave me a chance to rethink my learning and develop new, essential skills.