Blog Post 4: Peer Review Task
After reading many different Better Lives blog posts, I have chosen to peer review Nicole Banke’s reflection on the Better Lives themes. I chose this blog post in particular to reflect on as I thought this was extremely engaging and informative. I admire and appreciate that she understands the importance and relevance of herself as an individual in the fashion industry in the beginning, as she states that she has a voice that can be able to influence the industry in a positive way, hopefully pushing it in the right direction. Nicole uses many examples of real-life scenarios in fashion to evidence her points, adding a very informative touch to her reflection and therefore showing knowledge and understanding towards the topics. She adds that the fashion industry has a long way to go in terms of the three Better Lives themes, and also points out that her career path (PR) will help her to hopefully strive in creating a healthier and more acceptable environment for the fashion industry by working with brands that affiliate and reflect the same values as her. Nicole furthermore demonstrates a range of understanding through her statements and includes detailed analysis’ of each of the Better Lives themes’ influence and progress (if any) in fashion. For diversity, Nicole states that it is incredibly important for brands to have a focus on the diversity of the human population, specifically race and culture. She also states that every brand has a social responsibility as they have a base of customers that respond to them, therefore the image of a brand is crucial as consumers that are willing to support these same values, reflecting this back to society. She then states that sustainability is crucial for every fashion brand to take into consideration due to the massive impact that fashion has on the environment. On the topic of sustainability, Nicole claims that we the consumers are the ones that are truly responsible for the negative impact on the environment, as we are the ones choosing to purchase items that have left a carbon footprint through their process. She uses the current condition of the industry (and the effect of Covid-19) as an example on the negative impact, affirming that because many brands have had to pause or completely shut down production, the overall effect on the environment has been positive.
Although this is an amazing reflection, I would have liked to have read more on her own stance on the themes and her own opinions on how the industry will be in the future, and what methods she thinks will tackle these ongoing problems. As well as this, I would have also liked to see more of an understanding of the Better Lives themes by clearly stating what those topics mean in the fashion industry, as they can have different definitions depending on the circumstances.
Ultimately, Nicole’s ability to reflect and refer to evidence was what gravitated me towards her blog post as I was intrigued and interested. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this reflection on the three themes of Better Lives.