Blog 2
Through the Better Lives unit, the aim is to reflect on diversity, social responsibility and sustainability and how myself as a young creative can push this throughout my work and in the ways I can influence others. This lecture series made me think in-depth about the way the fashion industry is starting to become more diverse and sustainable, yet there are still many barriers to breakthrough.
Diversity in fashion should be about inclusivity, a space where people are represented equally, to feel safe, seen and celebrated. In the fashion industry, I often think that the word ‘Diversity’ has become a buzzword, with fashion companies only aim to capitalise off it, rather than listening to minority voices and underrepresented people.
One brand I think of when diversity is discussed is Fenty Beauty by Rihanna, from the beginning of the brand the aim was to create makeup products that wasn’t for one type of skin. She created a foundation that had 40 shades which quickly became viral throughout the internet. Her leadership shook the beauty industry and other brands continued to follow this. One thing I find interesting about this brand is how in their marketing, they never used the word inclusive or diverse and I think this is an important point about how they didn’t need to include this in their advertising. It was a protest to the beauty industry about the standards it should’ve already been at.
Within my own work, I believe that working and collaborating with diverse people equals diverse thoughts. My social responsibility in this industry is to use my platform and privilege to advocate for minority voices. I should surround myself with a diverse team, and think about who is behind the camera as well as in front and continue to use my voice to push for change.
Even as a creative who uses digital more than physical materials, it is still important to use my voice to push for change within the fashion industry on how we should be more sustainable in times where we are facing a climate crisis. When using print media I should be questioning, ‘is the paper I chose to use recyclable?’ It is my duty being in an industry that operates irresponsibly, to pressure fellow creatives into ethically working and to limit on material waste. Reading an article “Depop and Farfetch on digital sustainability in fashion” it talks about the process of design and how physical products should only be manifested in its final stage, and how we can use digital software to cut the amount of manufacturing.
The themes of this unit has allowed me to think about the future of fashion and how diversity, social responsibility and sustainability should have no end point and should be continually evolving. This is something that I will continue to bring forward in my approach to contemporary portraiture photography.