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The themes of sustainability, social responsibility and diversity are ones that I was familiar but not entirely engaged in. There is definitely a greater need for all creatives to consider these themes more in their practise if we are to develop the fashion/art world without causing further detriment.

There is far greater depth in diversity than just picking people of different races, sizes and abilities to represent a brand – there must be an active way to design for all. A great deal of fashion, in particular, deals only with the aesthetic side of design and sometimes the functionality but a lot of the time, it is not common to design a garment or product that can actually be useful in many ways or cater to the needs of those outside the typical sphere of consumers such as those who are homeless, physically impaired or mentally impaired. There is a great number of consumers who do not fit the customer profiles of many brands and are forced into buying normal items despite their situation requiring a more specified product. This encourages me to consider greater functionality and to spread more awareness through my work. Furthermore it inspires me to reach out to more atypical audiences and try to create a more inclusive piece of work that could potentially help alienated or forgotten communities.

Social responsibility and sustainability also go hand in hand with this as it is impossible for us to all continue the way we are working without changing as it is seriously harming not only the earth but its inhabitants too. In order to not cause further damage to the environment and people who are being exploited for our ease, I will definitely aim to work in a less wasteful way and also, directly not buy into faster alternatives when gathering materials, garments or anything needed for a shoot. Realistically, it is not worth it to be wasteful or harmful when you could make something far more interesting and creative by working with what you already have.

In conclusion, although these are terms I was already familiar with, the lectures have really inspired me into seeing diversity, social responsibility and sustainability as more of a necessity rather than an option to consider when creating work. The project has opened my eyes as to just how much improvement is needed within the fashion industry and how it is up to us, the upcoming generation of creators, to change it. Moving forward, activism for these topics will definitely be a priority for my personal work but also for collaborations I may take on in the future as we need to create an industry that is more conscious, meaningful and inclusive.