Blog post 1
The lecture ‘Representation’ by Teleila Kirkland has massively impacted my thinking and my approach towards the themes covered throughout the lecture. My attention was particularly drawn to the lecture when the topic of representation was brought up. Representation is astonishingly misunderstood and misinterpreted at this time being. Diversity and representation are discussed a lot by brand’s PR and advertising departments because they are legitimately having a big momentum within the fashion industry.
Teleila made it clear many times during the lecture that there is one big obstacle between communities and that is ignorance, we should all communicate and educate ourselves on different communities and their ways, and most important of all if in doubt ask questions! Another point made in the lecture was the ‘incidents’ that continue to happen within the fashion industry. Now, this is a hot point that’s been greatly examined in the past few years. Mostly referred as ‘calling out culture’ online, it has been a soaring phenomenon among the internet community. One slip from a brand or a celebrity and the twitter call outs are exploding within hours, these people would be calling out those so-called incidents. Outrage marketing is sometimes product of this calling out, there are some speculations regarding this strategy that would supposedly take advantage of controversy, attention and coverage to generate revenue.
Cultural appropriation, a very disputed accident that unfortunately still occurs regularly, fits in this ‘incidents’ category. How to avoid it? Communicating, learning and acknowledging. Giving the right recognition and credit content when designing to who deserves it. This problem is eradicated and deepens down to power and privilege and the consequent lack of acknowledgment of both. Sometimes it can happen by mistake, someone can unconsciously make a mistake, but other times there are malicious intentions behind it. I have thought about these matters and these problems in the past, given my ethnically mixed background it has been inevitable to feel somehow called in cause or feel obliged to do or say something in relation to them. When it comes to a domain like the fashion industry and especially by being involved with it as a student for now and hopefully professionally in the future I feel as though it is my duty to normalise a mutual benefit for both cultures involved when it comes culture-merging rather than culture appropriating.
This lecture made hyperaware of my standing point and the approach I should be taking in terms of representation; it is easier to just complain and be mad about misrepresentation and appropriation. I aim to take this with me and spread positivity and hope for a more conscious, kind and mutually respectful future for the industry.