Blog 1: Inclusivity Lecture
Despite watching many brilliant Better Lives lectures, none have managed to change my perspective and effect the way I view fashion in the same way that Laura Salisbury did in her Inclusivity lecture. Last term, my course focused immensely on inclusivity, diversity, and consumer demographic; this lecture touched me as it not only altered my perception on fashion, but also on many campaigns that I had previously studied.
Salisbury, is currently focussing on garments and how they can enhance motor recovery of stroke survivors. She focused immensely on the way in which through her own work she discovered that a consumer profile we create will rarely ever serve us as efficiently as real people who fit the desired profile. The reason being, when we create a consumer profile, we ignore many factors that go into what makes our consumer who he/she is and that each consumer will likely differ. Rather than create a consumer demographic of, say, an elderly aged woman who suffered a stroke and needs a garment to help engage activity in her arms and hands, she was able to broaden her horizon and look into others who would use this garment. Nonetheless, rather than focus on a heart stroke survivors, she began to look at other individuals that had limited usage of their hands and arms such as (but not limited too); those with broken arms, hand pain or disease, the elderly, workers whose jobs require heavy lifting, parents and other people who experience this situationally. Salisbury was inspired by the extreme user circle which demonstrated that despite the center of the circle being the ideal consumer, the outer layers give more and more consumer possibilities.
She showed me that by understanding the needs of fashion in relation to age, gender, culture and ability we will be able to sell a product to a wider range of people and allow it to be more inclusive through greater insights. For instance, because she is using smart technology it is assumed that her work will be sold to a limited niche market, yet surprisingly she was able to reduce costs for many (including to give to the NHS) by looking at those who use smart technology in her field. Ultimately, Salisbury showed me that when fashion focuses on inclusivity it is faced with several advantages. These include being able to give to a wider audience, serve the needs of more individuals, and make the product have less limited features. However, that is not to say that inclusivity also has a variety of limitations, this includes that when the consumer profile is less specific, there are more questions that must be answered and the fashion being sold will not suit everyone within the demographic profile. Salisbury has influenced my thinking in many ways, the two most important being; to be more inclusive and to always research not only the consumers of today, but also the consumers in the future and how to oblige to their needs.
References
Salisbury, L. (2020) ‘ Inclusivity’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 14 February.