Better Lives – Blog 4
After reading through many posts I decided to review Ellie Shemmell’s blog post on how the initial Better Lives lectures influenced her thinking. The post was in response to a lecture made by Laura Sailsbury on Inclusive Fashion and Design. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to watch this lecture and so, through reading Ellie’s reflection, many new ideas we brought up for me as well as hearing her personal thoughts on this lecture. Overall this post helped to spark new ideas for me within my individual work. Ellie made clear points focusing on how this lecture covered the idea of diversity through inclusivity and explored new areas of the industry which I hadn’t really thought about or considered within my work before.
She focused on the idea of inclusivity within designing clothes and how designers should and could easily adapt to be more diverse in their product designs. She outlined ideas of how companies can modify products in order to facilitate to certain races, disabilities, etc. A key point she raised was how, “adaptable designing techniques and smart materials are the beginning of something really positive for the fashion industry.” I strongly agree with this point and believe that as well as this change benefitting consumers, it will also create a more positive industry which is helping out more vulnerable people, not just creating garments for growth and profit to the company. One of the example given for this was something I had never thought of, this is the idea of how wearable technology fits into someones fashion and everyday lifestyle. Many people will experience discomfort from wearing life saving items such as a heart rate sensor, as many clothes don’t consider these other circumstances when designing their garments. However, a garment such as a bra can easily be altered in its design to fit something like this, whilst maintaining comfort as well as keeping the technology as discreet to an outside viewer as possible.
Like Ellie stated, I believe the idea of creating garments as a form of escapism and creating products to help peoples well being, should be an idea which is more present when designing new items. Many clothes which are designed with a specific disability, race or community in mind, lack in style and looks due to the focus full being on the need of the garment. However, as said in this blog, designing fashionable clothes whilst taking these specific needs into consideration has a huge impact on communities, as well as maintaining individuals personal feelings of self worth. I thought this point was made well by Ellie and shows the large impact a small change can have.
Through this blog I have learned a lot more about inclusivity and have taken away key ideas which I can incorporate into my work. I felt that Ellie’s blog successfully covered the idea of diversity through covering many key points from Laura Sailsbury’s lecture. She balanced this with giving her own personal views of each point and how this lecture has influenced her thinking.
Reference: