Betterlives lectures
Blog Post 1 – Fiona Chernavskaya FSP Yr1
The intro on Diversity lecture taught me how much that aspect of fashion can impact it’s audience, and how important it is to send out this inclusive message to younger generations. Fashion is a ‘visible and creative medium’ that can use diversity to push forward into a future without discrimination; Despite the equality and diversity act in 2010 (UK) there have been examples of big influencial brand such as Chanel using a greater percentage of white models on their catwalks, a specific example being the Fall 2014 show set in a supermarket.
The video we watched in the lecture where models were questioned about diversity, one of the quotes impacted me; ‘Diversity is a buzzword with not much action.’ This leads me onto the idea of collaborating and achieving the 3 main themes. The lecture on collaboration taught me of Tuckman’s theory and how important it is when working as a team to have a brainstorm of ideas, normalising them and in conclusion performing them as the ideas come together. With the help of this we can assure that diversity becomes a norm and a reality worldwide rather than a buzzword lingering in the back of people’s minds. An example would be environmentally conscious designer Vivienne Westwood collaborating with David Sims on a campaign representing punk and rebellion. By including different subcultures in their work they are advertising inclusivity and diversity, and even though they are going way back to Vivienne’s punk origins, the idea is fashion forward.
An introduction to social responsibility and the project of setting up 5% of women in prison in the UK for training and ethical manufacturing was inspiring to hear. The lecture gave me factual information about the hardships women face in prison as well as knife crime (Arts against knives project) and how to make something positive out of it.
A sustainable designer such as Bethany Williams, some members in San Patrigano’s drug habilitation wove book waste into her fabrics (by hand) in 2019, where she would also donate some of her proceeds. Some of her other fabrics like jersey cloth is made by female inmates in Sutton. I admire designers that put social and ethical responsibility before profit and benefit for their brand, Bethany’s work sends a message through her clothing and its bound to be heard by the broader audience.
Sustainability has also been a buzzword on everyone’s tongues. Bigger brands have been claiming to move forward in the sustainability region but then recent stories still emerge e.g. Burberry burned £28.6 million of their unsold items back in 2017, instead of putting them on sale or donating, they chose to maintain their expensive image.
The general definition of sustainability is; to improve quality of life and simultaneously project/ enhance the earth’s life and support systems. The lectures on sustainability and nature taught me that although certain brands like Stella McCartney campaign and introduce new customers to the sustainable lifestyle, there’s plenty of individuals who will turn to big brand names that mass produce with excess waste and use unethical labour. The idea that all fibres impact natural systems in some way, whether it is natural (e.g. organic cotton) or artificial (e.g. acrylic) is a scary one. I am a huge believer in buying second hand garments on appliances such as depop, where you can find vintage, unique pieces. Whenever I can I incorporate those items along with things I scavenge in charity shops, as well as hand me downs from family members into my styling work. I try to avoid fast fashion brands which are notorious for following trends and create the most waste, and try to be as sustainable as I can in my work but there is always more room for future improvement. That’s why the story of Rapa Nui as an example of a society that exhausted their island of resources with failure to see the devastating consequences is important to learn about. For younger generations the Lorax cartoon is fun and educational, teaching from a young age that over exploiting our environment will prove to be cataclysmic.
In conclusion, the lectures gave me general knowledge and awareness as well as interested me to look into brands and collaborations as inspiration for future work. I learnt how crucial it is to preserve our environment and how incorporating diversity such as subcultures, ethnicity and sexuality but also beliefs and disability ect. Something I look forward to learning about in depth for the future.