Nicole Pereira

When I reflect back onto my experience creating a moving image for my Fashion Activism class, I realise how much I actually learnt about my interests and work ethic. The general theme of our learning was creative direction, something I didn’t know I had much fascination for until now. It’s a subject that teaches you to work collaboratively, making use of everyone’s area of skill to create a piece of work. It was interesting for me to learn about engagement of the ‘behind the scenes’ happenings necessary for the successful outcomes of a brands image. For our project, my group was given the brand Lazy Oaf where we had to create a short film based off of their collection, ‘It’s OK not to be OK’ in collaboration with the ‘Time to Change’ campaign to jumpstart the week of Mental Health Awareness. Due to us not being in the same country, we decided to create a moving image of four of us saying the phrase “it’s ok not to be ok” followed by me ending the clip saying “ok?”. I then volunteered to edit all the clips together, making use of certain tools to alter the clips, giving the film a warped look, it came out looking as if the video was glitching and repeating itself. I then added sound and a black and white filter, along with text at the bottom of the screen with the said phrase. The reason behind this project is the idea of what mental illness would sound or visualise as. The repetitive noises symbolise anxiety as it has the tendency to make one overthink, the filter signifying emotion and velocity used to fasten and slow things down as well as rewinding and reversing certain clips. I used tv static to make the video uncomfortable to watch because it’s loud and harsh in sound.  We were trying to demonstrate ideas of what we think when pondering over mental illness. A thought of it being uncomfortable in your own mind and it not being very calm and peaceful but rather loud and difficult to grasp. Although this is only a fraction of the reality as everyone has a different experience regarding mental health, this video is trying to portray that it’s okay to feel the way we do as well as trying to make it a little easier for others to understand what it may be like in the mind of someone else. The theme of this project relates closely to social responsibility as it surrounds the subject matter of awareness. It also tackles the concept of diversity in the sense that no one’s experience with mental illness will be exactly like that of another, although there may be similarities, everyone’s journey is different and we need to understand that, instead of stereotyping based off of the first three symptoms that sit on the top of a Google search page.

As a Fashion Media and Communications student, the work I would like to create in the future needs to circle around these themes of social responsibility, sustainability and diversity. Our practice in the fashion industry needs to be more ethical and transparent. It is my responsibility to use my platform or creative pursuits to consider these themes from all perspectives. We need to make consumers aware of the production process behind the clothes that they buy, showing insight into the harsh reality of many garment labourers and the effects that fast fashion is having on the environment. There needs to be transparency in the supply chain to encourage systematic change. We need to advocate the consumption of preloved clothes and eliminate this need of buying into fast fashion trends, often promoted by social media. Quality over quantity should be a rule we all live by, demonstrating that you don’t need to constantly buy into trends to be fashionable but instead show how one could be just as trendy with what they already own. I believe that whichever form of communication I choose to commence my career in, whether it be article writing, fashion photography and film or social media, I will make sure I promote ideas of challenge for the fashion industry. I would like to think I will support local and small designers; whose supply chain is transparent, and whose labourers work in ethical and safe conditions. It’s also important to ask questions, engage with your audience and work collaboratively in order to gain further insight into positively advancing the industry. I would like my work to tackle questions such as, “How do we continue allowing the fashion industry to be a place of creativity and expression but not exploit it?” or “How do we increase the percentage of people who financially benefit from the industry?”. I would like to collaborate with designers and creatives who can drive people to repurpose clothing and decrease the amount that accumulate in landfill. I believe the fashion industry is slowly acting upon their negative impact on a global level, for example big brands such as Urban Outfitters introducing their “Renewal” collection, but it is simply not enough. When I attended the ‘Power’ lecture given by Julia Crew, we were shown pictures of people such as Bernard Arnault (Chief Executive of LVMH) who is worth around $66 million. Just like Arnault, the majority of these stakeholders are European, white, old men. There is no diversity at the top of the fashion pyramid and it is something that needs to be confronted. In the future I will ensure my work advocates the empowerment of a mixed and diverse group of people, holding various skills and talents to have such control over the industry. We need to create noise and gain attention and I hope that in the future, my job will allow me to do so because as part of the next generation in fashion, I take it upon myself and peers to drive effective change.

The Better Lives unit has been an engaging and enriching experience for me the reason being, I find the core themes discussed imperative for the betterment of our future on a societal and environmental level. A lecture that struck a chord with me was the one on ‘Power’ given by Julia Crew, co-founder of ‘ Here today, here tomorrow’. Questions such as ‘who holds the power in the fashion system and does it equate with responsibility?’ were asked. There are various forms of power within the industry. One being the power of actually wearing a garment. Its message can be silent but it’s always impactful as it expresses how each individual identifies themselves. We were shown numerous examples of this, one being the dress of royalty. Clothing was always a visual demonstration of wealth. It was always handcrafted and had elements of rarity and exclusivity. Just by looking at the garments one could assume the status and other characteristics of the person. We also looked into the theme of ‘money and power’ and were shown shameful statistics such as the reality of a CEO of a top fashion brand earning in four days what a Bangladeshi garment worker will make in their whole life. It is information such as this that gripped me as a consumer who buys into this exploitation, to take responsibility and stand for systemic change. It was also noted that there is little diversity in the people who sit at the top of the industry, as referred to in the lecture, majority are ‘pale, male and stale’. Unfortunately the reality is that these stakeholders are part of a small percentage that benefit financially from the fashion industry. Most workers are paid minimum wage leaving little room for anything but hand to mouth living. As the garments become more in demand, the production becomes cheaper and faster, leaving labourers overworked and underpaid, not forgetting the emotional effects of intimidation and harassment by authorities – the harsh truth behind your shopping spree to Westfields. We then moved on to talk about the power of media and influencers. With the new age of social media, we are purchasing more than 400% of clothing than we did 20 years ago. We see our favourite celebrity wearing a Topshop dress on Instagram and we just need to have it because it bridges the world we live and a life of luxury. Sadly, 75% of the 100 billion garments produced annually land up in landfill, a very unsustainable way of living. It supports the idea of a linear economy instead of circular and has harsh consequences on our environment. As a consumer, I have learnt it is my job to take responsibility. Without my wallet, these corporations are nothing. We hold the power, we drive trends. We need to turn the system around to ensure the people behind our garments are dignified and not exploited. Boycott if need be, disrupt the system, work as a collective. We all have the capability to create change no matter who you are.