Asa Zaman

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Blog 3- Reflection on project outcomes and personal development

Blog 3- Reflection on project outcomes and personal development

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In this blog I’m going to reflect on a few key milestones that helped me achieve my project’s outcome and some of my personal developments. 

For my Fashion Activism classes, our project brief was to brainstorm, direct and create a visual campaign keeping in mind the themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibilities. The campaign was designed for the clothing brand Lazy Oaf in collaboration with the mental health charity Time to Change. At first impression Lazy Oaf seemed like a progressive fashion house and that already resonated with the themes we studied, ie. sustainability and diversity. Whereas the mental health charity very clearly clicked with the social responsibilities theme and so we felt quite confident with the video we wanted to make. When we broke down each aspect of the campaign we had to make sure that they reflected both Lazy Oaf and Time to Change’s identity as well as the three themes. 

For example, when thinking of sustainability we ensured that every prop, pieces of clothing and illustrations were already available to us or made by us. This means we didn’t have to buy or borrow anything, thus reducing the amount of waste created. Being a diverse group we each brought different skills into this project, some created props using paper and recycled paper, some styled themselves in clothes that we already owned and some created illustrations with materials locally available to them. As we were creating this during the Lockdown period, using our own materials was key to stay safe and also make sure that we don’t over use resources during such a difficult time.

One of the issues we encountered was with the theme of diversity. Although we are a racially varied group, we were originally planning to be more inclusive as wanted to shoot with people from different age groups as well. In an ideal scenario we would’ve invited older and younger people, as well as people our age to a shoot, however due to the Lockdown rules we had to adapt and film ourselves and our families. It would’ve been interesting to maybe hold a casting call through social media and shoot people via Facetime or Zoom. Alternatively found footage could’ve been an option, but during my research I couldn’t find much to work with so it was better just to film ourselves.

We decided to put a lot of importance on the theme of social responsibilities because it strongly represents the charity this campaign was designed for. In fact our outcome’s message was around the idea of taking care of yourself during this pandemic and being in charge of your mental health whilst practicing social distancing. Spending a lot of time by ourselves, isolated and away from university, family and friends can have a big impact on creativity and wellbeing. So we thought of shedding light on that as it is a type of social responsibilities. To ensure that everyone had a voice and input we discussed and brainstormed ideas, and also hosted Zoom calls to discuss further implements to the course of action but also to check up on each other. In a way this project happening during a pandemic has brought us together as a community and made the outcome feel more authentic and meaningful.

Below is a link to our outcome:

https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/a4de2caa-d871-4abb-8f33-7e777761a8f7

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Blog post 2

Blog post 2

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Reflection on themes and my creative process

The Better Lives Unit informed us on fashion and its connection to themes such as diversity, sustainability and social responsibilities. 

My Fashion Activism classes highlighted those themes in relation to creative direction. These classes have made me realise aspects of diversity, sustainability and social responsibilities that I didn’t necessarily think would be needed as much in this practice. For example it has taught me that when brainstorming for a visual campaign it’s important to consider resources carefully, to be inclusive and to think of ethical production. This was new to me as I thought that sustainability for example doesn’t affect creative direction as much as other more hands-on practices where actual tangible products are made.

What I learnt in creative direction can also be applied to my creative practice as a fashion image maker and illustrator. For instance thinking of resources that are renewable and reusable is key. It is important to maximise repair, reuse, remaking and recycling products. This may mean that when I’m styling a model for a shoot or a life drawing session I will need to consider using upcycled, second hand or borrowed clothes in order to maximise the reuse of already available products. This will diminish the amount of waste created due to over consumption of fashion items. Also when creating illustrations I may start using scraps and recycled pieces of paper to draw on or create collages with. This will also help the amount of paper wasted. I’m glad our research journals where we record our developments are already digital as that decreases the paper waste too.

Inclusivity is also very important in the illustration field as it helps to show representation of different body types, races, ages…etc. I have seen students from the year above put that into practice as they’ve based their illustrations on various types of fxmme bodies, with stretch marks, rolls and skin conditions, which I found very thoughtful and smart. It is so easy to dismiss how our illustrations can contribute to inclusivity and representation in the media and how much it would mean to people who can relate or look up to that image. Just by drawing different kinds of people we are able to shed light on them and celebrate them just as much as the models we generally tend to draw without any flaws or not as varied. This makes me feel like we are as important and as much of a contributor to this cause as other fashion fields, and that showing diversity isn’t exclusive to catwalk or fashion photography, it can be achieved through illustration too.

Lastly, it’s important that I look into ethics as an illustrator. I don’t want to illustrate for brands that aren’t in favour of ethical production. And even the mediums I use to draw with should be ethically sourced or recycled. Whether it be natural paintbrushes or sketchbooks made of recycled paper. It should be ethically produced.

The Better Lives project will also inform my practice in an upcoming project for my Fashion Activism classes, in which we are going to create a visual campaign keeping in mind the themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibilities.

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  1. Tasha Francis: Blog Post 4: Peer Review Task I have chosen to review Asa Zaman’s second blog post because I feel she…

Better Lives Blog 1- Lecture Reflection

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Better Lives Blog 1- Lecture Reflection

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In this blog I’m going to discuss some of my thoughts on power in the fashion industry and how that affected sustainability and my creative processes.

We can see power in various forms within fashion, for example the relation it has with consumerism. Fast fashion in particular relies on this to make sure people consume as much as possible. In theory we are given the power to choose correctly and responsibly, scrutinize and find information and shop morally. This gives us the piece of mind we need to quieten our guilty conscience and it allows the company to feel as though they can’t be held accountable for the repercussions that fast fashion has globally. For example, over buying clothes has resulted in millions of clothing items being sent to landfills, where they are left idly, most likely after only a few uses just because consumerism urges them to discard the old and purchase more and new items. In my point of view fashion consumerism is like when a mother takes something away from the child and replaces it with something less valuable. She holds onto the first object and puts it away as a symbol of power and superiority, but promotes the substitute as a better option to play with. Similarly I think we don’t have the skills, materials or the power to make our own clothes from scratch anymore, that, is the “object” that has been taken from us and it’s been substituted with readily available materials (fast fashion). As a way of protest we could fight back to gain the skills that we have been deprived of and stop relying on fast fashion. 

Consumerism highlights the power struggle between the retailer and the consumer. Inevitably this has grave consequences on the environment and although measures have been taken to be more sustainable it is just not enough. As fashion students we are expected to take this matter at hand and do something with it. Although I’m not sure yet what kind of changes I’ll need to make to my practice, I know that at least as a consumer I can be a lot more aware. For instance I’m trying to buy less products made of plastic and actively think about my carbon footprint, as well as upcycle and recycle old clothes. In a way I feel lucky that I have the abilities to creatively solve this problem of overbuying clothes on my end, but it isn’t a skill that everybody has. Not everyone is blessed to have studied arts or to be from a textiles background, so the issue with consumerism and how it contributes to landfills still remains. However there are brands which are taking actions towards more sustainable fashion, such as Maison Margiela. Although Maison Margiela is a couture brand which is not as widely available for the average working-class consumer, I hope more brands will consider recycling materials, especially the designers that are going to emerge from my academic year. As an illustrator I can do my part and promote better practices too and when given the chance to work with designers I hope to also educate their practices. 

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