Ya-Yun Cheng

For the better lives project, we were asked to attend different courses other than styling and production. I decided to join the contemporary and photography course because I believe this will allow me to improve my future project for styling course. Before spring break, we were group into groups to communicate and take portraits of each other. Each learning groups were also given the task of exploring cameras by taking portraits of the group members. The basic camera settings and the idea of using different lights and movement were really helpful for continuing my future outcomes. During the lectures, we have introduced different contemporary photographers and their approaches of styles. It is also crucial to consider the camera’s perspective, incorporating with participant’s performance posture. By looking into Cindy Sherman’s early work in the ’70s, the strong elements combining with makeup, facial expression, and body language add up together to form her unique style. The performance in her self portrait has provided a strong visual language and dramatic effect. The tutor also introduced her more recent work on Instagram, and the idea of her instagram feed as a sketchbook collage. Similar to Cindy Sherman, Claude Cahun’s self-portrait definitely gave me inspiration on how I might have done for my final outcome. Not only she use her body language and her skills in styling, she merged herself into the space in her environment. The work comprise the self, and objects that are fragmented, she explored the spaces between them. Due to the lock down situation, we currently have limited resources on what we can produce creatively. One of the lecture was about taking photographs of family members, and home portrait. The use of props, clothes, mirror reflections to develop unique work at home. By transforming materials at home, and using family as models could further more deliver a more emotional connection for the photography. The idea of involving personal experiences and the individual identity into the photography by editing and the choose of environment is the goal of this project. Sometimes we have the opportunities to share process and research on padlet to have peer reviews. People were taking photos using smartphones, or even FaceTime, but the result was surprisingly intimate and warm. 

For my final outcome, I decided to ask my grandmother to be my model, which is something I’ve never done before. Because of the pandemic situation, I was able to come back to Taiwan and spend time with her, being able to understand her daily schedule and take portraits of her is really precious to me. As a styling student, most of my work were focused on editorial shoots with full onset designs or full-on styles. For this outcome, I decided to take a step back, and really consider the idea of home portrait, to document the closest people in my life, the relationship between family members during this difficult time.

By participating in all the lectures, I had a better understanding of the importance of the three main themes of this unit, sustainability, diversity, and social responsibility. Fashion is one of the core elements in modern society, and the industry is growing bigger and wilder throughout the world. As a fashion student, it is crucial for us to keep those three core values in mind as we further continue our study and future career. 

During my studies at LCF, I am allowed to be creative and express my thought freely with my projects. I was also taught to consider the audience of each project, to establish the message and the ideal impact of each targeted audience. To be respectful about the diversity of cultural background and be more considerate of different perspective will avoid the project to be offensive or be involved with controversy. The diverse of cultural differences and social status in nowadays society should be acknowledged. Do more research, be more familiar with the targeted social group. Social media and internet nowadays has made everything more visible and transparent. The awareness of cultural appropriation and cultural diversity has begun to be the main theme to consider for artists around the world. In the past, I did a few projects about the social group that I wasn’t really familiar with, such as the LGBT group and the homeless group in London. Sometimes it will be tough to collect cultural elements from the group that I’m personally not connected to. It took me a while to observe and did research to collect news articles, understand the background information and educate myself before interview them and further produce the project. 

Sustainability is a huge part that designers and artists should be aware of. For my project, mostly I collect garments or unwanted fabrics from womenswear student to complete my styling look. As a stylist, it is important to not keep purchasing one time use garments or accessories just to complete one look. Be creative and use the methods of layering, folding, sewing to create different looks and also be sustainable and eco friendly to the environment. By learning the consequences of fast fashion industry, and the chain reaction of the environmental damage, sustainability should be in our conscious while doing creative works. How to be creative, yet incorporate the idea of regeneration? Our tutor also suggested by using alternatives material to continue our creative journey. Fashion should not only be limited by fabrics, leather, fur. It should contain a lot more elements, and this is something we should be discovering. I started to observe materials from daily life and tried to merge more dynamic elements to editorial shoot. As a result, it turned out to have unexpected outcomes, and more visual impact.

To sum up, learning those three themes this year was mind-blowing and has definitely changed the approaches for my creative process. While pursuing our personal aesthetic, it is crucial to keep those three themes in mind. The more understanding of those themes will make my work in the future more professional and meaningful.

Throughout these two weeks, the wild range of lectures covered different areas that were related to fashion. After listened to all of it, the Society lecture stood out from the rest of the lectures. The discussion about how society links to fashion, and the idea of how the fashion industry has influenced the growing change of society issues were brought up. How people dressed up were considered as a form of social act, the larger dynamic related to sex appeal, expression of identity, religion…… The complex reasons of why people dress are more than just to impress or attract others, it could be the reflection of race, gender, and class. Which then formed the cycle of the relationship of the fashion industry and customers. Nevertheless, fashion became the influencer of culture, and the cause of social trend. The idea of how those closely those two factors bond together interested me in so many ways.

As a human, we observe and learnt from our social community, we use clothing in a way to fit in, to form unity, and find people with neutral interest, which made us consumers. As a consumer, we became the root of a lot of social issues, such as the effect of the fast fashion industry. We hold the responsibility to understand the possible damage of fashion, and also the sustainability and fashion should incorporate with one and another. There are several growing strategies about refusing disposable fashion and not buying new clothes but also keep it creative on social media. The experience of swap clothes, borrow clothes or purchase second-hand clothes could be a way to benefit the society, this is the proof of people starting to bring out the awareness of radical sustainability on media. As a fashion student that studies at London College of Fashion, it is crucial to keep in mind of the idea of sustainability while doing creative works. In the lecture, the design thinking process were mentioned, nowadays designer works with anthropologist and social scientist to further research on the audiences’ circumstances to understand how to affect the change. The importance of understanding the culture and the people will help to make the design process more meaningful. Fashion could be the cause of society issue but a lot of the designers were working on also reshape society. In order to succeed on incorporating sustainable in fashion industry, social dynamics is the key that designers should be acknowledging through their deigning process.

By providing the examples of designers acknowledging society issue, I have a better understanding and a vision about how social structure related to environmental issues. Looking to create the change and reshape the industry in the future should be our goal as a fashion student. Participating in those lectures has helped me reflect on myself as a consumer, and also as a producer. I should further improve myself on not just only the knowledge of fashion, but to explore and do more research about anthropology and social construction, focus on the current and historical society issue will help me envision the future.