Yanyu Pan

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Blog 4 Peer review

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Lecture reflection 1
When I browsed around peers’ blogs, I discover that Yizhuo Li has her own unique views on the Better lives unit, and for which she mentioned the development direction of the combination of social responsibility and diversity makes me ponder deeply. 


I was attracted by Yizhuo’s point of view about the relationship between fashion and the environment. In the reflecting blog, Yizhuo pointed out social and human civilization will not develop to the present without nature, and fashion will become meaningless if human beings continue to use natural resources endlessly that resulting in ecological imbalance. I totally agree with her perspective of reference, because when fashion develops to a particular stage, it needs social responsibility and humanistic care, reflected explicitly in considering the environment and improving sustainability. For instance, as Yizhuo suggests that for those who work in the fashion industry should reduce the use of fiber products cause all fibers to affect natural systems, also they can choose renewable resources in the ecosystem including wool and silk.


In addition, Yizhuo mentioned about diversity during the process of her work development. Admittedly, there are some marginalized groups such as the blind, deaf, face, and sensory disabled people in our society who can barely enjoy fashion or performance like normal people. Therefore, I think designers or any fashion influencer have the responsibility to add some factors in their productions to raise the public’s awareness that disabilities should be taken more care of. I really appreciate that Yizhuo thinks about using smart textiles [such as silica gel] combined into a sensor mask that can cover the user’s bone area to give the disabled a new perspective of appreciation and a more exciting way of appreciation besides hearing. I believe that her outstanding mask artwork will welcome more different groups to get involved in fashion and performance and make the whole industry become more tolerant.


For the last blog, Yizhuo gives the word ‘sustainability’ another explanation. He shows a lot of examples to discuss the relationship between the fashion mistake and color theory and eventually developed her make up work and style based on this inspiration, which makes me perceive more different knowledge about sustainable fashion.


To sum up, Yizhuo’s three blogs fully explain the theme of better lives: sustainability, diversity, and social responsibility; it also reflects her attentive thinking in learning.
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Blog3 Project Outcome

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Before the process of my final drawing, I did some illustration exercises after each class. However, I also met with some difficulties. For instance, I followed the instruction of the PowerPoint to use recycle or waste paper like the newspaper to practice drawing, and I found it was too thin to watercolor, especially some parts of my painting should be colored again and again. Then I realized how precious the regular paper we used is, considered the meaning of why we used the recycle stuff to practice or complete the illustration drawing, also more cherish the word ‘sustainability’ meat to be.

I did my final illustration drawing based on the idea of Alexander McQueen’s 2010ss Spring-Summer show. According to the attached picture of the modeling in show, McQueen gave us the answer to how the future of human beings would be. That is: the human will finally about to return to the ocean, which means if the ecosystem or environment on earth is destroyed again, those who were evolved from the sea will be back to their original place eventually. What is more, we can see that McQueen’s consistent theme has been refined into short skirt design – elaborately processed marine reptile print, as well as the outline of the tight waistline and bell-shaped flower skirt. From the initial green and brown, gradually into light green and blue, color in the cushion hip full skirt silhouette staged, decorated, and shaped. Each dress is a combination of computer art and McQueen’s iconic high-end custom-tailoring. Therefore, no matter from the perspective of color or the significance that the designer gave to the show, it is an excellent material for me to complete my final project.

As for further personal development, after complete my final drawing, I think Alexander McQueen’s collection 2010ss is good propaganda to raise the public’s awareness to pay more attention to our earth and the environment. Then I do more research on social media to see what people do to improve sustainable development. In particular, we experienced the latest ‘The World Earth Day’ on the 22nd of April this year, and we can see more and more fashion medium or people who are working in the fashion industry stand and speak for sustainability and social responsibility. For example, Vogue interviewed women who are influential to the fashion industry and listened to them about what challenges and changes will fashion people to be meeting while doing sustainable development.

To conclude, I think all the research and the practice I did allow me to draw a better final illustration work and perceive more that sustainability can be used in any corner of fashion and it’s everyone ’s responsibility to make our society become better.

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  1. Damicka Izharudin: I read through Yanyu Pan’s blog post on fashion illustration and I enjoyed reading through how she really researched into…

Blog2 – Reflect themes

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In the past, it was not easy to hear ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Fashion’ to be discussed together. But in recent years, the gap between these two words has gradually disappeared, when we are talking about fashion, people have frequently mentioned sustainable development. 

I am currently studying Fashion Illustration as my Betterlives course, and the function of illustration is to make audiences to perceive the concept or the deep meaning through the image that the illustrators want to pass through. What is more, we have also seen from many brands how sustainability is cleverly combined with fashion. Therefore, it’s significant to discover the sustainable story of each brand helps my way up to do a better drawing.

For example, FREITAG uses the waterproof tarpaulins of abandoned trucks, the wheels of used bicycles, and car safety belts to become the bags we carry every day. ERDOS connects nature, goats, and grasslands to form a cycle. Prada’s recycled nylon handbag is made of fishing nets, discarded nylon, carpets, and industrial wastes. After chemical degradation, these wastes gradually return to their original purity. There are more and more factories in Italy that convert these recycled materials into polymers and fibers through new polymerization processes.

All the goods have their stories, and the way they were produced affects our lives and the planet. In the past, people have been against nature for a long time for the sake of economic development. As a student of fashion illustration, it is essential to enhance people’s awareness of sustainable development and environmental protection through my own major.

When I learned the stories behind many brands from many reading materials, I began to think from the perspective of viewers: if I am a viewer, what kind of illustration image can make me pay more attention to the relationship between fashion and nature? Then, I find that people always use vivid colors or materials to highlight the value of things. So as long as these things measure sustainable development, it can attract readers’ attention. For instance, when I was drawing my first pic in class, and I discovered that using waste materials [such as plastic package paper and waste cotton] to make clothes for the naked body image helped me to go in deep of sustainable fashion. Therefore, fashion illustrators could make images based on brand stories, then use waste materials from our daily life to raise people’s environmental awareness and a sense of social responsibility.

In conclusion, I want to thank Better Lives for giving me an excellent opportunity to represent my thoughts and make me think about my future work. Last but not least, I believe that fashion illustration will always be a good way to convey the meaningful idea of sustainability and wake up those who have not yet been engaged with protecting the earth.

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Reflect Lecture of Sustainable fashion and culture

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To be honest, I was unfamiliar with the word ‘Sustainability’ at first. However, with the recent few stories of Better lives, this concept has gradually influenced my perception of fashion and made me think about its connection with both the fashion industry and the environment of earth.

After listening to the lectures, I started to question myself that are fashion and environment two different things? In fact, the manufacturing process of clothing is a huge industrial chain, not only just what we see on the surface but also about designers, models, and of course, customers.

According to IFA Paris, the whole fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world, just after the oil industry. For example, harmful chemical dyes are washed through clothes and flow into rivers and the sea. Cotton fields account for only 3% of the global agricultural area. The pesticides used the account for a quarter of the worldwide total. Later, when cotton was converted into clothing, more chemicals were used. Not only that, with the rapid changes in the trend and the development of fast fashion culture, but people are also buying and changing new clothes more and more frequently, and in the long run, it has become a huge vicious circle.

Therefore, I am increasingly aware that ‘Sustainability’ is so essential to the fashion industry and the society as a whole. However, many customers may consider sustainable brands to be very expensive, well beyond their budget. In the era of pursuing large numbers and fast times, highly competitive clothing brands will use low prices as selling points to attract customers. However, there may be different interpretations of ‘cheap’ and ‘expensive’ in the long run. We can’t just measure by price, because many times, cheaper clothing may hide higher environmental costs. Therefore, fashion, as a part of people’s lives, needs to exert its influence to convey the concept of ‘environmental friendliness’ and ‘moral fashion’ to the public, not just thinking about creating and making money. As Vivienne Westwood puts it: “Buy less, well choose, make it last.”

In conclusion, although the industry involved in fashion is too broad, and personal influence is too small. But I always think that ‘fashion’ can be called that the one of the ways to protect the earth. When each of us can make small changes in our lives, or even reflect on our habits that may damage the environment, that then could affect the people around us. We all can influence the environment silently, but it isn’t straightforward for us to know immediately. Although achieving sustainable fashion is a slow process, with the rise of more and more sustainable brands, celebrities’ calls, and passing on such ideas to the public, I believe that more and more people will devote to sustainable fashion ranks.

Reference:

“Buy less, choose well, make it last. Quality rather than quantity. That is true sustainability” – Vivienne Westwood. 2018. “Buy Less, Choose Well, Make It Last. Quality Rather Than Quantity. That Is True Sustainability” – Vivienne Westwood. [online] Available at: <https://sustainable-style.com> [Accessed 18 February 2020].

IFA Paris. 2018. The Fashion Scene: Is Sustainability In The Fashion Industry Real?. [online] Available at: <https://www.ifaparis.com/media/news/2018/fashion-scene-sustainability-fashion-industry-real> [Accessed 18 February 2020].


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