Isabel Wachtendorff-Rainbow

During the Fashion Activism and Creative Direction project brief, we were set the task in groups to make a moving image campaign for a brand’s (Nubian Skin) new collection. Initially, we had an abundance of ideas including making a short film but due to the unprecedented circumstances that were thrusted upon us, we had to reevaluate.

With only digital forms of contact at our disposal, my group spent a lot of time on video calls thinking about a new way in which we could communicate a fresher image for nude underwear brand aimed at women of colour, Nubian Skin. Frederique had seen a trend of supermodels doing FaceTime photoshoots and this became our main inspiration: to do a photoshoot with females of colour that showed them being comfortable in their own skin. This was ideal as it perfectly aimed at the brand’s digital native target consumer. With the plan in mind, we split to take on differing areas of research so we could put together a video made up of pictures to music that suited the audience. Sally made a moodpboard for the general aesthetic of the brand, Leshaun helped us understand the brand’s positioning so we knew what sort of campaigns competitors were making, Frederique analyses FaceTime photoshoots, Aarushi looked at appropriate music for the video (as his would bring it all together) and I took the pictures and made the final project. 

Conveniently we had Leshaun in our group, a gorgeous black female who fit Nubian Skin’s demographic, that we could use for a FaceTime photoshoot. However, we wanted more diversity and I was lucky enough to be living with my boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend (Lalli) who is of Pakistani descent and willing to be involved. I had noticed that, although Nubian Skin aims at women of colour, the only women you can see on their social media and website are black. With diversity being one of the main themes of the Better Lives project, I thought Lalli was the perfect model to use as she allows the brand to open up to a wider audience. 

The problem with having to work solely on my one computer and no where else was that I had to completely depend on it to not have any technical issues- something I did face. I intended to use editing software to make a video out of the images but my Mac proved to be unreliable and so I had to think of another way to use the pictures we had taken. When you take photos on FaceTime, they save as ‘live’, meaning they have movement, I was able to use this to my advantage. From our research of the brand’s social media presence and campaigns by other brands, I decided that a GIF made for Instagram would be ideal and a fun, short piece of imagery. I ended up turning the live photos into gifs, we music over them and Nubian Skin’s slogan of ‘A different kind of nude’, to which I added ‘A confident kind of you’ to. The GIF is completely versatile too in the way that it could be put on all forms of social media platforms. 

https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/2094cd73-ee85-4ba4-8c9e-c41aac813191?channelId=490f8d2f-85d4-4daa-9b6d-cdc70dfe01c6

On the whole, I found this project very interesting considering the unexpected turn that it took. An advantage of being in a group to take on this project, meant that we had multiple ideas and workload was able to be shared. I learnt to think on my feet by devising a contingency plan in response to my inability to edit how I originally planned. Our final product was also able to relate the brand to one of the major Better Lives themes of Diversity. 

Having attended the lectures based on the Better Lives themes and done a project to further explore them, I have come to the conclusion that sustainability and diversity go hand in hand as the most important to me. By partaking in the project, I have been able to think about how I will implement these themes within my line of work in the future. 

When considering sustainability and how it will affect the way I work, I plan to make a conscious effort to only associate myself with brands that are environmentally considerate. Given what I know of my peers and their mentality, I think that brands in the future will be more sustainable as this is the kind of future we are moving towards. Already, I know brands to be making little changes such as using less packaging when posting and digital receipts. Hopefully, I will not have to worry too much about whether the brand I work with is sustainable or working to be more so. Similarly, I know other people of my generation to naturally be more inclusive, subconsciously. It is important that diversity is reflected through a respectful understanding and addressing of other cultures, races, beliefs, sexuality, gender etc. I want to be sure that all groups of people feel well represented, whether that’s through models they see or products made for the need of a niche group. 

To conclude, I want to make it my aim in the future, working within PR, to communicate brands in a way that portrays their ethical and moral values at the forefront. This will be by making their efforts within sustainability and diversity clear. 

After attending lectures based on areas of fashion that I have always been aware of, but never looked too far into, I feel far more knowledgeable; the effects it has on our environment, changes that will need to be made in order to sustain the industry but also attitudes and actions of people involved, both positive and negative (being empathetic and coming up with technology that helps us evolve and develop in some areas but also sets us back in others). 

 Upon reflection, I have found that most of the lectures come back to the point of sustainability. Nearly everything within the fashion industry has an impact on the environment and generally maintaining equilibrium culturally, economically, ecologically and politically. I think the Culture lecture encapsulated the importance of sustainability to uphold the idea of better lives. Anna Fitzpatrick discussed how cultural practices and skills have been lost through mass consumption of fashion as heritage and storytelling through clothes is no longer as common as pieces are less unique. Instead, cultural appropriation, power imbalance and exploitation are a result of fast fashion (for instance). The people high up within the industry are ‘pale, male and stale’ and in just four days, they earn the same amount as a garment worker does in their lifetime- a single, prime example of inequality. As addressed by McNeil in 2000, the system of production and consumption is clearly failing as we have mass waste due to the fashion industry and, if successful, this shouldn’t be a problem. Technology seems to have potential to help with the problem of mass waste. 

Nick Almond touched on the benefits of Blockchain and AIs in the Emerging Technology lecture. Blockchain can be used to trade second hand clothes in a transparent way which I think seem like an attractive method. Many people are disinterested in the idea of charity shopping due to not knowing where the clothes have come from, however the second-hand clothing market that Blockchain has potential for, means that consumers are able to see where and who the clothes have come from along with its entire history. AIs are able to predict fashion trends by spotting patterns, they can also allow people to virtually try on garments before purchasing. All of these uses can result in less waste by recycling fashion and allowing people to buy clothes that they can be sure will suit them, and the industry can predict trends that they are more certain to be successful rather than experimenting. Paynter Jackets is a sustainable clothing brand that only make jackets once a certain amount of people have bought them rather than making an unnecessary abundance that would go to waste.

Overall, after reflecting on the lectures I have realised that sustainability is exceedingly imperative in order to maintain a healthy planet, avoid problems such as exploitation and not lose cultural identity.