Finn Wong

I am reviewing Victoria’s project outcome blog post, which was very informative about her experience in the fashion activism unit. She introduced that her group had to make a moving image for social media with an original plan of using a diversity of models and a projector that would show the words that would describe the model’s journey on the topic of mental health. I think they have thought through this idea well along with the social responsibility that it comes with, it is a captivating way of conveying a message about mental health to the public. Also including diverse models to talk about this topic is very important since mental health is affected by anyone of all different cultures and races. It is a good way for the audiences to relate and to feel accepted. To produce an advertisement for online platforms is sustainable because it is digital, rather than for example on paper, posters, or billboards.

Unfortunately due to the current situation, the original idea could not go to plan. So, her and her group had shared other ideas via social networks and decided to create this advertisement basing it on their own experiences and journey instead, as well as how the pandemic had affected them and everyone else. With the restriction of certain tools and teamwork in person, Victoria reflected that she and her group have stayed consistent and seemed to have communicated their new ideas well. She mentions that her group managed to be creative as a team and independently by using sources that were available to them. This was evident in their video outcome which I thoroughly enjoyed watching. It included bright colorful graphics and a montage of individual clips and speeches which were all edited nicely together.

For my better lives project, as a fashion styling student I wanted to choose the Make-up breakdown unit because I wanted to learn more about the process from someone else’s perspective for a shoot. It was an enlightening insight and I have learned that there are many careful procedures to follow. Particularly when considering someone’s skin type for choosing the best skin care products. Also having to analyze cool, neutral or warm skin tones for better colour matches. 

Even though I didn’t enjoy having make-up applied on myself, I enjoyed learning the techniques and step by steps. Relating my ideas and outcome to the better lives project I have reflected back on my other blog posts. What I wrote in my first post was about fast fashion and how we all try to make more ethical choices from the fast fashion industry. The conflict is that it is harder said than done especially when fast fashion comes at reasonable prices, it’s easy to become influenced by consumer culture for our well-being. Therefore, I started focusing on the topic on how to make fast fashion more sustainable in new ways that would be beneficial to all. The popular ways of being sustainable is by recycling, reconstructing clothes or maintaining clothes for longer. Instead the fashion industry should really often promote sustainability regarding their own brands. A way to do this is to not look back at the past but think about the future and present, and what possible great innovations that could be useful in the fashion industry for being more sustainable. Fashion has only started converging with technology and the relations between the two should not be seen as a clash rather it should be encouraged more. With technology now it has created things we would have never imagined. As said in my last post, we now have the opportunity to create using 3D printing, clothes made from nanomaterials, and the use of solar power cells. As well as creating digital worlds using virtual reality.

Then I thought it would be a good idea to do something digitally for makeup since there is not much about ‘e-makeup’ or ‘digital make-up’. During our online lectures for our final looks presentation our concept title was ‘Fashion mistakes and fashion imperfections’. I was leaning more towards the mistake, as in if fashion technology was a mistake or is it an evolution? For make-up I experimented with augmented reality, by using 3D graphic designs such as face filters or 3D shapes at altering my digital self, which is no difference to real life enhancing (plastic surgery). The benefits for digital makeup is that you can create unique graphic shapes that can be applied to the face and body instead of using actual cosmetics, as well as it being sustainable. Using AR, graphics, animation can bring designs to life visually such as in movement, light and sound. Since most people now live digitally, this would be a contemporary way of visualizing.

A great way in using graphics/e-makeup with fashion would be in editorials, fashion films and product commercials.

Themes/Reflection work

For this reflection task I have taken consideration into the topics of what I have wrote about in my first blog post in relation to the better lives and sustainability.

There are many debatable areas in the fashion world about what is morally accepted and what is not. For the artist, one might find it socially acceptable to create something another may find distressing. If a certain art or design was produced well resulting with positive responses that had no description on what that concept was about but what if they find that there was a unrighteous message behind it, would their opinions change entirely and abolish the creativity and art altogether based on the meaning? Especially recently, involving controversies with bigger named brands and why many people continue supporting them.

So, this has made me contemplate on what different ways I would like to include in my future work. For instance, if I’m producing a project, I would invest my time into how I’d want my work to be portrayed and how the meanings behind it could be constructive for audiences as well as for the creativity. Also spending the time in getting the right information from specific people, to develop/deliver the projects effectively if it is about a particular topic in that area.

Practices

I am a huge fan of technology and with this evolution rapidly increasing in this day and age with a large impact in our daily lives. Fashion designers are starting to involve technology with fashion. This is a great stepping-stone for fashion sustainability since fashion is one of the biggest polluting industries. Technologies such as renewable energy, 3D printing new designs, virtual reality, to using nanomaterials in clothing which consists of hydrophobic materials (from leaves or lotus leaves) that makes them water repellent and self-cleaning. Using photovoltaic cells in clothes/accessories would be beneficial to us in many ways, such as solar powered bags that helps recharge a smartphone. Adding to this there are also powered self-heating jackets that are made for the cold weather, a good example would be the ‘Ralph Lauren Polo 11’ jackets. They are powered by Mophie batteries and what I like about this idea is that you can connect the jacket to its own app via Bluetooth and adjust the level of heat desired depending on the environment. Back to the virtual realities, now there are many useful websites and apps that dictates our faces or searches for a certain style of clothing for customers.

I am doing the fashion make-up breakdown unit and makeup doesn’t just only involve using cosmetics, various of people now can use virtual try on make-up and face filters that virtually enhances the face without having to apply anything on yourself.

Due to the current unfortunate situation globally the unit online lectures helped me imagine other ways of creating ‘make up’ by using the items I have around me at home. Like, using bits of foil, newspapers, paperclips to reconstruct new 3D shapes and patterns that could be applied to the face or something wearable like a head accessory. For that reason, this has made me want to create more using augmented reality in that aspect.

From listening and watching the Better Lives lectures, it has given me a deeper understanding of learning about the more psychological sides of Fashion. Basing the topic of sustainability and actions from people, it is not all about the clothes or money that the stereotypical impression fashion has.

From the ‘POWER and CULTURE’ lectures, I have learned about power in consumerism and culture and the impact we have as a society. Whenever we buy our clothes, we do not process where our money goes and if it is for a better cause or not. By doing so we are subconsciously supporting these brands and new upcoming trends because of how many times a certain product is being purchased. Fast fashion has no value nor production and is lacking creativity skills. Even though we all say we want equality all around the world and have less exploitation for the people that make fast-fashion clothing. Many of us do not think through how little our actions such as purchasing from a fast-fashion brand can cause. Therefore, not practicing what we preach and continue doing so. With that being said class and wealth come into the topic, not a lot of people are able to afford an expensive yet sustainable piece of clothing. So, many of us end up frequently buying fast fashion for a cheaper price for the benefit of ourselves.

With the power of social media and influencers; we are pressurized to keep up with the latest trends and society’s idea of beauty. I have found the ‘Well-Being’ lecture to be very interesting. It talked about how one’s satisfaction is never enough and consuming or wanting more seems to be the solution to a temporary fix in many of our mindsets. Also, how happy we are currently with our state in life along with personal acceptance. I personally believe having a strong willpower and what you believe is right or wrong has a big effect on our way of thinking. For example, who you follow on social media changes perspectives and are then easily influenced. The numbers of these accounts being followed are important too as one is constantly browsing a wide range of different content which can create social pressure. It is good to take a step back once in a while from social media to realize we do not need other people’s validation for our own happiness as well as impressing others.

Advertising also gives a sense of unrealistic expectations and I have realized how many fashion brands do not think about their intentions when they include diversity and just do it for positive responses from their audience. This also goes for fashion designers/brands that lack creativity and empathy while they could potentially be producing something controversial yet still think it is acceptable to display it to the public. I think to produce something well, brands should be more empathetic such as active listening or doing interviews with the right people to get better knowledge about a subject they want to execute well.

In conclusion, these lectures have influenced my thinking in many different and interesting ways about what fashion truly is, how problematic it can be and how we could improve it as a society.