Armiya Haider

BLOG POST 4

PEER REVIEW

For my fourth blog post, I will be producing an analytical report on Maja Bebber’s second blog post. Whilst making the decision to critically review another students blog post, I felt that I should pick somebody who had a differentiative academic background, and one that did not fall into the same category as my own. Through this, I have gained a broad perspective of different work etiquette and ethics in general that has made the whole process more captivating.

This blog post has been very charismatic to me, Maja includes personalised statements which shows her fondness for better lives topics that include ‘Social Responsibility’, ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Diversity’. These topics in general are quite personal to me, especially diversity. Diversity has always been at the root of all things as a result of my South Asian heritage. This has enabled me to embrace different traditions such as wearing south Asian traditional clothing.

I admired Maja Bebber’s statement where she embarks on how trends in the fashion industry have changed significantly. Similarly, I think like this also, because in Islamic and general Asian traditions, I feel that a lot more individuals have begun to embrace their cultures and have gotten involved in their traditions that were old school, but they now want to bring them back to life.

Maja Bebber also discusses about how she would like to portray diverse characters in her stories, giving them the platform to express themselves as truly as possible. This also captivated me because I think that people tend to think that journalism is only about publicity and all things to do with the press and news presenters, however, I feel as though journalism is an excellent method of representation and for unique diversities to be recognised. Bebber also discusses the importance of sustainability which has been a huge part of my academic progress. Sustainability has been important to me because I knew that the materials that I was implementing into my portfolio, were not causing any harm to any form of livestock or the environment itself. Maja also includes a statement which says that she wants to distance herself from fast fashion brands. This shows a very much responsible approach from her because it suggests that she is willing to take a deep interest to invest in unrecognised companies in order to make them flourish in the fashion industry.

Maja’s background of being a fashion journalism student also proves that she could take all aspects of journalism; such as representation and the media, to help these brands be truthfully portrayed. Maja also mentions how society have formed the ideology of perfectionism and how it is all just an illusion. Not only does she mention this, she mentions the importance of recognising the beauty in having imperfections.

To summarise, Maja’s approach to her project and the chosen theme of the ‘Better Lives’ has taught me to learn that imperfections in brands are acceptable and you can still be successful from them as they make one unique. Her personal development is very clear, and she provides statements that have backed up her points which shows that she has a genuine passion for the industry that she wants to be based in.

BLOG POST  3

CULTURE

Reflections on how the Better Lives themes have influenced your project outcome and your personal development;

In my third blog I will be discussing how the ‘better lives’ lectures and how it guided the project outcome, and my personal experiences throughout.

The better lives theme that influenced my thinking was ‘culture’ which has been interesting, as has taught me a lot about diversity and many other cultures globally. ‘Better lives’ has provided me with further insight and has taught me to connect with people from other courses and collectively work towards one mutual objective efficiently and productively.

Furthermore the ‘Better Lives’ project helped to provide a further scope and the ‘social responsibilities’ a fashion brand owes to its surrounding environment and its responsibilities to its local and global operation locations and demonstrating care for the local welfare ultimately resulting in a positive brand reflection and more prosperous operational facilities.

Expanding further around the message of ‘social responsibility’ is making sure that the brand is in the practice of sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environmental expectations to all stakeholders. The companies primary focus should not just be centred around the brands positive development but should also has a duty of ethics and care to abide by for their consumers and practicing Corporate Social Responsibility.  

Social responsibility has deeply influenced my project outcome. We got allocated into groups and were directed to do a cause for a charity to respond to, then we had to explore on how to develop a creative social responsibility initiative around this cause, that is authentic for the brand. In addition, we had to design an engaging and compelling public relations (PR) and communication campaign that will promote your initiative. When this lecture about social responsibility was proceeded, we were entitled to use it in our group project.

Another proposition that influenced our project was ‘Culture’ as it was about Duro Olowu’ whom is a Nigerian born, London based Fashion designer. Olowu is famous for his textile and patterns the inspiration has been taken from his international background. Which is why I thought it was appropriate to correlate ‘culture’ as Olowu is famous for his ooffbeat patterns, rich textures and eclectic colours of his designs which reflect both his African heritage and world view. I thought this was an appropriate lecture to connect with as both are linked.  

‘Better Lives’ has influenced my personal development because it brings relation to my personal experiences, discussing the features of ‘culture’ and ‘sustainability’. I thoroughly enjoyed the messaging fashion themes because it has taught me ‘social responsibility’ formally. I hope to continue on to using these themes in the future of my personal projects.  

BLOG POST 2

CULTURE

Reflections on how the Better Lives themes might change how you work in the future;

Within the second blog I will be reflecting on how it will influence my work ethic in the future, expanding on how I will use more of the cultural and sustainability aspect. As this is a Better Lives topic I was pleased as I could write about personal experiences with my culture and how its shaped me as I grew up.

This correlates with my work ethic in the future because I will incorporate more culture.

Being a fashion styling and production student I show my cultural fashions through my styling as well as using sustainable materials.  

Being a British Pakistani influences my outlook on fashion. I will use vibrant colours and traditional patterns. I will combine east meets west to mix western British clothing with bold, bright and cultural patterns that represent the culture from South East Asia.  

This would be ideal for my work in the foreseeable future because I am using personal experiences in the styling career.

Culture, therefore, influences the manner we learn, live and behave. Because of this, many theorists believe that culture is an important shaper of our personality. 

Coming back to the point of sustainability, my culture influences me to use sustainable materials as they produce cotton. “Pakistan, the country’s largest environmental organisation, has been working with businesses, government, farmers, research institutes and other organisations to discover and demonstrate ways of growing cotton and sugarcane in Pakistan by using less water, chemical fertilisers and pesticides since 1999 under the Sustainable Agriculture Programme.” Stated by: WWF organisation.  This quote is implying that Sustainable agriculture is an important element of the overall effort to make human activities compatible with the demands of the earth’s ecosystems.

My work will incorporate natural fabrics such as; cottons and silks that represent style as well as sustainability.

I have learnt through past experiences that cotton is the best choice as its durable, fashionable and recyclable. My creative flair will reflect my personal style and culture when illustrating designs.

BLOG POST 1  

Culture

‘Reflections on one or more of the Better Lives lectures and how they have influenced your thinking;’

I have now watched a various amount of Better Lives lectures indicating different interpretations of different themes. I decided to pick the theme ‘culture’ because I had predictions on what it may be about, In the sense of what is culture?

Fashion culture, diversity, subcultures but culture can mean anything. Whatever the perception might be it can be pursued. My indication of this lecture was that fashion, culture and identity are all intertwined which made it not only about culture. This lecture had me thinking about my culture and how it effects and impacts my upbringing and the way I dress.

Childhood has big part to play as you are learning and growing, being exposed to diverse culture that is part of family traditions.

Furthermore experiencing that culture can become a barrier between trying to express yourself.

Being a Muslim girl following the peaceful religion of Islam, women are expected to dress modestly, so it is about striking a balance between culture and religion.

It can be hard as people do have their judgements, telling you what is wrong and what is right.

My family do follow the religion of Islam, but they have always understood and respected my dress choice in terms of my dress sense.

I also learnt that fashion is an expression of both of our material and non-material culture as it’s not only our culture it’s our identity, emotions and our relationships.

Culture also has a very big impact on how we think, dress, listen to the different kinds of music, our overall aesthetic of our day to day lives. “Fashion is a way of introducing yourself without having to say a word. You can tell the whole world about your personality just by the type of clothes you wear. It is also a way to express yourself. It provides us with a creative outlet that we can constantly change and improve”. This quote from the lecture indicates the human body and fashion can display your personality, without displaying manners or communicating with one another.

Another interpretation of culture is ‘Sustainability’ some choose to follow it some don’t. On that note Society does not realise that thinking more about sustainability and recycling becomes more radical. Sustainability means having the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level, meaning keep on recycling, and use materials that are healthy for our planet, and following this as a mindset.

In Summary, the reflection I have had on the Better lives Cultural lecture is that I got to write about my culture and give it as an example but I also got to write about sustainability and how it can affect your mindset and adapting to making our planet more green and less polluted. Which influenced my thinking a lot more as sustainability is a very interesting topic and how it should be kinder to mother nature.