Bronwynn Ready

Reflecting on the themes of Better lives, I have been heavily influenced by the circulating ideas around sustainability, diversity and social responsibly. Due to the unpredictable circumstances in which we have landed in, I have since realised the fragility of the planet and the ways in which societies are inter-relate. This has been closely prompted by the project of Mask Making and Politics, providing a vessel of new techniques and understanding.

Having to adapt the ways in which we approached our projects, the Mask Making and Politics group developed strong, conceptual mask designs. Relating each of our designs to a chosen political movement/form. We were driven to think intuitively and individually, in which I found rather daunting at the beginning of this process. My ideas and thoughts instantly crashed due to the thought of the lack of accessibility to different materials in which I wanted to explore. Therefore, having to settle with choosing materials in which were unfamiliar to me was quite unnerving. But, through doing so, and having my skills be malleable to the current situation, I have since learnt that unfamiliarity can be a grace to the design process. It allowed my exploration to grow outside of the box I was originally stuck in. 

The current circumstances we are under have further emphasised the diversity and creativity of mine and my peers ideas. My desire to explore what would have been originally unaccessible due to restricted use of materials was enhanced. This paired with the adaptation of producing work digitally has led me to new routes of design. Also, it caused me to begin to work more sustainably. I am now not using copious amounts of excess materials like paper and plastic to build up research, but using images and editing to do the same. 

By using digital recourses to design, I received feedback suggesting that using such techniques has actually benefitted my project. Being able to place the mask designs upon the intended wearer, gave the ability to see the finished outcome before the product had even been made. Vitally, this caused me to engage more with how the finished product could actually be depicted by those both looking and wearing the mask. This was feedback in which my peers could improve their mask designs on, providing useful ideas into how to design digitally.

Through adapting my skills and reviewing both mine and my peers work online in lectures, the project of Better Lives has caused a new awareness of diversity, social responsibility and sustainability – particularly within the design process. The new engagement of digital design can stem new ways of sustainable working with exploration of new techniques. Henceforth, providing a diverse range of designs completed by individuals. 

As suggested by Claire Swift, ‘Fashion is uniquely placed to respond to the issues faced by society and the industry.’. Current circumstances society is facing leads me to finish with this quote – reminding us that design and fashion is a response, one in which we can change for the better.

References

Swift, C. (2020) ‘Intro to Social Responsibility’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 14 February.

Reflecting on the themes, alongside my previous blog post, ‘Better Lives’ will inherently change my future work and thoughts. In light of exploration into the themes, I have noticed that the allowance of these motifs to infiltrate the ways we conduct our individual practices is of great importance. Further educating others on key issues will precipitate micro changes in individual practices among many; entailing the curation of macro scale differences within contemporary society. 

Hair, makeup and prosthetics within performance is a fast pace industry. Congested invariably with ‘think-on-your-feet’ ideation, there is sadly an unconscious neglect of contemporary societal problems. An issue often overlooked amongst the busy ambience, is the negative environmental impact. Continuous exploitation of ‘single use’ products, mass wastage of non-biodegradable materials, alongside gas emissions through transportation – means this industry is unsustainable. Evidently, there is a severe lack of social responsibility to the detrimental effects on the planet in which we are causing. This entails the notation that products and materials should attempt to be diversified to meet both the needs of production, and sustainability. 

To enhance understanding, I turn to the prosthetics made for Lord of the Rings. Hundreds of Hobbit feet prosthetics were used daily, with each of them being ‘single-use’. They were disposed of continuously throughout the entirety of the filming process, resulting in enormous amounts of wasted materiel. Importantly, the nature of the materials meant decomposition rates were slow – being highly detrimental.

In reflection, I have experienced the themes of Better Lives already influencing the way in which I work. For example, on the selected project of ‘Mask Making and Politics’, I decided to explore the key issue of micro-plastics and waste infiltrating the ocean (my creative practice of hair and makeup being a key culprit of contributing to). This exploration of the project entailed crucial decisions such as re-using a preexisting face casts to avoid wasting materials like clay and alginate. Combining this with the intentions of using scrap materials from other students to form accentuated details of the mask – presenting the idea of disregard for reusable materials. This has caused me to understand the idea of power in which we presume to withhold over the natural environment.

However, it is not just the natural world in which we unconsciously destruct. With detrimental effects circulating the environment, this progresses to further maintaining social class inequalities. Waste is more often than not disposed of in non-westernised areas, provoking ill-health and oppressive values resulting in a hierarchical structure of importance. 

“The imagining and conceiving of cultural, nature-based, societal and economic prosperity involves the creative exploration of fashion’s artistic, culture-shaping and business practices in the context of a changing world.” – LCF’s Education for Sustainability Transformation Strategy 2016-22.

Since reflecting on the themes of ‘Better Lives’, it will be simple and constant changes to help provide a more sustainable, diverse and socially responsible industry. Small changes undertaken by many, alongside greater awareness will provide challenge to the pre-existing unsustainable ways of working. 

From the lectures based on the ‘Better Lives’ themes: Sustainability, Diversity and Social Responsibility; I have recognised a very strong relationship between the essence of power and its impacts on each of the themes, presenting problems in which need rapid resolving. Being a society built from social constructs, with how we behave constantly being influenced by the interactions and experiences we obtain as we progress through our life courses; In this contemporary society, power is something that is dominant throughout all sectors. 

‘Fashion is an indicator of established power relations and social class hierarchy.’ – Simmel: From Bennett A. (2005) Culture and Everyday Life London: Sage. pp 100 

In relation to power, fashion can be seen as an ‘ideological state apparatus’ (Althusser: 1971); it plays a key role in promoting class inequalities and maintaining marginalisation in contemporary western culture. For example, the CEO’s of the biggest fashion brands make in 4 days what a Bangladeshi garment maker would obtain in a lifetime. This shocking unequal distribution of economic gain in society is not only oppressing vulnerable people, but expanding the need and demand for ‘Fast Fashion’ developing problems in addition to the existing inequalities.

Living in a consumer culture, materialistic values are prominent, meaning fashion needs to be more affordable so is more accessible; therefore, making fast fashion highly demanded. This has contributed to the issue of sustainability, meaning that we, as a contemporary society, need to take social responsibility and design changes/improvements which can be used to ultimately ‘save’ the planet. 

I would also like to reflect on the sense of power in terms of Diversity and representation. 

‘Representations are not innocent reflections of the real, but are cultural constructions’ – Barker: From: Barker, C (2004), The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies. London: Sage p177

The fashion industry plays a significant part in causing the relationship between diversity, representation and power to be largely negative.

Diversity is key to refresh and develop new trends, however, there has been a large discussion around cultural appropriation in correlation to this. Brands are wanting to make their products more culturally diverse and ‘interesting’, but, are using their vast amounts of power to use other cultures who hold less power’s designs and assets to inspire new trends – for example, the use of dreadlocks by Marc Jacobs- without providing the correct recognition and understanding of their backgrounds. This develops cultural conflicts and sparks controversy primarily fuelled by the media as designers are not understanding and conversing with the cultures they are taking inspiration from. 

Overall, in reflection to the Better Lives lectures, my thoughts have been shaped in a way that causes me to see fashion as being a largely powerful and impactful industry on the rest of society; not just in terms of the way in which we dress. The power in the industry itself needs to be shifted to develop a more sustainable, diverse and socially responsible sector of society, aiming to prevent the marginalisation of vulnerable groups. I would like the channel my thinking into actions within my practice by focusing on equality and inclusivity to present better lives.