Grace Parsons

The Better Lives unit has been extremely effective in allowing me to think deeply about the three themes; diversity, sustainability and social responsibility and I think that this has been reflected in the outcomes of my Fashion Styling projects.

In our final masterclass with the fashion styling team, we were asked to produce one styled look based around a subculture of our choice, with a focus on sports that people have taken up during our time in lockdown. At first, I thought that this was going to be quite a challenging task due to the current circumstances and it meant that I had to think effectively in order to make the most of what I had to hand. My brother stepped in to model my styled outfits, and this pushed me to experiment further because I have never had the opportunity to style menswear, so this was a new challenge for me. (For reference the subcultures worked into the styled looks were ‘This is England’ as well as football hooliganism, football being the chosen sport.)

Within the first pictured look, there was a heavy focus on the Better Lives’ theme of sustainability, and this project provoked me to consider using an array of clothing items, some new and some old. I reworked several items and took clothes from my parents’ wardrobes (for example, the Burberry raincoat belonged to my mum when she was a teenager) and it was interesting to see how I could play around with old items and rework them into something new and fresh.  For the second look I decided to only have the model’s eyes on show, upon doing my own research this is a method often used by football hooligans. I also felt like the covering of his mouth was somewhat of a similarity to the position we, as a society, find ourselves in today. It is parallel to society’s need to wear masks in order to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 – and this ties in with social responsibility.

Whilst diversity is not necessarily a strong focal point in my above project, our outcomes in our first styling masterclass did have an emphasis on this theme. We had both male and female models for our group’s styled looks and we also played around with androgynous fashion. The use of the high-vis jacket on the female model was a nod to the idea that women can be successful in male dominated work sectors. We also looked at effeminacy in one of our male model’s looks and had him wear a deconstructed dress over joggers, symbolising the breakdown of gender stereotypes.

The Better Lives unit has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience and having had to adjust to home learning has given me a greater appreciation for my studies. The fashion styling team have enlightened me as to how much thought goes into producing a well thought out, styled piece and now, even in day to day life of styling my own clothes, I will be thinking more about the items I use and how I wear them.

Having spent the past few weeks exploring the Sportswear Fashion Language and Subcultures project, I have had time to consider how the Better Lives themes are going to influence the way I work and the choices that I make in the future. Whilst at the beginning of the unit I was sceptical as to how beneficial Better Lives was going to be to my studies, I have now had the chance to truly engage with how important and vital sustainability, diversity and social responsibility are, particularly now in light of the current climate.

The unit has allowed me to investigate further into both the positive and negative effects of the fashion industry and the impact that it has had on society and our environment. I think, as fashion students, we are so aware of the downside to the industry that we often forget to acknowledge how it is beginning to change for the better – however by partaking in the Fashion Styling project, the team have enabled me to appreciate many brands’ efforts.

The Savage x Fenty 2019 show is a personal favourite and perfectly ties in with the Better Lives theme of diversity and inclusion. Rihanna’s diverse cast is the ideal representation, featuring a range of body types, models of colour and models with disabilities. Rihanna has set the bar high and, in the future, I would like to be able to use my platform as a voice for the underrepresented, who are often overlooked and ignored by this industry.

Sustainability has been a strong focal point within our fashion styling masterclasses. In Masterclass One, we styled several looks by piecing together items from each of our wardrobes and deconstructing clothes in order to create fresh, new outfits. For example, in the styled piece I have included, we took several items of clothing and material and modified them so they had a new purpose.

The dramatic increase of fast fashion is having long-lasting damaging effects on the environment and in order to help slow down the process, it is important for us, as the next generation of fashion creators, to do our part. Since deconstructing and restyling old items of clothing in our masterclasses, I have had a new outlook on recycling and rejuvenating my own clothes, in place of automatically throwing them out.

Instead of purchasing from fast fashion brands such as MissGuided and Boohoo, who have been labelled as the two least sustainable fashion brands by the Environmental Audit Committee, I shall be making a conscious effort to buy clothing that will have a long lasting life in my wardrobe. As consumers, we need to take responsibility for the clothes we are purchasing and keep in mind the negative impacts production can have on the environment. We need to start putting pressure on brands to improve their ethical credentials and stay loyal to companies who are making a mindful effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

References:

Petter, O. (2019) Fast Fashion Boohoo and Missguided Among Worst Offenders in Sustainability Inquiry. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/fast-fashion-boohoo-missguided-brands-sustainability-environmental-audit-committee-2019-a8754496.html (Accessed: 23 April 2020).

Perryer, S. (2019) Fashion industry seeks to shake bad reputation with CSR initiatives. Available at: https://www.europeanceo.com/business-and-management/fashion-industry-seeks-to-shake-bad-reputation-with-csr-initiatives/ (Accessed: 23 April 2020).

Power Lecture

Throughout the start of the Better Loves project, I attended several lectures that prompted me to question and challenge the problems caused by the fashion industry but also encouraged me to acknowledge how the cycle is evolving and somewhat attempting to improve. Whilst most of the lectures inspired me to thoroughly analyse the large scale of issues that fashion poses, the Power lecture piqued my interest due to its heavy focus on the Better Lives themes, social responsibility, diversity and sustainability.

Crew discussed how there is a clear imbalance of power within the fashion chain and this inequity is contributing to the unethical treatment and exploitation of people at the bottom of the fashion pyramid, as well as the maltreatment of the planet. She touched on how the richest figures connected to fashion were all ‘Stale, Pale and Male,’ with their net-worth’s ranging from $9.2 billion dollars (Heinrich Deichmann) to $66.7 billion (Bernard Arnault). It is a disappointing but not a shocking statistic to discover and it is clear that there is a blatant disparity of power between CEO’s of companies in comparison to the garment workers – according to Fashion Revolution, millions of people are employed by multi billion dollar corporations, yet struggle to get by due to the fact that they do not earn enough for basic human necessities.

The lack of diversity amongst the elite few is astounding and it is evident that over time fashion has helped people become incredibly rich whilst essentially enslaving others. Along with this, the rapid consumption of fashion has led to companies pushing to deliver larger quantities of clothes, at faster and cheaper rates. This creates a negative ripple effect, eventually leading to a detrimental impact on the environment – linking in with the Better Lives themes of social responsibility and sustainability. As consumers, who play a big part in the fashion cycle, we need to be able to question and understand where our clothes are coming from, as well as what sort of damage production is having on the planet. We need to scrutinise what we pay for and challenge the conditions under which many garment workers are forced to work.

It is interesting to see, especially with the current climate surrounding COVID-19, how the fashion industry has virtually lost its power. It has been put on the back-burner, with many companies having been forced to close their factories and postpone production. It is clear that many CEO’s have experienced a panic that they may not have experienced prior to the outbreak, they are used to having control and authority within their world – but in this instance they are faced with something that completely overpowers them.

Upon leaving this lecture, I felt as though my eyes had been truly opened to the power the fashion industry holds. Diversity, social responsibility and sustainability are often overlooked, particularly by the ‘stale, pale, males’ who are at the forefront of the fashion industry but it will be interesting to see how the next generation of fashion influencers will implement the Better Lives themes into our work.

References:

Fashion Revolution (2015) Exploitation or Emancipation. Available at: https://www.fashionrevolution.org/exploitation-or-emancipation-women-workers-in-the-garment-industry/ (Accessed: 15 April 2020)