Letizia Consiglio

My Critical Design project is a long story of trial and error and taught me important lessons on time management, research and my own work ethic. Ultimately, I am very happy with my project outcome, its topic and visual realisation.

As I have mentioned in my previous blog post I focussed on the topic of gender and fashion whereby the ‘wicked problem’ is the stigma around gender non-conformity and lastly how to eventually reach the goal of gender neutrality. For me personally that means that every person can present themselves as the gender they identify as and therefore also wear whatever they want.

I created a video trailer which followed the timeline of gender bending, androgyny and gender non-conformity throughout the decades from the 1960s till today. Here, I included music artists who memorably played around with gender roles such as David Bowie, Prince, Boy George and Janelle Monae. Further, I featured revolutionary fashion moments such as Yves Saint Laurent’s ‘Le Smoking’ and the extravaganza of drag queens’ fashion.

While researching the topic and looking at images of androgynous fashion I realised that diversity and representation were most important to make progress and help people live a freer and more fulfilled life. Throughout my own life I noticed time and time again how much a diversity of identities can change and improve my life and my outlook on the world.

Working on this project I also learned how to visually transmit a message as I have previously only produced written work. Reading up facts, collecting images, and combing those with music, video clips and text was a new experience which challenged me to use my imagination to ultimately produce a trailer which tells a story and evokes a certain atmosphere.

With this trailer I developed a new appreciation for visual and motion work. Creating something that moves and speaks can at times bring across a message more beautifully and lively than a piece of written work.

Still, I faced some challenges during the working process mainly based on the fact that we mostly conversed within the group through online classes. The current situation around the Coronavirus forced me to work from home and be confined to my room. Usually I work best when my environment is always dynamic, inspirational and lively and to my disadvantage my surroundings at home are rather monotonous, bland and discouraging. Usually living in London, I am always inspired by people and events around me which give me ideas for projects.

Lastly, I presume that this odd and restricted working experience will influence how I work in the future. I might even learn to be able to work more flexibly and find inspiration and gain ideas from any surrounding. My personal development throughout this phase was challenging, fluctuating and satisfying all at once but I still managed to work productively and eventually create a final product I am proud of.

Working in a creative field requires an open-minded, tolerant and spectrum-wide view of the world. While researching for my personal project in the Critical Design group I came across all the Better Lives themes and incorporated them in my practice. Critical Design wants you to explore and research a ‘wicked problem’ — which can be any social, technological or environmental issue that affects society and an individual person.

At the beginning I struggled to grasp the scope of this topic as it is very broad and can mean anything for anyone. I decided to take my time to think about which social issues really touch and/or affect me so that I could approach the project with a passionate and personal background.

The Better Lives theme ‘diversity’ seems to always call to me the most which led me to research different topics with diversity in mind. Diversity for me represents a broad and inclusive amount of different personalities and identities which differ in every aspect of life such as nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender, sex, religion and more.

Eventually, I decided to focus on gender, a central aspect of anyone’s identity. Here, I especially considered the role fashion plays in gender appearance and representation. Through our coinciding Cultural and Historical Studies, I learned that gender is a societal and cultural construct which changes depending on place and time. Fashion is a powerful tool which can help present and identify one’s gender appearance which in turn does not equal the biological sex of a person. Again, the themes of diversity, inclusivity and social responsibility appear and can be applied to the topic of gender and fashion.

Besides working on my Critical Design project, I was obviously affected by the current global problem around the Coronavirus, just like any other person. The situation forced me to move back to my family home in Germany and completely turn my work ethic on its head. While I wish for this virus to quickly pass and for everything to get back to ‘normal’ I learned what it truly means to be socially responsible. The situation requires every member of society to be aware, conscious and considerate of each other.

Being socially responsible means not leaving the house if it is not essential, practicing and following the hygiene routines and only buying considerate amounts of food. I never expected one of the Better Lives themes to have such a primal and important role in my life.

Ultimately, I suspect that this global problem will affect every person’s life in some way for a long time and that everyone will thus learn some form of lesson.

The importance of social responsibility is as present as ever and will hopefully follow me throughout my life continuing to encourage me to be kind to and considerate of people especially those who are vulnerable and underprivileged.

Starting this Better Lives unit, I was prepared to be surprised with new information and insights regarding the topics of Diversity, Sustainability and Social Responsibility. The two-week long lecture series succeeded in that aspect and encouraged me to think differently and more introspectively.

The main question for my first blog post is if and how fashion can create better lives. While that topic is very broad, I was able to decipher an answer based on my findings from the lectures I attended. Most importantly, the lecture about inclusion and inclusive fashion really challenged my thinking and introduced a topic that I have rarely dealt with before.

Inclusive fashion defines certain clothing that uses special garment technology with various health conditions and disabilities in mind. Lecturer Laura Salisbury gave an example of people who have suffered a stroke or who have Parkinson’s disease who might need specialised clothes that are still often exempt from the mainstream fashion market. Salisbury also identifies three different approaches to inclusive design: it has to be user centred, population aware and business focused. This made me aware of the fact that inclusive design is a whole functioning and global business within the fashion and garment industry.

Another argument which made me question my previous knowledge on fashion market strategies is that most products are targeted at ‘the average consumer’ which in most cases is the profile of a “white middle-aged male with a salary above 100,000 pounds”. I wondered how most global industries could possibly exclude the majority of the population who differ in age, gender, ability and socio-economic background and focus on a target group so narrow and already privileged.

Subsequently, a way that fashion can create better lives is by making sure that the outer circle of the ‘extreme user circle’ is acknowledged, considered and cared for. Further, the fashion industry should make an effort to talk to ‘real’ people who do not fit the target consumer profile. These people can talk about their first-hand experience of living with a disability and the lack of inclusive clothing they are offered.

I learned that disabilities can come in the smallest forms such as having a bad back from carrying a laptop bag for work. In this case, fashion technology can aim to improve people’s lives by working on efficient and non-harmful items of clothing and accessories to ease people’s problems.

Going forward I want to take part in the fashion industry’s duty to incorporate inclusive design and technology so that disabled people can not only comfortably wear clothing but actually enjoy the art and inspiration behind fashion.