Holly Coyle

Influence on project outcome

In ‘Navigating Through Clothing’  I feel there are many ways that I could use the Better Lives themes to inform the decisions I make about my outcome. 

I wanted to use Africa as my continent for inspiration, I felt I could use what I learnt about appropriation and appreciation from Teleicas lecture to help guide me. 

I went to the British Museum to source information and inspiration. In the African section they have lots of fabrics and describe how different tribes in many countries have different meanings for their fabrics. They are used to communicate important religious, historical and social information, the list went on. The importance of these fabrics was clear – I was originally going to use colourful fabrics and samples I found in the museum for my design. It was obvious that I could not do that, because I would have been taking something that didn’t belong to me and appropriating it to create a design.  

Doing that very small research into the meanings of various fabrics, was enough for me to know I couldn’t just ‘copy’ parts I liked, as easy as that would have been. It made me think of brands who have appropriated cultures in the past, and wonder how they were produced in the first place? Telecia talked about outrage marketing in her lecture, and how brands will purposely use racially motivated or culturally insensitive clothing to draw attention. This still happens, and even if they deny outrage marketing, there is no excuse for appropriating a culture, when all it takes is research and consideration. 

As I still wanted to use Africa as inspiration, I asked my tutors to ask what they would do if they wanted to use inspiration from a culture, what they would do to not appropriate it, and make sure it is done right. Matt and Jess both agreed that always having a good amount of research that is very specific to a time and place ensuring it is factually accurate. Matt also spoke about his experience, and how he was fortunate enough to have someone on his team with a lot of knowledge on the subject and was from there – this obviously doesn’t mean she could speak on behalf of everyone’s experience, but it did ensure that it was done right. 

I realized I would have to pick something broader – as the Better Lives unit isn’t long, I wouldn’t have the time or resources to research into a culture or a specific area. I decided I would use mask performance; this is seen a lot across Africa and is used in many cultures for different reasons – usually for a performance piece. I took this forward for my design, ideally, I would have liked to use more inspiration from African culture, but I feel it wouldn’t be right and wouldn’t want to start taking parts of someone else’s culture for my gain. I will continue to be conscious about this now whenever I need to create a design. 

How BL themes will change how I work in the future

Claire’s lecture on social responsibility helped me see how linked the Better Lives themes are. I think the word ‘Power’ is strong and I think that this is a link that holds all the themes together. After watching the lecture on Power by Julia Crew I didn’t understand how it was relevant at first, but after watching more lectures, I heard the word ‘Power’ come up in nearly all discussions. Now I can reflect about the information in the ‘Power’ lecture, I can see why it is so important to know where power is held and how it effects different people. 

Considering the themes, I can now see how Sustainability, Diversity and Social Responsibility affect me a lot more clearly. These lectures have challenged be to think differently and help me see I do have the power to make changes. 

I feel my initial dismissal came from a place of feeling as though I have no control or final say in the way I work – which in a lot of cases does apply, but I feel it should be everyone’s responsibility to look at these themes and see where or how people could be better. Even my feeling of powerlessness when I first looked at the themes, to now where I can see where I can make changes is a step in the right direction. 

Power is an important player in all of the better lives themes; if we are the ones with it it’s how we use our power as designers to ensure everyone’s needs are met and that everyone is taken in to consideration, to the best of our ability. If we are without power, it’s up to us to speak up when we believe something is unethical or wrong.

From a makeup and hair artist perspective, a discussion I have seen on social media a lot is the talk around Black and other people of colour and their experience with makeup and hair stylists not knowing how to do their hair and makeup, and their treatment in a professional working environment. This has been something I have been more conscious over the years, ensuring that before I call myself a Makeup or Hair Artist I know that I am prepared to style anyone who sits in front of me, this should be something that is a bare minimum standard, not something that is praised.

The Representation and Diversity lecture was the one I was most interested in, and that I feel I could take forward into my practices. I was really interested in the cultural appropriation vs appreciation discussion. I think as part of my responsibility when designing, that I not only include diverse characters, but ensuring that I am considering who is going to be affected by the decisions that I make. Whether that be the character that I design, ensuring that it doesn’t hurt or offend anyone when portraying them in different cultures.

Lectures and Understanding Better Lives

When I first saw the themes of better lives and its link with fashion, I struggled to understand why or how this would be relevant to myself as a hair, makeup and prosthetic student. I don’t always have the control to make final decisions about who I work on or what they wear.  

However, the more lectures I watched on different themes, the more I understood that as a designer and hair and makeup artist I should take these into consideration.

I watched the lecture on Representation and Diversity with Telecia Kirkland she delved deep into the history of representation in media. It was made clear that representation or lack thereof is a big issue, and even though it is slowly getting better, it is still not enough yet.  The lack of diversity in media in the past and even today, has let the only representation be negative and racist, putting dark skin down and making white European skin more desirable.

Telecia explained ‘Monoculturalist Western ideal’ – a term I had never heard before, it basically means the idea of a Eurocentric look being the ‘right’ way to look. As a person from a European decent, it is sometimes difficult to understand the feeling of not being represented, because I always have been, the problem comes when not everyone feels this way. She talked more about how this Eurocentric look was not only plastered everywhere in media, but non-Eurocentric looks where villainized, sometimes in subtle ways but mostly in racist ways, creating a falsified idea of danger.

Cultural Appropriation is something I had seen on social media a lot, and there have been arguments between appropriation and appreciation. Both of which Telecia broke down, explaining the difference which I gathered to be, in simpler terms, if your using someone else’s culture or part of the culture for personal or public gain, without educating yourself and acknowledging where it has come from, that benefits them as well, you are appropriating their culture, and that is not okay. Those who hold power take and use whatever they want without acknowledging the source – this is where appropriation usually happens. 

Another lecture I really engaged with was, the lecture on Social Responsibility with Clair Swift, the work that she did with prisoners is really eye opening and moving, I think the main point I took away was giving a voice to people who wouldn’t normally have one, and by doing so seeing the confidence that comes with it. This is something we can take forward into our own practices, realising that there is a wider greater meaning than just yourself.  She also spoke about ways her students had used recycled materials to create their products and designs, this is something I feel could easily be done by everyone, even if it is done in small amounts. As a designer I need to consider sustainability and if we can reuse clothing instead of buying new it will have a great impact on the world.