Damicka Izharudin

I read through Yanyu Pan’s blog post on fashion illustration and I enjoyed reading through how she really researched into the designer’s work, relating it to the better lives themes and finding reason to decide upon one of the designs for her final illustration. Within her blog, she focuses mostly on sustainability out of the main themes, looking into nature and environment themes of some of Alexander McQueen’s collections. Although she faced some difficulty with the drawing practice, it’s good how she learnt how the material she painted on is affected by her choice of painting medium. You can see how she has become more aware of her use of products and using recycled material, making her work more sustainable as she practices the illustrations.
Although for illustrations you’d normally want a clear paper to work on, I like the effect of the recycled paper underneath her piece. The writing and images showing through the negative spaces and areas of lighter paint creates an interesting effect to the piece, making it fuller and adding to the shading of the piece. It was nice to see her include photos of the work as it allows the readers to see and understand what is being described. This made me think that it could’ve been something for myself to have added within my blog post.

As somebody who isn’t as familiar with McQueen’s as others in this institution, it was interesting to read into her analysis of the designs. The theme of the dress strongly links to modern questions of environment and the ecosystem, and Yanyu has related this to the recent Earth Day. She also mentions the fashion industry and how people are working towards sustainability and social responsibility. This part was fairly brief and I would have liked to read some examples of how this is progressing. Additionally, with mentions to vogue interviewing women on challenges of fashion moving towards sustainable development, I was very intrigued and would have liked to read about examples of this too.

Her final illustration depicted the shape and body of the dress well, including the height and style of hair in the photo. In all of the photos you can see how watercolour has been the main medium with tissue paper in one of the practices. The blend of colours is smooth and suits the theme of water in the piece, but with watercolour being a very soft medium, it would be interesting to see how she could go about adding more texture to her illustrations, especially within the skirt element of the dress as it shows lots of volume and folds of overlapping material. Either with physical materials like the tissue paper, or with more practice into developing techniques to create different textures with the watercolours, it could really help to push the illustration forward. Overall, Yanyu has done a great job into reflecting upon her work in this Better Lives unit and has put a lot of research and thought into her creation.

After watching the Better Lives lectures, it has inspired my way of thinking even more when it comes to how I want to pursue work in hair, makeup and prosthetics.

Even before watching the lectures, diversity has been something of interest to me but now, my interest has become even stronger. Diversity has been a strong topic in the fashion industry in the recent years and has come a long way from where it began, yet there is still so much to do and improve upon. Having worked as a supporting artist, I have seen how some hair and makeup artists have struggled with working on people of colour (unless they themselves are poc). Moreover, in one of the lectures, it was shown how for one fashion show, a model showed how they avoided styling her as no one knew how to work with her hair type. This has sparked me even more to want to learn how to work with Afro-Caribbean hair as it’s often something people without this hair type struggle immensely with. I think it’s important to make everyone feel included and not to feel as if their being is something that’s difficult to work with.
Similarly, this is the case with skin colour too as people will tend to be comfortable and know how to work within a certain range of tones and then struggle with shades lighter or darker. In the recent years, makeup brands have been making more foundation shades to suit a wider audience as those on the ends of the scale – whether it be extremely light or extremely dark – struggle to find makeup that matches their colour well. This has already gained so much positivity as brands work towards creating products to be more inclusive.

Many industries, including the fashion industry, are also working towards becoming more and more sustainable in the way products are made, used and recycled. As a makeup artist, I want as many of the products to be vegan and not tested on animals but there are some things that aren’t vegan that could be considered more sustainable. For example, using gelatin for prosthetics as they give a closer to realistic finish, it can be frozen to last longer, it’s a cheaper option and it can also be remelted down and used again. This material could be considered to be more sustainable because of its ability to be used again and again, whilst products such as silicon cannot be reused.
In aims to be more sustainable in my practice, I think it’s very important to be conscious of the products I choose and how I use them so I don’t have large amounts of unnecessary waste. Before the Easter break, in Jeanette’s wig making classes, she mentioned how over time and practice, you’ll learn how to cut terylene in a way to produce less and less waste with the product. Small things like this can go a long way to make the way you use things more sustainable.

During this Better Lives unit, I took part in Mask Making and Politics classes. The task was to design and create a political mask and so, I chose to focus on deforestation and the forest fires that are an effect of this. Looking into the way it affects nature and animals, my mask consisted of an orangutan face with flames appearing on the top half of the mask.
We spent the classes working on the sculpts for the mask and planned to create them after the Easter break, choosing between papier-mâché or vac-forming plastic. As my mask was based around conservation of nature, using plastic didn’t seem to be a good idea. I was informed however that we would be using recycled plastic to create the mask, but in the end I planned to do papier-mâché as it suited the shape and design of my mask better.
With the whole global pandemic occurring at the moment and everyone working from home, it was clear that we would not be able to physically work on the masks as intended. Instead, our task has changed to be design-led. I stuck to the basics of my design, only changing the material it would be made of if time and budget were not of concern. After having watched the Better Lives lectures, I took in what was said about sustainability and considered this thoroughly when researching materials for my mask.
Since it was a conceptual mask, I had a wide range of materials to consider. I wanted the materials to be of a sustainable source whilst still giving the appearance I want. In the end, I chose bamboo for the base of the mask as it has the wooded texture and appearance whilst being much more sustainable than standard hardwoods. For the flames, I chose tinted resin but later when presenting my idea to the class, Caroline Gardener suggested looking into natural saps and rosins as they would give a similar appearance but are of a much more natural source and thus, are more sustainable.

It was interesting to research into this as previously I only looked at papier-mâché and vac-forming plastic, the minimal options making it simpler to choose but not expanding my mind. It was purely practical in my mind, focusing on how to shape the clay and how I would paint the mask in the end. Changing to the design and research aspect has made me focus on choosing from all of the possibilities, making me really consider how sustainability plays into the creation of the product and how this would affect the design process.

I am very happy with the outcome of my conceptual mask design. I feel that it clearly portrays the issue at hand, making a statement within itself. One thing I missed out in my presentation that I noticed in other people’s presentation, was how the mask would be put onto the head. Some of their designs covered around the head, sitting like a helmet of sorts. As mine only covers the top half of the face, I would have fabric straps that sit around the circumference of the head and one that goes down the centre line of the head, connecting to the horizontal straps. This way, the mask will sit securely to the head and not slide down. They would be made out of organic linen since it is very sustainable. It requires minimal water and pesticides, no part of the plant is wasted, and it is strong and fully biodegradable when untreated. Leaving it to its natural colour will suit my mask design well.

Over the course of two weeks, I got to chance to virtually attend many lectures, each delving into the major themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibility. With each lecture, I was led to thinking new ideas and concepts linking to fashion and art, and projects people have done to help others or to help others be more aware. In particular, it was the topics linking to diversity and sustainability that gained my attention the most.

It is evident that in the recent years, these two topics have been made predominant in the world, with many brands ensuring the promotion of diversity and many putting more focus and attention to sustainable materials and production.
When thinking about diversity, my mind automatically goes to race and size, but the lectures have reminded me that there is much more to it that that; it’s the inclusion of age, of those who are disabled, and those who aren’t heteronormative. As Shahidha Bari said in the lecture: “fashion is a visible medium”. It reminds me of the importance of representation and how this can empower people by seeing their likeliness being shown. It brings more confidence to individuals and leads to more self assurance. By showing more inclusivity, it will inspire others to do so, ultimately creating a chain and reaching out and touching more people’s lives. And within an individual, the more confidence they have can lead to a better well-being and way of living.

In one of the lectures of diversity, Sinead Burke was mentioned and how she considers the disabled in fashion, how to alter designs and to make them more accessible. It’s something most people forget, however unintentionally, that the standard way of clothing is not easy to use or is as suitable for those with a form of physical disability. Designers who consider this into their clothing can really make a drastic difference to someone’s life. With clothes being a part of everyday life, having something that is altered from the norm to fit to their situation, makes that part of their lives more manageable.

Fashion is very powerful and as something that is highly visual, it is of utmost importance that diversity and inclusivity is shown when promoting it. As well as creating a positive impact on those who feel represented, it also shows others what the world is made of and shows the beauty of the diverse world. In the modern day, diversity is being promoted now more than ever, but there is still so much that can be done to continue to inspire and to make better lives.