Kalisah Mohamed

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Project Outcomes and Personal Development Reflection Task (3)

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Navigate Through Clothing is to explore how one can creatively communicate meanings through the visual art medium of clothing.

As a collective group we were given a mind-invigorating introduction to the context of costume design for the performing arts. We started to strategize on how to research, analyse, experiment, test and create a focused concept design development process.

We worked through a segment of text from the story of Hansel and Gretel, and from which, re-interpreted a character of our choice and gave them an imaginative twist inspired by the contemporary political and social matters of diverse world cultures – of these cultures I had picked both Circus Life and the Antarctic to in-cooperate into my character design. From the text I had chosen to work with the Step-Mother as I felt that I could apply my two chosen world cultures well to her mannerisms.

As an individual I created one final character design for the Step-Mother. Within my design I bared in mind the growing area of sustainable costume culture and so introduced many sustainable materials that truly gave my design an eco-correct approach. The project outcome had become something I was extremely proud of personally as I felt that I has fully made use of my research into the Artic and the Circus and made use of this to generate a concept that responded well to the text and brief.

The project outcome has influenced my way of thinking.

The characters and concept sharing during Navigating Through Clothing lectures, as a collective encouraged a circle of trust within each other to listen, explore and obtain new knowledge communally to make pieces of work that can relate to us individually. 

The unit truly gave me a better insight and my lecture environment brought about some Personal Development in collaboratively working on and improving my concepts.

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Themes Reflection Task (2)

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The Better Lives Unit has provoked my daily thoughts to exercise my understanding of the fashion industry, sustainability and life on earth. The Fashion Industry should be directing it’s work toward respecting the environment whilst evoking the globe with great fashion.

The problem we are facing now is the earth’s impossibility of synthesising the sizeable amount of waste that humans have been producing over the past 40 years and lifetimes before that.

Solutions to diminish that waste can have unbelievable benefits for our future well-being.

I believe that as Fashion Students it is important to embed the reality of the Fashion World’s current situation; To encourage the choice of making use of biodegradable and sustainable materials in future design work, to encourage the use of waste free, non-biodegradable or eco- friendly Make-up and Hair Products. As in industry we can make these changes holistically.

Diversity is also something that I always try to incorporate within my work. The Better Lives Unit has made me realise this can go much further than simply visual representation; it should also include the teams and brands I work with. This is essential as a Fashion Stylist can have a great impact on what consumers decide to purchase. In some ways, they are showing people what they think they should wear, and minority groups do not always get the support they deserve. Working in a diverse team also means you have a better-quality variety of opinions and ideas that can help the outcome of the work to be beyond diverse and inclusive.

Concerning these themes being reflected within my profession, as a Fashion Stylist and Producer I am aware that I can research into forming a shoot that works sustainably where possible. Sourcing clothing from PR’s and Designers who make use of eco-friendly material, concept Stores and international brands that make the fashion industry’s pollution a statement through clothing, devising together a creative team that makes use of eco-correct products and technics – the list goes on.

It will be my duty to minimize waste product from Set Design and any other areas possible. I am aware this isn’t supposed to be easy as so will experiment with different ways of approaching a project without wasting of abusing the way in which a shoot is carried out.

The repossession of our planet will depend on how society progresses to adapt to our planet’s needs, and I am a part of society. I believe that all of the measures for conservation and preservation of our environment should be pushed much further than it is today and should be given overjoyed support by our governments worldwide. There should be Zero-Tolerance for any discrepancies, and I can only see the rest of society complying with such verdict.

When we will do better for our planet, we will have better lives.

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  1. Matilda Holtom: I came across Kalisah’s second blog post (https://1920betterlivessmc.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2020/04/27/themes-reflection-task-2-2/) when looking for a blog post to review. I really enjoy this…

  2. Samira Mohamud: For my fourth blog post I will be reviewing Kalisah Mohamed’s reflection task (blog post 2).At first when choosing a…

Lecture Reflection Task (1)

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I believe that fashion is a manifestation of the culture we want to live in.

Fashion can be a medium to demonstrate power, for example; Royalty would wear elaborate avant-garde gowns and jewels to assert and communicate their status. Lecture 1 on Power and Fashion had the following question constantly arising, that being, who holds the power in Fashion? It is quite obvious to see that We are surrounded by blame culture in the fashion industry and people should start taking responsibility.

As the lecture went on, I was met with the fact that the apparel industry has helped some become extremely wealthy while virtually enslaving others. Trends in fashion consumption are constantly increasing which obviously leads to workers having to work overtime, an increase in working hours, an increase in labour. This leads us to discussing human rights – the fashion industry in most situations do not consider the well-being and value of life of their workers. Politicians and business owners feel raising wages will only drive companies to produce clothing in an even cheaper way.

Malcolm X says the media controls the minds of the masses.

Forbes says the average American is exposed to around 4000 to 10,000 ads a day alone.

Lecture 1 highlighted that the influence of advertising is quick and cumulative and has been reworked within recesses of the human brain, working on the subconscious thoughts of potential targets. The development of technology in our coming age and the widespread of users than associate their accounts with fashion makes it extremely easy to spread ads out to consumers.

The power of media is evident in all areas.

For example, individuals with a large Instagram following can be seen as an Instagram and Social Influencer. Their platform is an amazing and easy way for brands to push for promotions. Unfortunately, this methodology seeps into the fact that social media fuels consumption but evokes the popularity of feeling inadequate and depressive moods.

I’ve learnt that the consumer has a somewhat substantial power and can use that power correctly. Regrettably, at the moment the majority doesn’t. We can scrutinise and query about the clothes that we buy and should want to buy sustainably. As consumers we deserve to be fully informed and aware of the clothing we buy, how it was made and where it came from. We could potential boycott these fast fashion brands, and disrupt the nature of a brand, we hold the power to reshape the story. What we consume determines the future of the fashion industry.

Extinction Rebellion (2019) have had massive international non-violent movements and demonstrations. They so fashion is nothing on a dead planet. It is very clear that these demonstrations can help evoke the need for change and trigger policy changes. There are both big and small protests that encourage others to be much more thoughtful and attempt gentle protest.

You have a voice and you have a say.

There is Power through Design and Power through Us.

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