Nicola Sclano

On my Better Lives course, Fashion Activism, we went across different topics connected to creative direction. We highlighted the evolution of techniques, restyling of brands and also how creatives, nowadays, taking into consideration the overview for the upcoming years in the industry. One of the examples showed to us was the logo of DAZED BEAUTY, a clear example of how the designers applied their view of the future with design and techniques. We also had an introduction to typography, sound design and where to find royalty-free resources for our projects.  

Our task was to develop a moving image based on a fashion sustainable brand, Emily Bode. The first weeks, we research the aesthetic, the ethos and the positioning of the brand, collecting past and recent campaigns, catwalks shows and other elements that helped to create a moodboard and to understand the brand, also we filled up with competitors in order to place the brand in the market. Once we analysed the brand, we decided to create a short clip. Me and the other member of the group we got along since the beginning, from the communication to the development of ideas, we were moving fast and together.

The concept of our project was created around sustainability and diversity, potentially the location could be a farm in the countryside, surrounded by wildlife and nature. However, when we came back from the break we had to replan the idea due to the new restrictions. We decide instead, to change a bit the storyboard by removing elements such models and the location and we simply decided to shoot footages of nature that surround us, in our gardens, out of our windows and terraces, keeping the feeling of sustainability connected to the nature that the brand is focused on. The other members of the team provided to me footages, I edited the project on Premiere and created a 37 seconds clip for Instagram.

We attended our last classes online, we also create our project and we collaborated online, from home. On one side is much more convenient in a big city like London, no need to commute from a point A to B, squeeze inside a carriage of a train and gives you better time managing. On the other hand, we lose human contact and face to face relationships with other colleagues and the opportunity to meet new people outside the courses.

The way how we developed the project without leaving home, it was pretty challenging, however, the final outcome was very close to the storyboard created before the break. I and my team we managed to get through it and I enjoyed work together, unfortunately, we couldn’t express to the 100% of our potential, but I am positive that for each one was a good experience overall.

We weren’t prepared for this and we didn’t expect either, we had to use new and experimental technologies to keep on moving our creativity and society.

Now more than ever, people, communities, companies are willing for a change. Developing a better future for the collective, bond closer, one to another and to the planet earth.

Sustainability, diversity and social responsibilities are the keywords for this unit, however, does not stop right here, it goes further. These are the fundamental steps that we have to begin with, to create our future society. Teach to new generations, but also to the whole society, the important role played from these, for a change into our communities.

Sustainability is the breaking point to move forward, cohabitate with the planet, evolve and be sustainable. We came across this word quite often lately. We heard from the media about the green deal, green economy, something that governments, companies are taking seriously right now, trying to stop the global warming and the critical situation, economical, political and sociological. Whilst there is much evidence that everybody can clearly see, some of our leaders claim the opposite, for instance, that global warming is a hoax.

Diversity is essential, taking as an example the variety of nature given to us, species that are connected with each other, vital for the survival of the ecosystem. Nowadays, it is inevitable to accept the diversity between cultures. Yet we are seeing globalization moving on, accelerating, which in some cases helped this acceptance of the diverse, but on the other hand, is threatening the possibility to keep traditions, rituals of cultures.

Social responsibility comes after you have acknowledged the previous 2 points of the unit, not because it is less important but because if you don’t understand sustainability or diversity you can’t apply your responsibility into your actions. If you are not aware of the consequences that one action can cause not following the previous 2 steps, you can’t be socially responsible.

This unit has an important role to enlight students on such important actions that are the keys to develop a better future society. 

Did this make an impact on my methods of shopping, work and living?

Yes, indeed. Working on this project gave me the opportunity to apply these 3 concepts into work and made me rethink some methods. I can say that I was already trying to have a low impact on the environment that surrounds me, I was acknowledged that diversity is essential, and act socially responsible. However, it seems that is never enough. The way I live is already changing and the community is changing too, the awareness is growing from young and old people of any culture. My work will and did change, is inevitable. Every past generation went through changes and now is our time to go forward and take actions to move on.

Starting with that, technologies always fascinated me. Today, we are to a point that we could not imagine achieving 20 years ago. AI or “self-assist” at the beginning of the new millennium we certainly saw this happened in 100 years time, however, everybody now has or Siri or Alexa (i personally have both).

George Orwell in 1986, a British writer, kind of predicted what actually is happening right now with smart TVs, that smart that in some cases are spying on us or a society based on behaviour credit score that helps or denies us to move throughout societies, if we just see what’s happening in China with the social score system and I can keep saying more examples.

Last year the first robot “Sophia” was entitled to receive a passport and so the citizenship of Saudi Arabia. She became very popular and was on TV shows to be interviewed, conferences, she acts like a human being which personally scary me.

Other life-changing technologies are blockchain and cryptocurrency. Bitcoins, for instance, is a threat for banks and the Federal Reserve giving the opportunity to be independent from banks. I have my own wallet on coinbase, but still not easy to access and the majority of people don’t know yet what is it for. All the idea of bitcoins and the miners are very intriguing, I can mine my own money. However, ecologically talking is releasing loads of co2, therefore, is a threat to the environment. Many countries at the moment are investing in blockchain technology.

Machine-learning, a great example is the documentary of AlphaGo. This project was funded by Google which creates a machine that could learn from data and experiences how to play at Go and it became very strong at the point that beat the world champion. Another great achievement from google was last year when it developed the first efficient quantum computer.

We already see experimenting applications of these technologies in our daily life and so in the fashion industry, AI working along WGSN to determinate new trends and narrow down the possibility to fail. Also, we can take advantages to reduce the number of clothes that go wasted every year creating a system that design your bespoke garments and making it once you order it. Some technologies such as smart mirrors, or auto checkouts are already a thing.

It’s fundamental to accept these technologies and apply them to resolve problems that the fashion industry generates. But also, we need more regulations on this before it gets out of control. It’s all happening fast and sometimes it is difficult to be up to date, we need to adapt, we need to elevate and use these technologies to live in a better and easy world. 

We are in the middle of a technological revolution, where we are creating the roots for another chapter of human history.