Jodie Haworth

For our fourth blog post, we have been expected to analytically review one of our peer’s blogs and to assess how well they met the expectations of reviewing the three main themes of this unit including diversity, sustainability and social responsibility. I felt it is important to mention that peer assessing is highly effective due to its team bonding nature, especially as students at the University of the Arts London where collaboration and communication amongst us is vital for our creative practice. Ella Gunton’s blog took my attention as it would be most beneficial to review her blog due to us both being on the same course – Styling and Production – and choosing the same option being Make Up Breakdown allowing us to compare our work in an instrumental and valuable way.

Within the first paragraph, Ella directly references the three main themes of this unit alongside supporting her statement with ‘Each year… 100,000-200,000 animals suffer’. This is an example of referenced, factual statistics that link to social responsibility regarding animal testing in the make-up industry which adds validity to her work. After this statement, she makes a connection with this information to her creative practice and how she can improve it in order for it to link to the themes of the social responsibility by using only make up products with a ‘logo of a leaping bunny’. This links accurately to what was expected of her when writing this blog in terms of the process side to the brief.

Following on from her first point about social responsibility, Ella dives straight into the topic of diversity with the ability to link It well to her chosen option – Make up Break Down – and she has clearly done some personal secondary research on the make up industry as she well backs up her points about the lack of representative shades of foundation with statistics from as recent as 2019 from the beauty company Fenty showing reliable, in date information. She also states how she will go about her practice to apply to diversity issues in the fashion industry including asking them about “preferences, for example, with hairstyles, textures and colours’. Ella has clearly reflected the diversity theme successfully and further looked into how she will apply it in her own practice here.

            Ella goes onto clearly applying the sustainability theme to her blog by using more statistics e.g. how ‘non-biodegradable resources that can take up to 1,000 years to break down in landfills’ to inform the reader of her blog on the dangers and disadvantages of wastage caused by the cosmetic industry. After this she states how she could be more ‘sustainably-aware’, showing she has clearly thought about this theme and again applied it to her own way of working.

Ella’s blog is a great reflection of not only an analysis of the three main themes of this unit but also how she will take what she has learnt and apply it in her own creative practice.

            At the beginning of the ‘Better Lives’ unit, I found myself unsure of what to expect yet as this unit has progressed I have become progressively educated on the three main important aspects of the unit: Diversity, Social Responsibility and Sustainability. Before this unit, I felt my focus would stray away from these important topics (although not completely) and focus mainly on my inspiration, creativity and output of work. However, now these issues have been addressed to me, I believe a large part of the creative process I tend to will unquestionably involve consciously addressing how my work aligns with the correct morale.

            As a Fashion Styling student with a deeper interest in styling alongside photography, I decided it would be of interest to look into an area of work which I was intrigued by but did not have particular skill in, this being Make Up Breakdown. As well as this, I wanted to understand how make up artists perceive their work to allow better communication in our future collaborative practice as well as extensively understanding how their work can be applied to these 3 concepts. Through the masterclasses that I attended, I found it most beneficial learning about ‘Make Up Imperfections’. I felt it reinforced the ideas I learnt in a lecture about Representation, that beauty standards are falsified and further allowed me to ponder upon the ideas of inclusivity within the fashion industry and how I go about my practice.

            I have learnt that within my practice as a stylist, it is now more important than ever to make a more conscious effort to source garments in the most sustainable way as possible rather than using fast fashion corporates like H&M, Asos and Zara. This means using second hand clothing or sustainable brands as well as borrowing pieces off friends and family as well as trying to keep the whole production as sustainable as possible. Although these personal efforts seem insignificant, as a collective of UAL students with access to this information, we can prioritise these efforts allowing change to happen. A quote that stuck by me referenced from the ‘Power’ lecture given to us by Julia Crew; “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” which was stated by Margaret Mead an anthropologist.

            As a stylist, it is my main priority to create a grasping narrative through garments and accessories and this must be done with social responsibility. I must take part in my creative process without offense or ignorance and be able to identify whether other collaborators are doing so too. The connotations of my work and those around me must represent only forms of Cultural Appreciation done with extensive research and completely evade practices for example, Cultural Appropriation. Within the planning stages of my work, I will make it my duty to be more inclusive of different beauty standards, abilities and ethnicities as fashion should be accessible by all and embracing of our differences.

After being thoroughly educated through the Better Lives lectures upon most important subjects affecting the practice within the fashion industry, I felt the one of most valuable to me was a well delivered insight about Representation from Teleicia Kirkland. The series of lectures I had watched were all of high importance and interest yet Teleicia Kirkland’s lecture allowed me to further understand and analyse the impact that representation has within the fashion industry and how it is essential we must create more diversity in a very ‘monocultural’ environment. Having had a prior interest in Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu’s influential work to do with Political rights in terms of representation of those of ethnic minorities, I recalled her statement that ‘It is not the job of black people and ethnic minorities to educate white people on racism.’  And since this, I have felt a deep sense of duty as an individual not of an ethnic minority that I educate myself thoroughly to gain full understanding of such issues.

            It is necessary to mention that diversity creates more creative output and it is imperative that as an industry we push for more representation due to the age we are living in. As Teleicia stated, we are currently living in a heavily digital internet age where we must understand how everyone operates all over the world. The poisonous misrepresentation of those of ethnic minorities alongside the mass exposure to Eurocentric representation has severe affects that ripple throughout communities worldwide. By mentioning the mainstream media outputs being Eurocentric, I am stating that there is an overrepresentation of European/Western culture paired with masses of greatly offensive underrepresentation of those not from European backgrounds. Consequently, this has a seriously harmful impact on people of colour within the Western world perceive themselves. This discriminatory pre-eminence of European culture creates mass feelings of self-depreciation and those of other ethnicities seeing themselves as ‘undesirable’ –  these feelings coming entirely from their distorted, untrue representation within all types of media, the fashion industry being a main contributor.

Another issue that Teleicia touched upon was ideas of cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. Richard A Rodgers defined cultural appropriation as ‘The use of one culture’s symbols, artefacts, genres, rituals, or technologies by members of another culture – regardless of intent, ethics, function or outcome.’. Furthermore, what was mentioned was that this could be done for economical gain whilst cultures get no recognition. It is illogical to do this as there is a lack of respect and value placed on the minority culture by the dominant culture. This is highly relevant to the fashion industry as a place where everything created comes from a source of inspiration, it is our duty as a whole to practice in such a way that is respectful and morally correct and to appreciate culture instead of appropriate it.

With the diverse climate we live in, it is a necessity that we practice ordeals that suit the needs of everybody. We must normalise the realness of our environment and practice inclusivity alongside respect and understanding of those misrepresented. Diversity is fundamental, it broadens our creative mindsets and puts an end to ignorance.