Noori Naveed

For the final blog reflection, we were asked to read, reflect and analyse one of our peers’ blog entries, focusing on the better lives themes. Since my better lives project was about styling related to fashion sportswear/subcultures, I found it slightly confusing at first picking out a blog based on a different project entirely, and how to analyse it using the better lives themes. However, after much scrolling, I found the blog I wanted: Themes Reflection by Leila Omar.

Her opening line caught my attention, where she stated the importance of just a single photograph, no matter how simple or detailed, simply because of how much information one can obtain from it. Information is knowledge and knowledge is power. She went on to justify that this is why photography is a key method in promoting and educating people when it comes to the better lives themes: sustainability, diversity and social responsibility.

The popular phrase “a picture tells a thousand words” is undeniably accurate. Most of us today take in a substantially large amount of information all through the medium of photographs. No matter how scholarly we like to think we are or how many articles we read, pictures are still a massive part of our lives and a primary source of information. Photographs are powerful. They can be used for almost any reason; good or bad. They can evoke every single kind of emotion from people, to spark outrage or sadness and so on. Of course, this also means that they have the power to bring about change, if used correctly.

How many times do we Google image search things? Or spend hours scrolling on Instagram? Or perhaps flicking through magazines? Most humans are highly visual learners, with “65 percent of us are visual learners, according to the Social Science Research Network.” (McCue, 2013) Another interesting fact I found highlighting the significance of photography was: “Our eyes can register 36,000 visual messages per hour.” (Jensen, 1996)

Leila also gave an example of how fashion photography can help bring about diversity by breaking down barriers between Western and Arab cultures, whilst simultaneously educating people and adding inclusivity into the mix. This was all displayed in Gigi Hadid’s Vogue Arabia March 2017 cover shot by Inez and Vinoodh.

In conclusion, I agree with what Leila Omar has said, especially her final thoughts on how the fashion industry has the social responsibility to inform and encourage consumers to do their part and help make a change. I think her blog had the right material yet could be slightly improved by additional information regarding the impact photography has/can have on sustainability.

References:

Dahabieh, M., 2017. Why Gigi’s Vogue Arabia Cover Matters. [online] British Vogue. Available at: <https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/vogue-arabia-gigi-hadid-cover> [Accessed 30 April 2020].

McCue, T., 2013. Why Infographics Rule. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2013/01/08/what-is-an-infographic-and-ways-to-make-it-go-viral/#1316d3737272> [Accessed 30 April 2020].

Visualteachingalliance.com. n.d. [online] Available at: <http://visualteachingalliance.com/> [Accessed 30 April 2020].

The project I chose was “In and Outside of Fashion: Sportswear Fashion Language and Sub-cultures”. Prior to this, I have styled some shoots and created a styling portfolio, but that’s it. Therefore, I had no idea how wide and complex styling truly is, with so much to consider and research and how everything ties into each other. The Better Lives key themes of diversity, social responsibility and sustainability were also incorporated into our lessons. These elements are all part of the structure of styling.

The first lecture provided plenty of information regarding subcultures. In our groups, we created our own subculture by merging major aesthetics and vital material from both sportswear and a subculture of our choice. My group came up with “The Ravies”, which took 90’s rave culture, fused it with even more sportswear than perhaps it originally had and finally, modernised it slightly to be more palatable for today’s generation. The collage we made was a highly hands-on and fun activity, where everyone took part and shared their creative ideas and wisdom, which really enhanced the overall experience.

In our masterclass we were asked to style another experimental and contemporary sportswear outfit individually, with the existing resources we have at home. The theme we were told to focus on was “healthy-youth vibes”, with reference to “fitness, subcultures and personal expression” during home isolation. I decided to combine the skateboarding sportswear subculture with a Mean Girls, Regina George-esque subculture consisting hot, popular and well-dressed schoolgirls/sorority girls. Skating itself is primarily perceived as a masculine sport, just like football. I wanted to challenge that dated, sexist view by styling the fit with a short skirt. Girls who skate and choose to wear ‘girly’ clothes as opposed to dressing ‘like a boy’ receive a lot of hate, often called degrading and sexist names from both misogynistic males and females suffering from internalised misogyny. While it might not be the most practical of bottoms, you can in fact skate in a non-restrictive skirt that also won’t get caught in anything. Disclaimer: it is advised to wear shorts underneath to protect your modesty. But it’s your choice. That’s what inclusive fashion is about: choice. Furthermore, to add in some sustainability, I recycled some old packaging for accessories; using package ribbon as a necklace, belt and hair tie. I believe the themes made my styling project come to life instead of it just being about an outfit. They reinforced the fact that this is for real people made by real people.

I took decisions that I would have otherwise never considered. I feel like I have learnt a lot as well as had fun. It’s shown me we are all socially responsible, whether we decide to use our voice for good or not. We all have the chance to make a difference. In the future I want to experiment more with various sustainable materials.

The better lives themes are all vital for the future of fashion and dare I say it, humanity in general. Diversity, inclusivity, social responsibility and of course sustainability are each as important as the other. A lot of these topics, unfortunately, seem to be reduced to mere buzzwords. People like to talk about them because it sounds good. But in reality, very little change is actually being made. That is not to disregard the small baby steps the fashion industry has finally made in bettering itself by including and appealing to everyone. However, I personally feel that these sentiments largely remain alive only in scholarly articles online or university essays.

We live in a capitalist society, where fashion brands profit from racial scandals regularly. They don’t really care about sustainability even though the hashtag on their Instagram picture says they do. They still have prison-like sweatshops in third-world countries where the workers are treated like they are less than human.  According to Jeremy Myerson (cited in Salisbury, 2020) the average consumer that most fashion is designed for is a white, middle-aged male with a salary above £100,000. That doesn’t sound very inclusive at all. The fashion industry, although a seemingly female-oriented area, is still run by men (George-Parkin, 2018). I would like to put the blame entirely on backwards-thinking, non-inclusive big fashion brands, but I know that this is not true. Do we really care? We still buy from them and champion them. Fashion designers, photographers, journalists and more still work for brands which lack key elements such as diversity, empathy and inclusivity. People still catch numerous flights all across the world to attend fashion week shows, with not a single regard to the air pollution they contribute to. The list goes on. What’s more is that brands can only do so much. They listen to what the public says, whether that is directly or indirectly. Yes, big fashion brands have power and an influence to an extent, but in today’s consumerist culture, consumers are the true powerhouse. The saying “supply and demand” remains unparalleled.

I believe we all need to do our part, no matter how big or small. I need to educate myself further and raise awareness, even if that is speaking to family members who do not know of or have much interest in these topics. Furthermore, I hope to actively try to implement these changes within my daily life and work, especially by choosing environmental-friendly and sustainable fashion. In the future, I hope to really think about the consequences of my actions. Writing only about things that really matter and can inspire people to change. There is no need for me to bring a piece of journalistic writing into this world if it will not benefit anyone or improve anything. Speaking to people and collaborating more would really help because one can learn so much from others, leading to better ideas. There is power in numbers.

References:

George-Parkin, H. (2018) The Glass Runway: Our Exclusive Survey on the State of the Fashion Industry, Glamour, 21 May. Available at: https://www.glamour.com/story/the-glass-runway-fashion-industry-survey

Salisbury, L. (2020) ‘Inclusion’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 12 February.

It is safe to say that I have now watched a handful of diverse lectures (no pun intended), each amazingly in-depth and well presented, so I’d have thought it would be rather tricky to choose which one would win the honourable spot in my reflection blog. However, this was not the case, because one of the lectures really stood out to me, and I often found myself thinking back to it and even re-watching it. This was Laura Salisbury’s Inclusion lecture, which was so informative to me that I wrote four A4 pages of notes. In particular, it was one of the examples she gave that really stuck with me, which was as follows: imagine you are designing a fashion garment for someone with limited arm/hand use. One would automatically assume that the person or audience they are designing for is somehow disabled. But in actuality, there are other kinds of people who would benefit from your garment and could provide insight as well as feedback during the product design process. These people were separated into three groups:

1. Permanent condition: someone with an amputation or born without an arm
2. Temporary condition: someone who has broken their arm
3. Situational: parents carrying a baby, or someone busy who carries items in hand

By gathering information regarding how they dress, what fashion is available to them and how they construct their identity in society, one could potentially create an entirely inclusive fashion garment.

After hearing what Laura said, I came to the realisation that prior to this lecture, I didn’t truly understand the meaning of inclusion. I had never thought of it in the ways that she presented. I merely thought of inclusive fashion at surface level, for instance using models of all races, genders and age in adverts. But it is so much more than that. It is about the practicality of fashion. Fashion in real life. It is about people’s abilities, preferences, style, identities, lives, jobs, families, environments and all that is to do with the human race. Everything is much easier said than done. This was another message in Laura’s lecture: design fashion for real people. Not an imaginary target audience. Speak to people you know or work with or can at least get in contact with to get real feedback and information. An exact quote by Laura Salisbury during her lecture was “fashion is very human-centred, we can’t get away from the fact that it involves people” and this rang true.

Essentially, inclusive fashion boils down to having choices. If someone needs something, they should be able to have and use it, which ultimately enhances their life. It is not about designing for a certain demographic like disabled or elderly people. It is about designing fashion for the whole population.

References:

Salisbury, L. (2020) ‘Inclusion’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 12 February.