Maja Majchrzak

When I was reading some of my peers work at the SMC blog, it felt almost impossible to choose one for a review, with so many interesting options and posts to choose from. But there was one, which really stood out for me- Elanka Jiang’s 3rd Blog post on Styling and sportswear project outcomes. As I am a Styling and Production student, it was fascinating for me to read an experience from a different perspective- someone who is interested in different fields, like creative illustration, wanting to experiment with designing and sportswear.

Elanka writes about the variety of styles being talked about throughout the lectures, from subcultures to streetwear. She discusses how informative the lectures were, being given different styles, designers, stylists, which could be used later as inspiration for the projects. It is mentioned how it was suggested to the students to consider Better Lives themes in their outcomes, and therefore they have been introduced to some sustainable brands, like Adidas. Elanka Jiang clearly understood the lecture delivery well, taking inspiration from it and actively using it further in her project.

It is mentioned that during the first masterclass, students had an option to bring in their own clothing and/or materials and then create looks with the use of them, which is an active method of bringing the Better Lives theme of sustainability into the classes. I feel like a really important part for Jiang was stepping out of her comfort zone and deciding to model. Modelling can definitely develop one’s confidence and bring out a new experience of being on the focus, so I’m glad to hear that the masterclasses and the project in general had brought some new experiences for Elanka. She later mentions how as a Canadian Chinese person she appreciates the opportunity to model, because of lack of representation in the media, which makes the whole experience stronger and powerful. The styled looks were well thought out, touching upon redefinition of femininity, as well as a streetwear inspired look. 

Additionally, because of the final looks being unorthodox and against gender stereotypes, another important theme of Better Lives, diversity was moved. The idea of showing different body types fits well into this unit and makes a really engaging styling outcome, especially for a person, who is an illustrator and decided to experiment with styling. In conclusion, Elanka Jiang’s blog post was very inspiring, when it comes to a creative and original use of Better Lives themes throughout her project journey. It has enabled her to gain more knowledge on designers, stylists and subcultures as well as more confidence through the experience.

As a Better Lives option, my first choice was ‘Make Up Break Down’. I have always been interested in how makeup can visually complete an outfit, being a Styling and Production student I felt like it could be beneficial for my future practice, to get to know the make-up world and tricks a little closer.

Overall, this unit has not only taught me the basics of a well-done makeup, which fits well to a certain type of beauty, it has also broadened my creativity and imagination, when it comes to creating a whole makeup look from scratch. This is something I can easily benefit from later on, for instance to communicate better with a makeup artist.

For my final outcome of the project I have decided to research on the theme of ‘Imperfection’ and develop a final look based on that. Even though my final outcome wasn’t based on personal experience, I feel like it was an important factor in developing my look. When I was younger I used to be bullied for my bushy eyebrows and acne. Growing up with social media so present in our lives, there is a desire to look perfect, almost like a doll with no imperfections on their face. My first concept, which we have developed through an online class was concentrated on my journey with my own flaws. Later on I decided to do more research on the theme of imperfections and moved on with my ideas for this project.

When doing my research I chose to explore the skin condition called vitiligo. I was thinking of how can I celebrate this condition through the makeup look. I was looking back at the lesson we had on the colour theory and marking our bones and flesh with various colours. And then, I felt that the best way to approach and beautifully represent this condition is by recreating the distinctive patches on the skin, but with a twist- using lots of colour. This way, I was able to represent it positively, wanting to show it is not a condition to be ashamed of, cover, but take pride in. My project is an homage and a celebration of vitiligo and any kind of difference and imperfection people may have.

This project has shown me how little we really need to create a defined look. Last few weeks of it had been done online due to the global pandemic of coronavirus. At first, I was really nervous and concerned of doing one with not many products, at home. But then, when I started to brainstorm and mix media throughout editing and creating my look I have become more confident. This taught me a valuable lesson, that sometimes, when doing a creative project all we need is simple household objects and a little brainstorming, and this is a lesson I want to carry out into my future in the fashion industry.

Themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibility are in my opinion essential for an amenable fashion practice in a future. The positive  influence of these themes is extremely important and so I think it should be spoken about more, making more and more creatives aware in order to make changes in the fashion industry. One of them, which has instantly caught my attention and on which I am most interested in, mostly because of my experience is diversity.

Poland is a country, where many minorities, wether its culture, religion, race, age, disability or sexual identity and gender faced serious discrimination. Coming from a place like this, I’ve always been really sensitive on this topic. Living in London and studying at UAL is making it possible to look at different people, cultures, everyone is different and seeing it from day to day hasn’t only inspired me as a creative, but also made me think of how I want to approach this theme in the future, showing as much positivity around the topic as I possibly can.

As I am a Styling and Production student, a first thing that springs to my mind as a powerful move to express more diversity is doing photoshoots with models from different backgrounds, different age, or shape. They would be making a shoot more interesting, opposing the most popular standard of beauty being a white, tall, skinny blonde girl with blue eyes. This practice wouldn’t only destroy silly beliefs of how real beauty should look like, but also influence confidence of young people, often ashamed of their looks associated with their race or culture. In modern society, where every day we’re constantly surrounded by fashion outcomes on social media, like photoshoots or videos from runways it is important to have more variety and representation of every race, shape or age.

I feel like another aspect around the theme of diversity that needs mentioning is cultural appropriation and how often it is ignored in the industry. This is an issue that should be taken into the account by every fashion professional. It is especially crucial for a stylist creating a certain outfit to be aware of the various elements, where it came from and if it’s right to use it as a part of a styling outcome. A person of that culture would have felt like their traditions and heritage is really nothing more than something to dress up with. My opinion is that those elements from other culture are something far more important and complex than just another piece of fabric or an accessory and shouldn’t be taken lightly and ‘just like that’.

In conclusion, diversity is for me a theme, which is teaching us many valuable lessons throughout our life. It is critical to understand the differences between us, with tolerance and positive attitude. I aspire to show that approach through my work, with respect for every difference there is.

Throughout the lectures during the first two weeks of the Better Lives unit I have been able to reflect on how fashion industry connects with Better Lives themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibility. A lecture that particularly interested me, as well as influenced my thinking is ‘Power’ by Julia Crew.

Generally speaking, the lecture was focusing on the subject of power within fashion industry, dividing it into subtopics to discuss and understand power structures in more detail. Starting with fashion, ms. Crew has made some great points on how clothing and fashion has been expressing power for centuries, giving examples of royalty, uniforms and businessman suits, among other examples. Next few subtopics (money, media and protest) were really thought- provoking and made me reflect on the future of this industry. The statistics and facts given in the lecture are frightening: the situation of people employed in the clothes making process cannot afford basic necessities; it is said that it would take around 4 days for a CEO of a top fashion brand to make what a Bangladeshi garment worker would earn in a lifetime, in many countries minimum wage isn’t enough to live with a standard, and leaves a certain amount of workers in poverty. Julia Crew is discussing the power of advertising, which is often really subtle, subconscious. With the amount of media and platforms the modern society is dealing with everyday and is exposed to them, it is not very shocking to see the example of how a popular television show ‘Love Island’ increased sales of the online brand Missguided by 40%, as most looks seen in the show were provided by them. A crucial influence advertising and media has is much more dangerous than most of us think, as it makes buying and consumerism not sustainable and around 75% of clothing produced each year wind up in landfill.

The way how Julia Crew brought up the power of ourselves as consumers and people aspiring to work in the industry is truly inspiring. She marks our power as consumers and that we should be aware of how certain garments were made, wether the brand is paying a decent salary to their employees. This, as well as mentioning how worth it is to reshape the story of our clothing, by for instance swapping or thrifting is making us feel the power and ability of making our impact on the industry more sustainable, feeling like we are taking care of a ‘better future’. Additionally, noticing examples of making this change by regular people, such as Extinction Rebellion is definitely a great start to think about how to positively influence the industry by ourselves, which is an important question I’ve carried out of this lecture. 

This lecture has made me reflect on the impact of media, advertisements or extremely rich businessmen. On the other hand, mentioning of positive influence of designers, like Vivienne Westwood gave me hope in the future and making fashion an ‘industry without casualties’.

References:

Crew. J (2020) ‘Power’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 10 February 2020