Ziyi Shan

I decide to write a reflection and analyze SEUNG OH’s blog 2(Diversity) after I read so many excellent blogs from everyone else in these better lives section.

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In SEUNG OH’s blog, blogger has fully explained the importance of the diversity in the better lives section, which I have missed in my blogs, this is one of the reasons why I decide to analyze, because it is fully attract my attention, the other reason is  the blogger use her personal experiences to translate the theme – diversity, as well as how the units changed her view of creative.

 First of all, she mentioned that these issues cannot be fixed by one person only, which exactly match my point of view, however, SEUNG OH has already to think what ideas can bring to the society, I believe only more and more people are willing to change their mind, these issues will be solved anyway. As she said, living in Korea and America did not give the opportunities to explore different cultures and stories, but London is a city which contain diversity people and cultures. Although people say that London is an inclusive city, when people ’s interests are threatened, the so-called tolerance and diversity are broken, in the period of COVID-19, people still discriminate against Asians and people with masks. this is a point worth thinking about. The other point is as the blogger said, diversity is still in a vague position in the fashion industry, and the improvement of diversity is only symbolic, such as plus size model and different nation model, it is only a different way to promote their brands, there are some  brands have to hire models of different sizes and races under the pressure of public opinion.

Secondly, it is a pleasure to know that how the better lives units have encouraged the blogger start to challenge herself to make some small changes, however, if I have to give some advice, I prefer to know some specific plan on how she works as a member of fashion public relations and communications student, because as I know that fashion PR play an important role in the fashion industry, it is the connection between fashion company and public.  As a stylist, we can decide what we can show to the public, but fashion PR can decide how public to receive these messages in a different way.

At last I want to say social reasonability and sustainable issues are not only appears in the fashion industry, these are the issues that all human need to deal with, so as a student, I hope more and more people can open their mind, start to make the change.

Regarding personal development, my perception of photography has changed dramatically, in this better lives units, at the beginning, I choose contemporary portrait photography because I thought as a stylist learning some basic photograph skills would be beneficial, however, when I found out there were not many skills were be taught, instead of the ideas and culture behind the photo, which is much helpful. I know some organizations, they will emphasize how important professional equipment and models are, how to set up lights and backgrounds and so on, it is undeniable that their outcomes are in line with public aesthetics, but when I came into contact with this course, I found that the thoughts behind them are soulless, and are just the products of current popularity.  I have been introduced a range of photographers, which give me plenty of creative ideas. Moreover, although we cannot go out in search of a perfect studio and professional equipment during this difficult period, but this is a good time to seriously consider the elements available around us, which are often overlooked by us. Especially when I saw the works of the photographers introduced in the course, I became more convinced that a good story is more attractive than professional equipment.

For my final outcome, I decide to produce a portrait with my girlfriend, inspired from a photographer Cindy Sherman, we can know that how she uses a simple way to use the props and styling, to transform our understanding, as well as considering the 90s rave culture which were talk about in the lecture. At the beginning, we have tried different ways to produce a portrait that we all satisfied, but the outcome is not outstanding, so we decided to simplify our elements, so a black background where be used, because it will make the people more outstanding with colors,  we can see that she wears a yellow shirt which make the whole picture more impactful, because yellow accounts for most of the proportion, a tote bag and some clips make a very funny headscarf, the black sunglasses are also affected by 90s rave culture, after wearing the sunglasses, she was also more confident in front of the camera, throw the lens I can see who she really is. During the period of taking pictures, I found out although taking pictures is just press the button, however, I gave me a different angle to observe my girlfriend, a different way to communicate. Moreover, this is the first picture I took that satisfied me ever, as it represents my own view of this world. Overall, thanks to this better lives units, which gives me a positive effect on my future project.

The better lives themes give me plenty of inspirations about how to improve my project in future, one of the most important standards is thinking and process is more important than a piece of work. Although my efforts are only a small step in social progress, I firmly believe that more people will be influenced by this theme in the future.

I think that two of the most important gist are social responsibility and sustainability, as I said more and more small brands began to use the unwanted garments to remaking, this is the beginning to fight with the unbalanced fashion industry, as a member of the industry, I think this will break the trend of fashion giants leading the trend, which allow more consumers to find products or services that are suitable for them. As a stylist, in future I am going to use more sustainable materials in my project, such as use recycled Cotton or organic hemp to replace the synthetic fabrics, which are being found in the deep sea, in fish and shellfish. As well as I prefer to collaborate with these small brands, as well as the designers, who understand the ideas of others to create their own work instead of imitating like a puppet, led by fashion trends. This will resonate with consumers and allow them to have spiritual communication. Moreover, as we know that technology is constantly evolving, and new technologies are constantly influencing people’s thoughts and lifestyles. As a member of the industry, we should use it reasonably. Too many young people are controlled by the number of so-called followers on social media, which seriously affects their physical and mental health. The so-called success is not just how many people like you post, but whether you insist on being yourself without being influenced by megatrends, such as Instagram canceling that function which can know how many likes you received. As a stylist, I should make full use of social media to influence the next generation, not only to sell a product, but also concept and culture, let customers understand what kind of materials and labor this product cost while consuming, and their impact on the environment and balance, at the same time, it is accompanied by some questions to let customers think whether they really need this product instead of desire to live beyond basic needs. everyone in the fashion industry should take the reasonability to the consumers, garment workers and the non-human world.

At last, I think more organization should be established, not only using technology to develop late-coming new sustainable materials, but also a place where fashion practitioners of various positions share visions and cooperate, only more such non-profit organizations appear, there will be more people will be affected. I will try my best to connect my project with social responsibility and sustainable.

In recent years, it seems that sustainability became a significant topic in human’s life these years, however, most people only spending more time on talking instead of acting, there is a interview online shows that take public transports frequently instead of driving their own cars, as well as reuse the shopping bags became the most common choice they choose. This shows most people only focus on the surface of this tags to prove their sense of identity. Unfortunately, I used to be one of them until I took the better lives lessons, then I realize that sustainable is not only about human world, instead, it is the balance between human and non-human world. 

Sustainability has been discussed for a long time, but the environment of the earth is still being destroyed. Although the situation may have improved in recent years, it is far from enough. Then i realized that sustainable is a journal, which is a way of doing things instead of slogans. As it is a journey, I will only talk about fashion industry, in fashion industry, sustainable is not only about consumers and shopping systems, it is more about culture and self-identities, most people keep doing one same job in their rest of the life instead of thinking about the meaning of their everyday life, their responsibility to themselves and others, there are some sad facts shows that in the last 20 years the clothing production doubled as well as there is a significant increase (60%) each year in the garments purchase, do people really need these much purchase or they just want to get the Identity recognition, this behavior has already exceeded the ability and desire of basic needs. There is another shocking fact is a garment worker’s lifetime pay only worth a top fashion CEO’s 4 days’ pay. How can people say everyone born free and equal? We know who is the winner, but how?  These savvy merchants assign a specific label to their goods or services, and use this method to tie the label to the customer’s own cognition to achieve the purpose of selling, this cycle leads to more wasted garments for consumers and more profits in the CEOs’ pocket, however, fashion made from nature, these garments are make from land, water, even animals, the balance has been broken, lots of labor and material resources are wasted, which leads to the destruction of the environment on which we live, so I think this is why it is important to think about the relationship between culture and sustainability. Now there are some niche brands that have begun to find a new balance, they recycle the wasted garments to remaking,

I believe in the future there will be more people and brands to take their responsibility to embark on this journey, this is the best choice and the only way to go in the future