Lorraine Wireko-Brobby

Going into this pathway oblivious played to my advantage of absorbing new information. My knowledge was at a basic level, stylist tends to have an obsession with clothes whereas my course, Creative Direction briefly touches on that area. I didn’t know to the full extent of what being a stylist entailed. I needed to achieve two experimental and contemporary looks that responded to sportswear fashion and represented another subculture and the workshops helped break down how I could approach this. 

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Brainstorm workshops were beneficial, they helped me to share ideas and learn new concepts from my peers from all different courses like Fashion PR and Hair and Makeup. One thing I found interesting was breaking down looks, through a hair and makeup student I learnt how they focus on building a character in the face however through a creative direction student like myself that isn’t always the central focus however it was important to understand that we all play a part in the execution of a vision. 

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Previously, I would’ve always considered myself an independent worker, I find it hard to pass and share responsibility however through these workshops I was able to see the advantages of collaboration and construct looks within a team. 

Operating as a stylist I needed to understand contextual knowledge and skills and values such as sustainability and culture, these were central topics in our lectures. These masterclasses encouraged me to become a cultural translator. Social responsibility and sustainability were themes that were a central topic in our lectures. Through these lectures, I gathered the importance and awareness of the impact we as consumers have on the environment. These themes translated into my looks and informed work outside the unit such as my fashion histories essay.

This unit taught me how to be resourceful and create alternatives looks in our current situation. Curating a look that could represent my vision, I took to digital tools to design and shape. It was interesting to see how clothes took the backseat in terms of corona and lockdown as everything, but clothes became a priority and due to restrictions, it has made us become more resourceful. 

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Both looks created were an interpretation of sportswear and ‘old grime’.  The subculture came from the interest of the UK music scene and channelling how these artists represent themselves through clothes. Old grime being the subculture I chose when it was an underground sound was very discreet emerged from London.

Putting emphasis on the silhouette created in both looks, layering was essential to embody the puffy shapes that were worn throughout supposedly for comfort and versatility. 

Grime before it became mainstream. Recognising a running theme in the clothes that people wore to represent grime culture, for instance, baggy jeans, boot cut jeans, raincoats, shades, layers and incorporated that into my look. In means to create a grime interpretation to display on the runway to tribute to the iconic genre.

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My understanding of diversity stems from personal experiences. Diversity is more than a conversation, it’s quite a unique topic which involves understanding our differences as human beings and showcasing these qualities and characteristics. These can involve gender, religion, sexuality, race, age as well as physical abilities. Laura Salisbury’s lecture about Inclusion highlighted the fact that to be inclusive these ‘groups’ need to be at the forefront of every movement. All these differences represent our society therefore it needs to be a priority in all walks of life.

As Sailsbury said, ‘Why are we only designing for one type of person’ (2020) Enabled me to question whether society is doing enough. Being naive to think that the industry is making progress when in fact perhaps we are compromising, a ‘take what we can get’ approach. There is a major lack of representation and you don’t need to be a ‘person of colour’ like myself or have an ‘othered’ quality to recognise that. We brush the idea of inclusively off and downplay the effects it has on society.

I used to base my satisfaction with the outcome, whether that is a collection on a runway show portraying different shades of people, size and gender inclusively. I was satisfied with the change and growth of advertisement and representation from makeup to editorial selections. However, at the same time, it’s bittersweet as inclusively and diversity comes as a trend, as a passing discussion as opposed to permanent impact on society. 

Fashion being one of the major industries that contribute to the effect on society, the decisions made by the ‘pale, male and stale’ Julie Crew (2020) people in society transcends into our everyday lives and diversity needs to be addressed and altered to include every human being around all corners of the world. 

Never seeing yourself represented growing up can affect your mental health. Whenever I questioned my beauty, there was never that reinforcement of reassurance outside my immediate circle. Perhaps not everybody needs that external reinforcement however when you are repeatedly used as an example of being the ‘other’ this can continue to affect mental health.

I feel displaced and unimportant due to how the industry, for instance, can include a token ethic person and claim diversity and go back to creating content that purposely excludes a range of people. This does not make me feel confident in the direction that fashion is going in and makes me question the intentions of the fashion industry as they treat these themes as temporary trends and concerns. 

Taking the double diamond process into consideration when it came to be informing what I would like to do in the future. This was a process created by the design council in 2005. I want to create with knowledge. Discovering the issues and creating with purpose, questioning the briefs, developing multiple iterations and then delivering to the customer. Testing products with real people which enables us to deliver thought out content, business, brands, products at the end.