Jessica Powell

Peer review for 

For the peer review I made the decision to read Matthew Higby’s first blog reflecting the themes of the lectures. A quote he used in his opening speaking on the idea that “every purchase we make, we are voting for or against humanity” peaked my interest. He was talking about the concept of voting with your money, that every time you buy an item you are choosing it and all the decisions that went into its production whether they’re sustainable and ethical or not.

Matthew proceeded to speak about his conflicting thoughts on his personal experiences. Reasoning that his parents occasionally purchased fast fashion garments due to their affordability but of course disagreed with the neglection of the workers who made the garments. He calls it an unjust socio-economic system where not everyone has can afford the choice to ‘vote’ with their purchases. This resonates with another quote that Matthew included; “strategies of sustainability can only succeed if they acknowledge social dynamics”. This raises the point that sustainable choices aren’t always cheap and calls for the wealthier members of society to set a precedent.

The blog begins its conclusion with Matthew introducing the effects of social media and online influence within his age group. He speaks upon wealthier influencers who flaunt designer purchases and how they may play a part in people purchasing the fast fashion versions. Following this ideology, Matthew suggests that promotion of ethical and sustainable fashion needs to be first acknowledged and indorsed by those who can afford to choose in order for that ‘vote’ to become more affordable and realistic in the future.

It’s clear that Matthew considered the themes of social responsibility and sustainability from the lectures. He’s explained how they play a part in today’s society and elaborated as to why these matters are commonly neglected, not necessarily out of lack of care but lack of choice. Matthew has then continued to propose ways to help initiate a change in society so that more people can have a choice to be more conscious of how their purchases effect the planet. This concludes what I believe to be a very detailed and considered reflection of the themes of Better lives. 

During our classes with Steven, learning about prosthetics we discussed how the lecture themes applied within the practise. Such as diverse casting and fighting negative stereotypes such as not creating villainous characters with facial disfigurements.

In creating my character, I decided to look at enhancing a human for the future, changing features to increase our effectivity in the modern world. I thought having bigger eyes and ears may help us in taking in more information, whilst the leg springs would lessen the need for car journeys and public transport which in turn would help the environment massively.

It’s been interesting to see, throughout the project, how much the lecture themes are in fact neglected and how much more we can all do to be more considerate of them in our everyday choices.  I think Nike is setting a great example for other huge corporations to follow. They’re considerate of the environment and making efforts to be sustainable with their fly knits and fly leathers which productions’ have a much lower carbon footprint than their regular materials and leathers. In addition, they’re also educating their audience as to their choices by holding talks and panel discussions. I attended one at the V & A Museum. Furthermore, they were one of the fist retailers to have plus size mannequins in their store and use plus models in campaigns.

Along with the lectures and good examples from companies like Nike, I’ve realised how easy it is to positively impact the industry by making small decisions. So, for instance, if I was going to create this character for a film. I would have an open and unbiased mind in casting and a prosthetics team that could accommodate for that cast member with the right equipment and experience. I’d also make an effort to try and source either recyclable or reusable materials to make this character come to life.

The lectures had a heavy theme of diversity and inclusivity. After learning about these it has become apparent that more people need to prioritise these within their practise, myself included. The lack of diversity in the fashion industry is astounding and although certain companies are improving, the rest of us need to contribute too. 

As a creative director I would address this via my casting, whilst being mindful not to turn it into tokenism. I think the key to diverse casting is just casting who you think would fit the idea, without any bias or pre-decided idea in mind.

Furthermore, with diverse casting comes a diverse hair, makeup and styling team. For example, if you have cast a woman with afro hair then the hair stylist would need the appropriate tools and experience with afro hair whilst the makeup artist would need to have the correct shades of makeup. It’s shocking how many companies don’t currently provide these basics as I intend to. For instance, I have a friend called Wisdom who’s quite a successful model, he’s walked for Missoni with Bella Hadid and is currently all over Times Square for Levi’s. However, when he went to model for ASOS last year, the hair stylist started tugging at his afro with her bare hands, she didn’t even have an afro comb. This is completely outrageous and to further emphasise it, imagine how ridiculous it would be if a professional hair stylist tried to brush your hair with their hands. I do not want to be like ASOS, and I hope no one else does, we want to be the antithesis of unaccommodating.

In recent years diversity has become an inherent theme within not only the fashion industry but within today’s society and political climate. Although this notoriety of the subject is a positive thing, the saturated focus on diversity has caused a lot of turbulence within the industry. With some brands forcing tokenism and exhausting the word, others neglect it provoking cancel culture and the question we see too often; ‘Is it or isn’t it cultural appropriation?’

The definition of cultural appropriation is the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the ideas of one group of people by another. A recent example that raised the question was the Comme des Garçons controversial FW20 show where the models wore cornrow wigs. People commented that the show was offensive and that the Caucasian models looked silly and out of place in contrast to the few models of colour that walked (BBC News, 2020). Although the hairstylist Julien d’Ys explained that he had been inspired by Egyptian culture and was paying homage to the culture’s depiction of Egyptian princes (BBC News, 2020). It could be argued that had the cast been more diverse and the Egyptian influence more visibly acknowledged, that the show would have been acceptable, however the lack of these made people declare the show the opposite. This is understandable due to previous insensitivities such as Gucci’s balaclava jumper that grossly resembled blackface. (Evening Standard, 2019)

Another matter where the subject of diversity and inclusivity has recently become a huge talking point (thank goodness) is body standards. Moreover, the lack of body diversity we see in the fashion industry today. Endless brands send models that are unrealistically slim for the average female, ingraining these body types into impressionable audiences which has grown to result in the rise of eating disorders over the past two years by 35% (BBC News, 2020). 

Although, fortunately more companies are endeavouring to combat this issue within their casting, at the forefront being Rihanna’s brand Savage X Fenty and their ethos of spreading body positivity (New York Times, 2018). However, I believe that the cause of the lack of body diversity within the fashion industry lies within its very roots, from the conception of a design. This is because fashion illustration is taught on the basis that a drawn figure should be nine heads tall, when in fact the proportional human is only five heads tall (Amiko Simonetti, 2020). From the moment a design is illustrated, we are presented with it hanging from a grossly unproportionate body which may then go on to either consciously or subconsciously influence the design and the casting for the model presenting it. Furthermore, if illustration were taught with natural proportions, then maybe designers would have in mind a realistic body to design for and envision it on a more diverse range of bodies, hopefully broadening the diversity of bodies presented in the fashion industry today. This would boost inclusivity and help impressionable audiences to appreciate their own bodies. Audiences would feel represented, their body types normalised and accepted as beautiful, not only would this directly feed economically into the fashion industry – as people are more likely to buy from a brand they can identify with – but it would help to build a kinder society more appreciative of diversity and inclusivity. 

Bibliography

BBC News (2020) Comme Des Garçons: Row over white fashion models’ cornrow wigs. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51166873 (Accessed march 27th 2020)

Evening Standard (2019) Gucci ‘deeply sorry’ for black balaclava jumper that ‘resembles blackface’. Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/gucci-in-racism-row-fashion-giant-deeply-sorry-for-black-balaclava-jumper-that-resembles-blackface-a4059951.html (Accessed March 27th 2020)

BBC News (2020) Eating disorder hospital admissions rise sharply. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50969174 (Accessed April 1st 2020)

New York Times (2018) Rihanna talks lingerie, body positivity and her battle with social media. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/fashion/rihanna-fenty-savage-new-york-fashion-week.html (Accessed April 1st 2020)

Amiko Simonetti (2020) Fashion sketching: a step by step guide to drawing the basic fashion croquis with 9 heads proportions. Available at: https://www.amikosimonetti.com/life/drawing-the-fashion-figure-with-9-heads-proportion-part-1 (Accessed April 1st 2020)