Blog Post 1 – Lecture Reflection

In our first blogpost we were asked to attend and watch a series of lectures across the first two weeks of the Better lives unit, these lectures all explored the themes of sustainability, diversity and social responsibility and how these themes can impact they way we interact with fashion. I decided to write my first blogpost about Anna Fitzpatrick’s lecture on culture. Fitzpatrick speaks about sustainability in relation to our cultural context and in particular our consumer culture. Fashion impacts our culture so much, however one thing that impacts everyone of us and doesn’t discriminate is our planet. The environment is one of the few things in which we can and cannot control. Our bad habbits that we have developed over the years is weighing in on our planet and in this lecture Anna Fitzpatrick speaks about how we have less than ten years to change our ways to fix our environment before what we have done to it becomes unuchangable. This lecture truly highlights how important sustainability is in fashion now more than ever; and how fashion is “dependant on land, water, air, animal”. The way we experience fashion; and each do so in an individual and different way, however the demand for such fast fashion and new and always changing trends is becoming uncontrollable, this is negatively impacting our environment, this topic had always interested me as it wasn’t up until recently enrolling at this university is it that I was made aware that fashion was one of the worlds biggest polluters. Anna Fitzpatrick discusses how consumer culture is a large factor in encouraging fast fashion and how we as consumers perceive fashion this is one of the key reasons we demand the newest look and trend and want new, however we need to all be more socially aware of what is going on. Fitzpatrick finishes the lecture by addressing the topic of social media and how social media and consumer culture go hand in hand. There is such a large market now for selling via social platforms whether that be through an influencer or a shop established through Instagram but also addresses how this  affects the mental health of the consumers. Influencers have the power to start a brand new trend or bring something back into fashion and even making something ‘unfashionable’ howeverthe minds of their followers are so impressioble that platforms such as ‘Instagram’ can cause negative imapacts. I find this so important to speak about as social media impacts all of our daily life and whether we see it or not, it does impact what we buy and what we decide to like, Fitzpatrick said in the lecture “consumer culture encourages us to seek happiness through consumption” therefore our happiness is measured by and through having physical products and items of clothing that we can post online. This is a harsh truth that we all have to accept is our life now. I personally think it sounds horrendous to say it outloud however, it is the truth that Instagram is seen as more of a ranking app or who gets the most likes or followers or even the nicest pictures. 

When visiting the Better Lives Lectures, I found that two of the lectures made a lasting impression in my mind and reflecting back on them, I have let some of the values and aspects from these lectures flow into my creative work. The first lecture that shaped my thinking afterwards was named “Empathy”, held by Lorrain Gamman and the second lecture was “Power” from Julia Crew. 

As a SMC student I aim to integrate the audience I engage with as much as possible and to make everyone feel part of the conversation. In her presentation about empathy, Gamman introduced the importance of empathy in both, our society and as a significant component in the fashion industry. When approaching work emphatically the most important aspect is to be actively involved in the area that one wants to design for or to communicate in. I also find that the most authentic outcome of creative communication comes from actual engagement and own experience, hence empathy in terms of feeling into other individuals is a key factor for good communication. 

In today’s media landscape probably the most important factor for a public person is to be a relatable representation of their audience. This is crucial to getting people’s attention, to communicate with them and to start the conversation about a certain topic. For example, social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram are highly trending and even developed into a source of capital for some. Successful social media Influencers and public figures have shifted from being unattainable celebrity-like figures to obtaining their fans sympathy through highly relatable content and even through speaking for those who are underrepresented in the media and in the fashion world.  

Fashion, as in textile fashion, but also in everything that’s trending at the moment has the potential to unite us as people and break boundaries and stigmas. Marginalized groups and minorities but also other individuals often feel left out from the fashion conversation, through lack of representation which can be contributed to the fact that fashion, even though it is a creative industry, is directly linked to capitalist powers, which usually don’t intend to display and represent every group of people equally. In the lecture “Power”, Crew explains that the controlling power over the clothing industry relies in the hands of a very specific type of businessmen: male, pale and stale. 

One way of putting diversity into practice is to objectify empathy, which describes social innovation as in creating systems or services that can improve empathy. These systems often create objects, in terms of fashion that can be fashion in magazines, fashion on screen and fashion in real-life spaces such as runway shows. These “fashion-objects” can be heavily improved by putting more empathetic practices into place and therefore lead to a more welcoming and inclusive space.  

In the lecture, two keywords were brought up: environment and sustainability. Before attending Kate Fletcher’s lecture (5) on Nature, the meaning of the word ‘environment’ to me was just a synonym for the word ‘habitat’. It did not occur to me that our habitat; our natural environment is falling into a slow but impactful ruin by the glamourous fashion industry.

The natural environment has always been a great inspiration and motivation for designers. It saddens me that this creative notion will eventually lead to a negative impact on the environment just because of the various chemicals we used or the waste we produced to realize our creativity. David Attenborough, a great natural historian, once made a note of caution, saying human can create destruction to the global ecosystem without realizing (Attenborough, 2019). It took me years and this lecture to realize how important Mother Nature is to the fashion industry and how fashion is not reciprocating by taking more and more. The speed of fast fashion increases the production of pollution which it might seem harmless to someone who likes to buy off the rack to keep up with the fast fashion trends. However, in a long run, it will be a problem if our habitat were to be so polluted that humans can no longer live in the said environment.

To me, fashion could create better lives if the industry were to take one step behind and minimize the production of clothes. With influence from Fashion Revolution, a fashion company that brings environmental awareness into action, fashion could be seen as a building campaign to protect the natural environment.  

The other keyword ‘Sustainability’ was a word that I came across every now and then in this Better Lives unit. Sure, I do have my fair share of knowledge and understanding what eco-friendly fashion is. What I did not know was that this 6-syllabus word could have a great influence in the fashion industry. This lecture makes me think of all the materials that I have used before to create fashion pieces or art. Realizing that I have a play in damaging the natural environment has brought awareness in me.

I started to think of the different materials and production I can use for my future assignment. For instance, I have been researching and playing around with a 3D printing pen. It works like a glue gun and creates shapes by heating up a poly lactic acid (PLA) plastic filament. It is a plastic that is biodegradable and has a lower melting point that does not produce harmful fumes. By using biodegradable materials in the fashion industry, I believe it can be a reminder for Fashion to give back to Mother Nature. I have taken a chance on believing that there will always be an alternative material for fashion or any arts to reduce the production of pollution while also ensuring that quality and beauty of the work. 

References

Guardian Wires. (2020) David Attenborough Warns Of Damage Humans Can Do ‘Without Even Noticing’ Available at: https://newsvideo.su/video/10158315 (Accessed: 10 May 2020).

Joseph, F. (2020) What Are 3D Pens And How Do 3D Pens Work? Available at: https://3dinsider.com/what-are-3d-pens/ (Accessed 10 May 2020).

Morgan, M. (2020) The Fashion Industry Emits More Carbon Than International Flights And Maritime Shipping Combined. Here Are The Biggest Ways It Impacts The Planet. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.sg/fast-fashion-environmental-impact-pollution-emissions-waste-water-2019-10?r=US&IR=T (Accessed: 10 May 2020).

In the two week period that all of the lectures took place, I attended a couple live streams or I tried to go back and watch the replay as opposed to physically attending the lectures. I found that it was easier for me to watch the lectures online as it gave me the ability to pause and play the video as I saw fit so that I could take my time in writing notes and to make them as informational as possible. Another aspect that I greatly appreciated from the online versions was the time the lecturers took to address the questions from students online as opposed to only addressing the questions of those physically present at the time. I also found it very useful that the lectures were recorded for us to watch at a later time, for those that wanted to watch specific ones but were not able to due to clashing schedules or other reasons and just the overall idea of being able to watch it online. 

All the lectures I watched were interesting in their own way and I was able to learn a lot and gain a lot of new information or just opened my eyes to a brand new perspective. That being said, I personally feel like not all of them were directly relevant to the course that I am doing (HMUPP), or not as relevant to me as it might be to others so I felt somewhat drained when listening to a number of the lectures. 

In particular, I really enjoyed lecture 9. Jekaterina Rogaten and Ameerah Khadaroo talked about Well-being and how it may be different and unique to everybody. I’ve studied Psychology in the past because I find the way the human mind works to be intriguing; so I was really invested when Dr. Rogaten also touched upon the idea that well-being is different in different fields as well and she asked the students to consider Wellbeing from a psychological perspective. Your well-being can be affected by a lot of things such as emotion, health, social situation, economy or financial status (to name a few). I think this subject is important due to the fact that it is important for everyone to take care of themselves. 

I can see the impact fashion could have on the human psyche; as this by far the generation that spends the most time on looks and being judged, be it through the amount of likes/ comments on social media, comments from family and friends, or even by the way an individual perceives themselves. The constant exposure to “trends” and being told what the “ideal body type” -no matter how ridiculous or unrealistic it might be- or to constantly look perfect due to altered image can often have a bad impact on a more insecure individual.

More representation and diversity in the fashion community and embracing these differences (any maybe even focusing on or enhance them), could impact the audience much better by more people feeling included and would therefore have a more positive effect on the general population.

During quarantine, I have watched all recordings of the Better Lives lectures and some lectures have impressively influenced my thinking on how fashion can create better lives. Nina Stevenson’s lecture which talks about ‘Fashion and Sustainability’ attracts me most. 

In her lecture sustainability is defined as: ‘The imagining and conceiving of cultural, nature-based, societal and economic prosperity involves the creative exploration of fashion’s artistic, culture-shaping and business practices in the context of a changing world.’ (LCF’s Education for Sustainability Transformation Strategy 2016-22.) This shows that sustainable fashion is closely related to four main aspects: culture, nature, society and economy. So how do they affect the sustainability in fashion industry? 

Nina Stevenson has emphasized a point in her lecture, which is ‘all fashion comes from nature.’ While designers draw inspiration from nature, fashion industries are also consuming its resources. The fashion industry is one of the largest, most dynamic and influential on the planet, yet it is also one of the most polluted in the world. Nowadays, the environmental water resources are extremely unbalanced and water resources are scarce, however, it takes up to 20, 000 liters of water to produce a kilo of cotton and as many as 8,000 chemicals may be used to make a garment, from dyeing to final treatment. In addition, the use of animal fur is, to some extent, an overexploitation of natural resources by fashion companies. The good news is that now More and more fashion enterprises pay attention to these problems and take corresponding measures. For example, Stella McCartney always puts “sustainability” more important than design when designing new collections and Gucci as well as Burberry have banned the use of animal fur. We, as one of the fashion consumers，should try to buy less, spend wisely, and invest in clothes that last.

Expect the natural aspect, the remaining three aspects of economy, culture and society are interrelated. On these three aspects, we have to talk about fast fashion. We all know fast fashion is a popular sales mode. But there are many problems with this consumption mode. Nina Stevenson pointed out the social problems in her lecture. According to the lecture, the value of the clothing industry is rising, the production of clothing is doubling, the consumption rate of people buying clothes is increasing rapidly, and at the same time, the number of used clothes going to the landfill is increasing. Additionally, she listed in a slide: In Uganda 81% of tall clothes are sold from the west – influx of secondhand clothing in dev countries is destroying local crafts, textiles and tailoring economies (Brooks, 2015).

The rapid development of fashion industry has brought about some negative effects on nature, social culture and other aspects. It is because people are aware of these problems that they put forward the concept of sustainable fashion. For the better development of this industry, what should relevant enterprises and people do? There was a passage in the lecture that impressed me very much: ‘We need a fashion system that has an ecological heart, a socially conscious mind, a culturally diverse body and an economy forms the muscle that enables it to move in flow.’ (Prof. Dilys Williams, Director, Centre for Sustainable Fashion) We should keep this in mind and sustain a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Throughout the course of the lecture series, the speakers instilled the message of being socially responsible. I felt that the society and culture lectures acted the best together.

“Strategies of sustainability can only succeed if they acknowledge social dynamics” (Toth-Fejel, 2020). 

This quote from the society lecture stands well with the following quote from the culture lecture. 

“With every purchase we make, we are voting for or against humanity, for or against equality, and for or against our planet, and the only way to promote positive change is to vote with your dollar” (Fitzpatrick, 2020). 

My parents have instilled ethical responsibility as an important part of my character, yet I have noticed that they will occasionally purchase fast fashion garments. I understand that their purchases help feed the cycle for those who are dependent on this industry as a source of income. There are plenty of demographics that lack awareness of the detriments of fast fashion and due to this lack of awareness there’s a large population that continues to contribute. My parents may fall into this category given the fact that until I have brought up points pertaining to ethical responsibility. A high street tee-shirt may cost someone $15.00 whereas the person who personally helped create that tee-shirt may only be paid $15.00 for an entire day’s work of hard labour. Besides the fact that my stepbrother works for Gap Corporation and has told me that the distribution centres are almost one hundred percent automated. I find this statistic sad that there is the amount of clothes is in such excess that there are massive distribution centres containing almost nobody except machines and inexpensive clothing. This tradition is rooted into the global economy and unjust socio-economic system showing how some are only able to purchase fast fashion because that is geographically solely what some may buy for new clothes. Due to my privilege, I was unaware that my narrow-minded train of thought against the industry left me truly unable to judge because I have the ability to choose what clothes I wear and buy. 

Fashion has the ability to create better lives through the simple acts of kindness. I think that in this day and age especially in my age group, many are highly influenced by what they see online. The most followed people who endlessly flaunt their wealth is not realistic and should not be promoting the cycle of trends that go in and out causing some to buy the high street versions as they are unable to afford what they see online. It is nobody’s fault except for the ones at play. Sadly, this will not change over a short time or possibly even the lifespan of a factory worker. Katelyn’s society lecture left me wanting to pursue a lifestyle of a good morality.

References:

Fitzpatrick, A. (2020). Culture.

Toth-Fejel, K. (2020). Society.

Julia Crew’s lecture of Power led me to question why nobody is taking responsibility for holding the power of the industry, as to this day there are many underlying problems within it, yet with no initial cause. Crew presented a very interesting and informative lecture, looking into the four associations of power, setting an initial insight into the Better Lives themes.

Due to the world having such an unfair inequality of money distribution, this has contributed to a huge divide between humans at the top of the scale compared to those at the bottom. Fashion Revolution shows how the apparel industry has helped create this divide, by helping some become exceptionally wealthy by enslaving others. This through employing millions of people below the legal minimum wage in gruelling conditions, leading them to not even have an essential living wage to provide for themselves and their families, linking to social responsibility.

To be able to meet consumer demands of having ‘choices’, companies are driven to manufacture their clothing wherever they can find the best deal, without considering the impacts on real individual workers, resulting in their brand becoming a part of the negativity that surrounds fast fashion.

The Media holds immense power over the fashion industry, due to the influence of advertising being quick and subconscious, with the volume being higher than ever. Instagram has become a huge contributor for fashion brands, creating the trend of using influencer marketing as an effective campaign strategy, due to consumers wanting to buy what their favourite influencers are wearing to keep up with trends.

‘Missguided’s collaboration with Love Island contestants created an instant 500% sales increase in the garments shown on TV.’
This quote shows how the power of the media will drive the consumption of fashion products to an unsustainable level in the long-term, due to the created pressure of not wearing the same clothes twice, linking to sustainability.

We as consumers are the driver of trends. Holding a huge amount of power, of where and how we spend our money. We need to become more conscious consumers, by being aware of what we’re really paying for or towards. As we are the ones holding the power to reshape this story, due to each purchase resulting in a choice.

Due to the problems the industry has caused, there are now many organisations set up like LOVE NOT LANDFILL, to educate consumers towards shopping less and instead, having a better relationship with their clothes. These organisations demand change by protesting against how power damages aspects of the world.

Linking to the Better Lives themes, after Crew’s lecture I am left questioning Who holds the power of the entire fashion system? – Brands, designers themselves, the consumer, the government, or someone else?

WE as contributors have to ask this question to decide whether there is a balance of power in the industry, or if not, how WE can contradict it. Without change; diversity, sustainability, and social responsibility will be overlooked or ignored.

References:

Crew, J. (2020) ‘ Power’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, (Accessed: 14/02/2020).

Fashion Revolution (2020) ‘Money Fashion Power’. Available at: https://www.fashionrevolution.org/resources/fanzine/ (Accessed: 23/02/2020).

Business of Fashion (2018) Missguided Takes Product Placement to the Next Level on Love Island. Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/missguided-styles-love-island-partnership-product-placement (Accessed: 23/02/2020).

LOVE NOT LANDFILL (2018) About Us. Available at: https://www.lovenotlandfill.org/about-us/ (Accessed: 23/02/2020).

The lecture that personally inspired me the most is how power and fashion connect. This lecture started a conversation about power within fashion. This particular quote stuck with me, “fashion is very individual, but it is a manifestation of the culture that we live in and often who we want to be, how we want to be seen by the rest of the world.” Orsola de Castro, Fashion Revolution. That made me think about how everyone really ultimately dresses to perform a version of themselves they want other people to see in order to be respected, for example a High School teacher, may be the goofiest person with the funniest personality but in order to gain respect from their students they have a dress code they must stick to. Same goes for the CEO of a business or even business students, dressing formally is a most to convey seriousness and smartness to whoever you interact with even though you may not exactly be that person when you are not clocked in. 

This way of thinking can also trickle down into personal style, stereotypical straight men are thought to dress in a way that doesn’t show you’ve put too much effort in, as that would translate into them being too feminine (as physical perfection it is usually seen as a feminine trait) therefore leading to lack of respect from another men. Whereas on the other hand women want to look extremely perfect to give the impression of being rich ladies in their prime, even though that may not always be the case. 

This had me thinking about who really runs these gender roles when talking about fashion and power. If we were to base this conversation of today’s media, it is clear that Music inspired the average men’s style more, for example Stormzy or Dave, both styles are very laid back, people respect them, and they come off as bosses and ladies like that. Therefore, the sportier you appear to be the more people will build a whole persona for you in their heads, which may be completely wrong however that is the exact persona you wanted to give off.

Same goes for women with the Kardashians. 

The lecture was very insightful, because it really made me analyse more critically how and why people dress how they do, from workplace, to night outs. It also made me look at fashion shows differently, I can now look at show and realise who is their clothes for, how they want their customer to feel, what message their sending and what the brand in itself stands. All these shows how much political power fashion can have. 

At the start, Teleica Kirkland mentioned the points of discussion for the lecture being, what both diversity and representation are, why they are necessary, how can both diversity and representation improve creative output and lastly the effects of when they are not done correctly. At first I started thinking how they would link to sustainability, social responsibility and diversity all of which are the Better Lives themes. In a way I assumed they would perhaps link in terms of how having accurate representation in the fashion industry would ensure that diversity was achieved which in turn would be sustainable as examples would be followed meaning future generations would have the instinct to do things correctly when it came to electing the people most suited for jobs. It would be a company’s social responsibility to achieve this in today’s age to make sure the path is set for those in charge of the future.

Without going too deeply into the definition of diversity or representation I felt that Kirkland explained why they are important very well early into the start of the lecture. “Western culture, popular culture has been predicated on a mono-culturalist ideology” this spoke volumes not only to me but I felt others in the room too as it instantly exposed how wrong representation has been done in the past. By only displaying one race, maybe only one nationality but most definitely only one sexuality, it creates the idea that those who do not pertain to those looks are not to be considered beautiful or maybe even worthy or, in Kirkland’s words, “dangerous or undesirable”. This is obvious not only in the context of fashion where we see time and time again the same models on magazine front covers or fashion brands labelling someone who is very much not plus sized that way but mainstream news has been projecting this discrimination since it began. News stories showing how ethnic minorities are incarcerated over petty crimes while the white male is labeled ‘mentally ill’ after committing homicide in a place of worship indicates who has always been preferred in the eye of the media. 

By shedding light on this flawed ideology, Kirkland allowed us to understand how misrepresented means of mass communication really are and how with our fashion practices we can be the change even if not big at first. I felt that this was so significant as it makes individuals want to be different in the sense that they won’t be part of the discrimination but instead welcoming those that were never celebrated. To me this can be done through sharing posts on social media of beautiful Black people and their businesses that deserve all the accolades or even sharing the models who in the past have not been conventionally beautiful due to disability or body size in order to again shed light on their beauty. My ‘theory’ seemed far-fetched at first but I feel that’s the only way the topic of the lecture would link to the themes and begin to shape our minds as we start a new practice.

Kirkland.T 2020. Representation. Available at: https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=400928 Accessed on: 21/02/2020