Blog Post 2 – Creative Practice Reflection

The Better Lives Unit has provoked my daily thoughts to exercise my understanding of the fashion industry, sustainability and life on earth. The Fashion Industry should be directing it’s work toward respecting the environment whilst evoking the globe with great fashion.

The problem we are facing now is the earth’s impossibility of synthesising the sizeable amount of waste that humans have been producing over the past 40 years and lifetimes before that.

Solutions to diminish that waste can have unbelievable benefits for our future well-being.

I believe that as Fashion Students it is important to embed the reality of the Fashion World’s current situation; To encourage the choice of making use of biodegradable and sustainable materials in future design work, to encourage the use of waste free, non-biodegradable or eco- friendly Make-up and Hair Products. As in industry we can make these changes holistically.

Diversity is also something that I always try to incorporate within my work. The Better Lives Unit has made me realise this can go much further than simply visual representation; it should also include the teams and brands I work with. This is essential as a Fashion Stylist can have a great impact on what consumers decide to purchase. In some ways, they are showing people what they think they should wear, and minority groups do not always get the support they deserve. Working in a diverse team also means you have a better-quality variety of opinions and ideas that can help the outcome of the work to be beyond diverse and inclusive.

Concerning these themes being reflected within my profession, as a Fashion Stylist and Producer I am aware that I can research into forming a shoot that works sustainably where possible. Sourcing clothing from PR’s and Designers who make use of eco-friendly material, concept Stores and international brands that make the fashion industry’s pollution a statement through clothing, devising together a creative team that makes use of eco-correct products and technics – the list goes on.

It will be my duty to minimize waste product from Set Design and any other areas possible. I am aware this isn’t supposed to be easy as so will experiment with different ways of approaching a project without wasting of abusing the way in which a shoot is carried out.

The repossession of our planet will depend on how society progresses to adapt to our planet’s needs, and I am a part of society. I believe that all of the measures for conservation and preservation of our environment should be pushed much further than it is today and should be given overjoyed support by our governments worldwide. There should be Zero-Tolerance for any discrepancies, and I can only see the rest of society complying with such verdict.

When we will do better for our planet, we will have better lives.

Within the Better Lives unit, I got a lot of information of each theme. All of them was so interested and useful. There have been many different and diverse topics talked about which has opened me up to new things such as my passions for subjects elsewhere from my chosen course. I think it can be said three main themes: sustainability, diversity, and social responsibility. Through this reflective task, I was able to discuss about how the Better Lives themes might change how I work in the future.

 I made my choice to join Fashion Illustration: View from the Catwalk unit. Because in this unit, I can study a specified range of collections focusing on designers who explore diversity and sustainability within their work. This project gives information about fashion illustration and how it services the fashion industry. I was able to learn drawing techniques from analogue to digital, narrative, style and attitude within fashion imaging. I am still researching about designers and brands to start my project. I am confusing about “future” means what. Whether it is my project or it is about years later. If it means my future work after few years, this Better Lives unit would have affected my future work a lot. Even now, I am thinking about themes related to my work and my aspect about my work is keep changing. Before I took this lecture, I did my work without considering much. But through this unit, it was an opportunity for me to think about something more deeply and point out the error. And if “future” means my project, I can say the project ‘Fashion Illustration: View from the Catwalk’ gave a lot of motivation of creativity. I was, and I am still learning various way to express and show my intention through my own way. 

I haven’t decided on the theme of my project yet, but I will work on the designers and brands after further investigation. There are still more lectures left, so I expect to learn more from the remaining lectures.

Reflective Writing 2

19029762 Minji Kawck Before the Covid-19, I decided to make the 3D mask related to the
power and rights of labors. Such as Korean traditional folk game mask called aortal. Long time ago, some people who was ignored their rights from the nobility started to satire the society by using a masked dance. The people wore the strange mask and started the acting. That story was about the illegality and corruption in their society. Because of this, all masks shapes were worst. So, I was making the mask called Hahoetal. But as Covid-19 I had to stop the making the mask. And my tutor sent the email about our project and said we need to change the subject of our project. So, now I’m researching the new subject for my project. Research is about the politic of the mask. Also, I will have related my project to the power not a labor. Actually, Power lecture made me concentrate in the right of laborer. That’s why I was make the Hahoetal. I think, after I finish the research of the new project, I might be not a Haheotal. It will about the nature and power. During the Better lives lecture, I learned the nature lecture as well as about the natural disaster such as Covid-19. In the world, there were lots of campaign for the Covid-19. Based on the campaign, I will make the 3D mask and use variety materials. I don’t know what is my final mask. And I will find some article and journal about Covid-19 and the mask. This is so difficult to me, because everything is changed. I, also, have to change everything about Better lives unit project. I will watch the recoded lecture of nature again. Therefore, my project will be changed everything about Covid-19 but I’m not sure what’s my final.

Originally, I am a Creative Direction for Fashion (CDF) student however during the duration of the Better lives project, I decided to study Fashion Styling and Production (FSP) because in Creative Direction for Fashion you go to know everything which means the more skills you have in different practices, it’s more beneficial for you. After attending many of the lectures in the first two weeks, I recognized that it helped me get an idea of what the three themes which are Diversity, Social Responsibility and Sustainability is before I started my FSP class. The three themes go hand in hand with FSP however I am the most passionate about Diversity and I just started becoming more interested and aware about Sustainability.  

As I’ve mentioned before, the topic of diversity has always one of my key interest and is something I always explore in my Creative Practice CDF. As someone who isn’t been represented in Fashion or Media in general, it only makes senses for me to want to challenge the system and showcase those who aren’t the norm. Diversity, I would say is one of the most essential factors in fashion and from what I’ve seen, it looks very bland which doesn’t make any senses because diversity is a reality so it’s not hard to start showing what you see. Aaron Philip, the first black, trans, disabled model was just signed to Elite Model Management 2 years- it should be taking us this long to accept someone like Arron in fashion when we are the ones who are deciding and making the trends. 

To be honest, I always forget that diversity isn’t just about Race and body shapes but it’s also about Age, Disability, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Religion and Belief. In FSP classes, I’ve learnt how to showcase diversity through clothes. I’ve worked with Silhouettes and Shapes to reinvent body shapes and create Gender-neutral fashion and how to send a message and express your thought and beliefs through clothes. Even after learning these new skills, I need to remember that diversity is also about inclusivity and as Creative Director and stylist, I have the power to bring diversity to of my project and showcase them.

When I was younger, there was a stigma about people who shop in charity/thrift stores, where they dirty or digesting because it was used clothes. So, as a teen, I never shopped in any of those stores because I cared about my image and I didn’t care about where it was from or who made it. But as I’ve gotten older, I started learning more about sustainability and sustainable fashion and how I could use this in my creative practice whiles still able fashionable. As a creative director, I have the power to create any form outcome and after attending FSP classes, I’ve been introduced to multiple Sustainable brands, new materials, how to Customise and how to shop Sustainable which is very useful because now I know new ways that I can still create the outcome that I want but in a more sustainable way.  

In conclusion, as someone who’s in the creative practices, I have the power change people view on diversity and sustainability and show that it can become the norm. These 2 topics are extremely important in this generation and are something that we have to take into consideration for everything we do. In the future, I want to start working with a more diverse group of people and get their side of the story and also maybe start to experiment with items and fabrics.

In the past, it was not easy to hear ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Fashion’ to be discussed together. But in recent years, the gap between these two words has gradually disappeared, when we are talking about fashion, people have frequently mentioned sustainable development. 

I am currently studying Fashion Illustration as my Betterlives course, and the function of illustration is to make audiences to perceive the concept or the deep meaning through the image that the illustrators want to pass through. What is more, we have also seen from many brands how sustainability is cleverly combined with fashion. Therefore, it’s significant to discover the sustainable story of each brand helps my way up to do a better drawing.

For example, FREITAG uses the waterproof tarpaulins of abandoned trucks, the wheels of used bicycles, and car safety belts to become the bags we carry every day. ERDOS connects nature, goats, and grasslands to form a cycle. Prada’s recycled nylon handbag is made of fishing nets, discarded nylon, carpets, and industrial wastes. After chemical degradation, these wastes gradually return to their original purity. There are more and more factories in Italy that convert these recycled materials into polymers and fibers through new polymerization processes.

All the goods have their stories, and the way they were produced affects our lives and the planet. In the past, people have been against nature for a long time for the sake of economic development. As a student of fashion illustration, it is essential to enhance people’s awareness of sustainable development and environmental protection through my own major.

When I learned the stories behind many brands from many reading materials, I began to think from the perspective of viewers: if I am a viewer, what kind of illustration image can make me pay more attention to the relationship between fashion and nature? Then, I find that people always use vivid colors or materials to highlight the value of things. So as long as these things measure sustainable development, it can attract readers’ attention. For instance, when I was drawing my first pic in class, and I discovered that using waste materials [such as plastic package paper and waste cotton] to make clothes for the naked body image helped me to go in deep of sustainable fashion. Therefore, fashion illustrators could make images based on brand stories, then use waste materials from our daily life to raise people’s environmental awareness and a sense of social responsibility.

In conclusion, I want to thank Better Lives for giving me an excellent opportunity to represent my thoughts and make me think about my future work. Last but not least, I believe that fashion illustration will always be a good way to convey the meaningful idea of sustainability and wake up those who have not yet been engaged with protecting the earth.

This is part two of my blog portfolio for the Better Lives unit: as a student on the Hair, Make-up and Prosthetics for Performance course, I admit that I struggled to find much relation between the object of my study and the contents of most of the lectures. They were surely interesting and thought provoking, but, when faced with the question: “how will the information given during these lectures alter your own fashion practice?”, I am unsure about how to answer as I  would not consider hair and make-up artistry to be “fashion practice”, especially not for performance.

After re-reading my notes on the lectures and trying to make some sort of connection with them, I considered the main points, for example, inclusion and diversity. In my case, I will be working with performers that I don’t get to choose. It’s not my job to cast inclusively, so the best I can do is know how to deal with all different skin tones and hair types, to make whoever I work on feel comfortable and welcome in my chair.

The other point that I relate to, on a personal, as well as business-related level, is the aspect of sustainability in my practice. In Nina Stevenson’s lecture, she was speaking more about sustainability in our current world, where we’re facing a climate emergency that the majority of the big institutions aren’t taking seriously. Before I started studying at LCF, I was one of those people that believed “me changing my actions won’t do anything to stop the climate crisis, so there is no point. Change won’t happen unless the world’s leading corporations decide to change, as they are the ones doing the most damage anyway”. In a way, I do still believe this, but I’ve also come to realise that if I don’t make a change, then what’s even the point? If I don’t even try then what does that say about me? Am I not willing to make changes to my own life, so at least I can say that I did my part?

In my personal life, that has meant, for example, me becoming a vegetarian: something I have always known I wanted to do, but I was put off by my family, who are all still devoted meat-eaters, who are still struggling to accommodate my choice. The next step for me will be becoming fully plant-based.

In my practice, however it will be a bit more of a struggle. Since day one, our lecturer, Steven Solomon, has taught us that the number one rule of make-up artistry is to know how to carry out the proper health and safety practices. A lot of this depends on having disposables in your kit to prevent cross-contamination between clients. Then there’s the question of the makeup itself and trying to source it from ethical and sustainable brands. For now, all we can do is take responsibility and become the change, by doing our best to cut down on unnecessary disposables, especially those that are one-use plastics or make-up wipes.