Blog 2: Theme Reflection Of Sustainability
In Better lives unit, sustainability, diversity and social responsibility as three main themes has been concretely discussed in different sessions. I soon realized that more and more fashion workers nowadays have devoted all their energies and time to stimulating the development of fashion system. All of those examples are acting as a proper guidance for all fashion students and engaging us more in exploring sustainable fashion.
Fashion designers have gradually conceived some new ideas to appeal for sustainability in fashion industry. Vivienne Westwood as one of the successful brand founders has introduced the conception of “recycle”, “green”, and “animal care” into her design in last twenty years. For instance, Westwood has produced a bag collection entitled “Handmade with Love.” The products were created by local artisans in African under fair and ethical conditions, using recycled materials such as canvas, re-purposed roadside banners and brass (Veridiano, 2018), which is consistent with brands’ approach that “We aim to make the most of the resources that go into our products, reusing, recycling and reimagining as we go.” (Vivienne Westwood, 2020) Except well-known designers, numerous brands are making arduous efforts on selling sustainable goods. The footwear manufacturer Allbirds takes advantage of natural resources like wool, bean oils, and cardboard to improve ecosystem.(Allbirds, 2020) Everybody.World builds the brand with the slogan “From our Trash Tee, Made from 100% Recycled Cotton to the Contributor Collection.” (Everybody.World, 2020)
As more brands raises awareness towards sustainability, fashion industry comes the revolution.
The first reform is the ideological transformation. For me, above samples highlight the importance on choosing materials. As a fashion media student, I should select all mediums with carefulness in the future. Before starting any projects, I have the duty to check whether it is a recyclable material. If not, is it possible for me to choose similar resources instead?Also, observing surroundings and looking for waste that closes to hand is another approaches to set the work. Nowadays, more and more artists are turning junks into glorious creature. One of the typical example is the “Wild Mood Swing” that created by Tim Noble and Sue Webster. Although the sculpture is made of garbages, the outcome powerfully enhanced their values by transferring the abstract form into essence.(Artsper Magazine, 2020) Therefore, reinterpreting and reusing available materials may offer surprise for fashion workers.
Another remarkable reform is the branding. Similar with most of fashion students, I would like to set up my own brand and studio. In this way, brand identity and mission appears to be particularly important. As what Allbirds and Everybody. World suggest, selecting natural resource without exploiting people nor planet should be consider as my primary brand ethos. Furthermore, many brands like Levis, Madewell are continuously recycling the vintage fashion in decades and reconditioning into latest trend. At the same time of realizing sustainability, the enterprise that operating selling and recycling as a integration have a competitive advantage, which goes against market of Fast Fashion.
All in all, there are already some fashion brands act as predecessor to corresponding with better fashion system. Their actions affect both my learning process and further planning in a positive direction. In a long term, better lives theme can reshape my views and values in an eye of fashion.
Bibliography:
Artsper Magazine. 2020. 10 Artists Working In Recycled Art | Artsper Magazine. [online] Available at: https://blog.artsper.com/en/get-inspired/top-10-of-recycled-art/ [Accessed 3 May 2020].
Allbirds. 2020. Carbon Footprint For Shoes | Our Sustainability Approach | Allbirds. [online] Available at: https://www.allbirds.com/pages/sustainability [Accessed 3 May 2020].
EVERYBODY.WORLD. 2020. About Us. [online] Available at: https://everybody.world/pages/about [Accessed 3 May 2020].
Veridiano, R., 2020. Vivienne Westwood: Activist Or Queen Of Greenwash? — Remake. [online] Remake. Available at: https://remake.world/stories/news/vivienne-westwood-denounces-her-new-documentary-for-not-telling-her-activist-story-but-do-her-actions-speak-as-loud-as-her-words/ [Accessed 3 May 2020].
WWW.VIVIENNEWESTWOOD.COM. 2020. Our Approach | Vivienne Westwood. [online] Available at: https://www.viviennewestwood.com/zh/our-approach/ [Accessed 3 May 2020].