project statement / evaluation (study task 07)

Throughout my essay i researched in to the ways in which current social issues such as feminism, body image and cultural appropriation are exploited by the fashion industry for profit. I researched in to current opinions surrounding these issues such as Maxine Bérdat’s 2016 TEDx talk, the focus around this talk centred around the environmental and human rights violated by fast fashion outlets such as Top Shop, this lead me to see the ways in which social issues have been blatantly exploited with little repercussions, such as the fact that Top Shop produce t-shirts with feminist slogans, despite the fact that the t-shirts are made by underage, underpaid women and girls. 

Cultural appropriation was a big focus within my essay, which later translated in to the practical project. I looked in to the ways in which cultures are so often appropriated within the high fashion world; for example Marc Jacobs decision to give his caucasian models dreadlocks before going down the run way, and the way in which he was able to defend this as a stylistic choice by saying that he is 'inspired by people and the way they look'. 

I was able to uncover through my essay, argumens surrounding the ways in which the industry is able to consistently appropriate and profit off of cultures that they're not a part of, the theory of Cultural Hegemony was one which i found to be useful in understanding why the industry has a power which allows them to exploit minorities for their own gain. Developed by the founder of the Italian Communist party Antonio Gramsci, Cultural Hegemony comments on how 'culture is a politics that doesn't look like politics' and in result makes it a lot harder to notice. This theory really played in to the practical project and allowed me to see why it is that the industry appropriate minorities so often, due to the fact that the fashion industry is almost like an institution due to the amount of power and control it posses, they have the power to use something for it's aesthetic value as a way to attract customers, but due to the fact that as Gramsci notes, culture is 'a lot harder to notice' the consumers aren't aware of the cultures they're appropriating because of course the fashion industry aren't going to tell them, leaving them uninformed and allowing the cycle to continue on and on. 

The fashion industry posses a power much bigger than that of minorities, leaving them able to exploit with no consequences, an argument i formed during my essay. As the consumers aren't aware of what they're buying in to it felt like their needed to be something in place in order to inform consumers of how they might be appropriating cultures without even being aware of it, allowing them to make more informed and conscious decisions when it comes to buying clothes. 

Following on from my essay and the arguments formed, the practical project was very much a means of educating a target audience of 18-22 female students in to cultures which are often appropriated by the fashion industry. The point of this project was to inform people in an informal visual way on the cultural significance behind the clothes being sold my fast fashion outlets such as Top Shop and New Look. The practical brief focused on the subculture of Chola's due to the fact that from primary research in to clothing stores both in person and online, i could see this culture being appropriated and sold on a mass scale to people who may not be aware of it's significance. 

Within the project i set out to show the power of graphic design in affecting other industries. Providing context to the clothes people buy, allowing them to make more conscious decisions and become more aware of the cultural significance behind the latest 'trends'.