Fashion is Power

Those outside of the fashion industry seem to have a difficult time genuinely understanding the power behind the “material” items that we spend countless hours designing, creating, and promoting for a living. When people ask what I am majoring in here at OSU, I confidently tell them despite knowing that they are probably thinking it is risky and most likely leading to nowhere as far as a career. What they are unaware of however, is that fashion is THE most powerful means of communication that we have in our lives today. Fashion satisfies our human need of identity, giving us the opportunity to express our individual selves while emphasizing our desire to be accepted into a collective group membership. Without people like me to pursue fashion as a career, society would have a much harder time figuring out how to express this vital human need. In coming up with my design concept this week, I combined the human need for identity with the issue of gender equality and the empowerment of women. My concept is based around providing women with the luxury of designing their own apparel that they believe will boost their self-esteem and enhance their authoritative image within the work place.

Fashion is more strongly a woman-based industry to begin with, so it is only fitting to focus my design concept to that particular consumer group. As a woman, I am notorious for being an over-consumer as I am constantly buying clothes that I already have multiples of in the same style but in different colors. An over-consumer is defined as someone who consumes a resource in excess. As a result, environmental degradation occurs and resources and materials are harder to replace. According to Fuad-Luke, transforming cultural perceptions about sustainability is crucial to developing positive solutions among society. Without altering consumer behavior, society is going to be much more resistant to change. And change is necessary if we hope to create a world more focused on sustainability.

Design activism, or “issue-led design,” is focused on creating entirely new products based on satisfying our needs as consumers. The issue of gender equality and the empowerment of women is the inspiration of my design concept, which is providing women with the empowerment and feeling of acceptance that they deserve in today’s corporate work environment. The work suit is the most commanding article of clothing that a woman can own. Therefore, I am giving this consumer group an opportunity to design their own eco-friendly suit out of recyclable materials via an online database. The suits can be made with unique appliques or a range of layers that can be shed on the outer layers of the jacket in order to prolong product use and postpone product replacement. Before gaining access to the online site, the women will be instructed to complete a survey that will lightly educate them on information regarding textile waste and environmental impact of material production and consumption. I hope that this will inspire them to do more sustainable research on their own and extend this unique concept to others. Fuad-Luke’s explanation of “halfway products” also inspired my design concept, as products are made with room left for the user to complete the making. The user then has their own matchless creativity to differentiate their work suit from others, satisfying their need of self-identity. Knowing who you are as a person and being confident in what you can bring to the table is what women in the work force must have in order to be seen as equals in executive decisions. Through offering them the chance to customize what they wear in a way so that aggressiveness and control is communicated, a positive change within society is formed.

The graph below was found on The Bureau of Labor Statistics website, and shows the substantial progress being made toward relative equality in the work force between men and women. As you can see, it is also slowing down the closer that we get to equality. I believe that the process can be accelerated if women took the initiative to communicate their power based on what fashion can provide.

A customized, eco-friendly work suit for women is only the start to improving the world of sustainability. Moving beyond form and function and promoting more powerful and emotional relationships with the objects that we consume is the key to halting overconsumption, according to Faud-Luke. It is also a promising start to changing the near future. Fashion is the answer for women to speak up and demand the respect that we deserve from men both inside and outside of the working world. So let’s start talking, ladies.

In this course, I believe that the most important thing I learned is that change is ultimately up to us. We have the power to put the concept of sustainability in motion, and until we do it is only going to get worse. There is an ample amount of information and suggestions to adopting a different lifestyle when it comes to production and consumption, but it has to be collectively adopted. With this knowledge, I plan to continue to research and find ways that I can contribute to this movement toward a more sustainable earth. I also want to educate others with what I have learned so that they become more aware of the severity of the situation and how simple it could be to resolve. Now that I have taken this course, I would like to learn more about how I could potentially market the sustainable concept in an effective and inspiring way. I feel as though there isn’t enough promotion and education regarding a greener environment, and so I would like to learn how to do so in a way that will lead designers and consumers to take action.