This studio project was really difficult for me to consider what sketches would some up fashion because I’m not sure a croquis could do that. However, once I understood we were making a work that doesn’t have to be 4 sketches that helped a lot. In class, I immediately thought of doing a ready make with my clothing, what represents fashions meaning to me more than the things I fashion myself in. The issue is that, like many other artist and designers, I tend to not dress in the way I create, but much simpler. So adding the muslin made a lot of sense, especially since I like the textile a lot and think it is often overlooked. I think it would have been nice to find a different way to display the remakes/clothing pieces since they were pretty heavy and hard to put up nicely. Overall I really thought my piece in studio goes through my definition of fashion. It felt so broad going in, yet by the end, I understood in simple terms what fashion was to myself. I honestly hadn’t thought of it much prior to this project, I just did it as art with not much more consideration.
In seminar, I was okay writing the questions until the last 20 when I felt like I was running out of them, which was odd because there are thousands of questions about fashion. It was more a feeling that I had exhausted the topics I was initially interested in, but I had to go past those topics to finish. The 10 questions began as 20 and were hard to narrow down, which is part of the reason the question about where to put our focus as future fashion industry intrigued me, and encompassed this project. Eventually, that question grew into the 3D object. The 3D piece was difficult because how do I turn 10 questions all on a different aspect of fashion into one piece? After doing my studio project it became clear to remake one of the pieces. I’m really happy I decided to do that since it spoke to environmentalism by reusing.
By picking the question above about which issues to focus on I need to contemplate which issues are most important to me. I really do believe in Westwood’s “by less, but better” campaign, that I think is bringing fashion back to being respected as an art form. So, I think that is my main focus, but to execute that you have to be environmentally friendly as well. I also want to focus on sexism and unrealistic sizes in all sections of the industry. This all feels like a lot, it can be done, but there are more issues to focus on. I think too many issues on your agenda can lead to none of them getting attention, so its best to work one at a time. However, most issues are entwined with others, so it’s a slippery slope. I want to look more into the slope with a focus on Westwood’s idea, exploring the manageability what that will encompass.
