For out second brief, we focused on Big Ideas and ethical issues within fashion. The itinerary for this brief was to:
Develop an idea that raises awareness of the environmental and ethical problems caused by the global fashion industry that suitable for NTU students.
With this information in mind, I began my research.
Secondary research
One article I found from www.campaignlive.co.uk said that “Social media marketing has been top of mind for brands targeting 18-24s. Brands have learned the importance of transparency, relevance and shared conversation versus traditional push approaches. We know young people are big users of social media - 97% in our recent survey use Facebook and 45% are on Twitter.” Being a student myself, I am an avid user of social media and I think that brands that use this platform to promote their brand/campaign is effective because it allows consumers to be able to interact with their favourite brands.
In another article I read from feelgoodwardrobe.com I found out that 20% of global water pollution comes from treatment and dyeing textiles. As well as this, 200 children die every hour from unclean water. In addition, from my research, I found out that fashion uses a lot of water. I found out that in order to make one pair of jeans, it takes 11,000 - 20,000 litres of water. Also, I found out that from the creation process of a pair of jeans and maintaining them, “a typical pair of blue jeans consumes 919 gallons of water.” (image on the left). As well as this, it takes 270 litres of water to make 1 t-shirt which is how much water we would drink over a 3 year period. A pair of jeans from a fast fashion retailer will use the same amount water as a high end retailer, however the clothes won't last as long. Therefore using more water. It takes more than 2000 litres to make one t-shirt yet 750 million people around the world (including the people making these garments) lack access to safe drinking water.
In an article that I found on www.envorinmentalleader.com titled Assessing the Environments Impact of the Fashion World, it said that a worker making $100 pair of trainers will only receive 50 cents. So if you purchase a pair of £15 jeans from a fast fashion retailer, you cant expect good working conditions for the worker.
In the same article from www.envorinmentalleader.com Livia Firth, owner of Eco Age said “It’s a case of out of sight, out of mind. We cannot keep eating from this big cheap fashion pile without thinking about who made our clothes”. I really liked this quote because it applies to all fast fashion consumers, because we never ask ourselves what retailers had to do in order to sell their clothes for such a minuscule amount.
One article that I found very interesting was from www.thefashionlaw.com, titled “I don't shop fast fashion, heres why.” In this article, it stated that the reason why fast fashion retailers are able to price their clothing at such low prices is because they underpay their workers. Garment workers in LEDC’s such as Bangladesh make as little as $73 a month. The woman who wrote this article said that it isn't fulfilling having to repeatedly purchase “a bunch of cheap clothing and constantly stripping and revamping my wardrobe out of necessity because the clothes literally fall apart). She said she gets more joy from purchasing pieces that she wants to wear for years to come.
Slow Fashion is the movement of designing, creating, and buying garments for quality and longevity. Slow fashion encourages slower production schedules, fair wages, lower carbon footprints, and (ideally) zero waste. Slow Fashion is not your typical seasonal fashion trend, it is a movement that is steadily gaining momentum and is likely here to stay. It is a movement that promotes a more positive message in the fashion industry.
Primary research
For my primary research, I decided to conduct a questionnaire as it is a quantitative method of research which meant that I was able to collect data a lot more quickly than using a qualitative method of research such as an interview. I asked a total of 20 people and only asked students since this campaign is directed at them.
For the first question on my questionnaire, I asked people where do they purchase their clothes from. As you can see from the data, the majority of people chose High Street retailers, with 90% of people choosing this option. This is understandable as students are on a budget and hughstreet stores sell clothing at a cheaper rate.
The second question I asked on my questionnaire was “why do you purchase your clothes from here”. The most popular response was “cheap” with 45% of the people I asked choosing this answer. The second most popular answer was “high quality”, with 25% of people answering this. Finally, 20% of people said that they purchase clothes because they are on trend which means that trends are very important to them.
The third question that I asked was “what type of clothes do you buy?”. The most popular answer was “clothes you'll wear for this season” with 40% of people choosing this answer. The second most popular answer was “clothes you'll purchase because of new trends” with 30% of people choosing this option. For the people that buy clothes purely because of new trends will most likely throw away their clothes when the trend had died out, which means that they are most likely to purchase cheaper pieces meaning that they go to fast fashion retailers.
The fourth question I asked was “Do you follow trends?”. For this answer 75% of people responded “yes”. For the people who follow trends means that the media will heavily influence their wardrobe and they are less likely to purchase piece that they will wear for a lifetime, but purchase more disposable pieces from the high street.
The final question that I asked was “Have you ever asked yourself who made your clothes?”. 80% of the people I asked said no. This means that the majority of people who answered my questionnaire don't think about where their clothes come from and what had to be put into their clothes, therefore they wont see anything wrong with purchasing from fast fashion retailers.
My Idea
After conducting my primary and secondary research, I decided that base my campaign focusing on why slow fashion is better than fast fashion. Before doing secondary research for this project, I didn't realise how the workers who make clothing for fast fashion retailers are effected so badly. I think if more people were aware of this then it would impact their views on the items of clothing that they purchase. From my primary research, it was clear that the majority of people who responded to my questionnaire shopped at fast fashion retailers. The clothing at these retailers is so cheap which often means that these clothes aren't durable, meaning that consumers have to purchase clothing more often. If people invested in more durable and environmentally friendly pieces not only could it save them money because they wouldn't have to purchase clothing as often, but it means that they could provide better working conditions for the people making the clothing and give them fair labour costs.
In todays generation, being an outfit repeater is seen as a crime, hence why young people today purchase clothing a lot more frequently than in previous years. From my questionaire, the majority of people who answered followed trends which means that they are very conscious of the clothing they buy and they purchase clothes mainly to fit into and be accepted by society. So I wanted to call my campaign #outfitrepeater because purchasing clothing with a longer shelf life and not just creating an entire wardrobe based on trends will help to save not only a lot of money, but resources. So not only will wearing clothing more frequently benefit the consumer, but the people making the clothes. I think making the title of my campaign include a hashtag (#outfitrepeater) means that it will be easier for students to find through social media. As well as this, it will enable them to interact more and give their opinions on this campaign.
The Campaign
This is the final campaign that I created. I decided that I wanted to make it stand out and be eye catching. I used a black aground and used vibrant colours to highlight the key words in my campaign. In this poster, I wanted to convey that buying fast fashion isn't the best option because it is cheap for consumers, however the workers have to pay the price with poor working conditions and unfair labour. So promoting slow fashion means that they can help to promote better working conditions for these workers. In addition, I wanted to include “buy less and invest” because if people purchase clothes with the motive to wear them for years and years, rather than purchasing them to fit in with the current trend, means that they can help the environment and promote a more positive movement in fashion. Overall, my campaign will help to raise awareness that being an outfit repeater isn't a bad thing.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
No comments
Post a Comment