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Is Globalisation affecting our Identity? Duplicating and Cloning Identities

3/28/2018

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Two or three years ago I wrote this piece below on how globalisation, society may be affecting us, our identities and our attire. Since then, there has been a political backlash to globalisation, yet technology and the flow of information through the wires have not stopped. Despite, all the news there is about our data, and our protection, the tools of technology and social media are ever present in our lives. We all seem to take it, to have and to hold, for better or for worse....till death do us part. Although, even then our presence on our social media may continue. 
Suffice to say, that there has been a political backlash to globalisation, yet within many societies we yearn and need to stay closer together in a hope for a peaceful world.
In regards to how we each choose to communicate to the world through attire, though individuality in an era of women empowerment is fighting strong, things, aspects, the globalisation/cloning of identity and that push, may still be affecting our identities, our fashion and how we project ourselves. And so, at this time, 
it felt that the below topics needed an online arena to open up the field of discussion with many and see what you all think. 
​Is globalisation affecting our identity? Surely, probably, definitely. Is it affecting the way  we dress, our perceptions of fashion? Surely, probably, definitely. For, as Zygmunt Bauman has stressed, “we are all being ‘globalized’-and being ‘globalized’ means much the same to all who ‘globalized’ are” (1998:p1). (Yes,even back then, in 1998! It has just kept intensifying).

Fashion is an enabler as a means of communication it helps state and express to others not just, who we are, but whom we think we are at a particular moment in time, in our lives. Historical reference and context of clothing helps explain much, and  yet  “the  historical trend has been followed, by in large, by the psychological trend. The term of reference here is no longer the spirit or style of a period, but the psyche of the person wearing the clothing” (Barthes:1993;2004; translated:Stafford:2013:p24). A point to consider towards, our perceptions on fashion and how we react towards it. Furthermore, upon reading Roland Barthes’s study on the language of fashion, we come across, his appraisal of Flügel’s work, who “[...] used the lexicon of Freudian symbols to describe human clothing as the ambiguous expression, both mask and advertisement, ​of  the unconscious self.” (Barthes:1993;2004;translated:Stafford:2013:p31).
Personally, I wonder what my unconscious self was saying throughout the years. I recall, the first time I lived in Paris for work experience in the fashion industry, I had included in my suitcase, a couple of raincoats, having had associated the city with it. Why? Not sure (the raincoat is a very British attire too), but it was probably some film I had seen, a cultural power streaming through that had seeped into my head and stuck through my childhood. I was projecting an item of clothing onto an occasion. What did this say about fashion and identity? If “identity can’t be compartmentalised” (Maalouf:1996;translation:Bray:2000:p2), then, could a garment’s connotation vary its meaning through territories, depend on where a person was, with whom a person was with, or with which community it was affiliated with? And yet, fashion though forms (small or large) communities, through its industry or, through those that gravitate towards or around it, is also about individual style. 
Technology, which is moving faster than we are finding the tools to deal with and understand, facilitates communication, yet the Internet can distort our relationship with time and space, making the other side of the world feel so close, and rendering human interaction less of a necessity. A tool, pushing the notion that, “individualism is the quintessential product of modernity” (Ham: 2000:p127). Nevertheless, individualism and individuality are two different things. Even if society has become more individualistic, influences whether from other communities, or cultures, occur. Fashion and tastes travel through electronic wires and “[...] what is interesting in clothing is that it seems to participate to the greatest depth in the widest sociality” (Barthes:1993;2004;translated Stafford:2013:p20), thus open to globalisation.

Complying with “Anthony Giddens definition, it means, acting and living (together) over distances, across the apparently separate worlds of national states, religions, regions and continents” (Beck:2000:p20). With technology, globalisation is an instant cross-national phenomenon. Fashion influences once breezed in through films and magazines, today emerge from social media, such as Instagram. Social media is all about sharing, sharing an individual’s identity towards forming or being accepted into a communal identity. Through virtual communities, a person can choose to exclude the images of everyday ‘real’ life, and put forward a fantasy life, filled with just sparkle and smiles creating a ‘better version of ourselves’ identity. A shared sense of fashion online can occur due to similar tastes or experiences and also from the impact of a company’s marketing and branding. But the pursuit of fashion and images intertwined with the net can also bring about social anxiety (if an item or a fashion beauty notion is not within our reach) or FOMO (fear of missing out)(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fomo), one of the terms that has help explain the impact social media has had on society. Or for fashion, we could transform it to, FONO (fear of not owning).

If we do refer to historical context, clothing marked a person’s social situation, and “to change clothes was to change both one’s being and one’s social class, since they were part and parcel of the same thing”(Barthes:1994:2004;translated:Stafford:2013:p61). This identification has not changed as much as we may like today. We still associate clothing with social status. A person’s chosen fashion becomes a target for onlookers to decide which socio-economic background a person may belong to. The thirst for designer fashion may on occasion be associated with aspiring towards a higher social status, or to affirm and confirm to others one’s social position. This thirst might have been exasperated by technology. Cloned recognisable symbols of high fashion, through social media, travel faster than was once possible and seem deceivingly reachable. However, high street shops opening across a multitude of cities, have made fashion reachable, giving the vast majority of us a key to instant trend and a choice of clothes in a similar style than the expensive equivalent. This global outreach has formed identities across borders and across the net crossing over the borders of social status too.
A chosen fashion can make assumptions on a person’s identity: sexuality, religion and nationality, as well as any political affiliations. Just think of the Black Panthers and the power they projected with their style, or the mini skirt in the 60’s representing women’s liberation, a scarf reflecting moments of history from revolutions to humanitarian causes, and the 70’s hippie style associated with peace. Designers have had their input too through the years, with Katherine Hamnett’s political slogans and Vivienne Westwood’s ‘Climate Revolution’ or ‘I am not a terrorist’ T-shirts. Part of why fashion’s come and go, is due to it usually being affiliated to a cause or a frustration. Sub cultures, such as Teddy Boys or the grunge scene, have come about at a specific moment in time to have a voice. Fashion can also create an emotion that takes on an identity, whether for a career, with power dressing or like the disco era, be about looking good and about escapism. Today our identity can escape through the wires. No one needs anymore to go to Studio 64, just click click click and Studio 64 or other forms of entertainments, can be at your disposal through the internet in your own living room. Perhaps, it all used to happen more organically, more naturally with fashion dispersing across the globe, as, the message affiliated with the item of clothing dispersed at the same time, through soft power: film, art, fashion. Now, though messages disperse too through soft power, it relies more on technology (even print press is increasingly online). There seems to be less time for reflection or organic growth to occur. Artistic or political meanings that are sewn into the seams of our clothes move on as instantly as the next branded or PR tweet or post is made. Yet, technology as a tool has provided 'us' with the capability of more instant action  and to ask for more accountability from companies. 
So now, our affiliations are with social media. Yes we have access to different cultures, but there’s also an array of same global enterprises that multiply themselves all over the world, from fashion companies such as Zara, Chanel, H&M, Hermes to Starbucks etc. Surely certain cities are becoming uniform. Perhaps as Finnemore mentions, there is “the expansion of Western' culture as a 'world' culture" (1996:326-333). However globalisation does not just flow one way, it flows and moves in different directions “No country or group can shut itself off from others” (Beck: 2000:10). Fashion has endlessly been inspired by all parts of the world, projecting all aspects of it, suits, kimonos and kaftans onto catwalks, yes it modernises and modifies, but it does not discriminate from where it chooses its pool of culture or research. Though national dress is often deprived of its original identity and the design approach may take on an Orientalist method, the intention to represent a diversity of cultures in design, (as in designing fashion), is present. 
Yet at the same time, we have to acknowledge, that we are often fed the same images whether we are in Tokyo, Los Angeles or Dubai. The images alter, taking into consideration the marketing studies of a country, but the vision of identity and beauty seems to be uniform. Yet, since globalisation is not unidirectional, it should be allowed to offer different meanings of fashions and beauties, 
spreading diversity, and a variety of body images.

And yet, though the fashion industry sometimes dictates the norms of an idealised beauty and globalises it, it also can turn it on its head, surprise us and break norms. Because once fashion globalises an idea, or puts an idea out in the open, it usually searches for the opposite to present on the catwalks and put in the magazines. Fashion is about trends, whether about ideas, designs or images. But diversity and a variety of body images need to become norms in the industry and not just be for a moment, a trend, a branding.

It is easy to forget that there were always currents that came and went flowing globally. 1950’s Hollywood glamour toured the world, and impacted fashions globally. Furthermore, we have had companies multiplying, giving birth to a McDonalds and a Coca-Cola culture as well as a counter culture. There’s no new formula, it is just that now, it is moving as such a fast pace with technology, it is getting difficult to keep up with.
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If identity is being affected by globalisation, and globalisation is constantly growing and moving through technology, then, we could associate Bauman’s theory of “Liquid Modernity” to the effects of fashion on identity through globalisation. Bauman’s theory states that “change is the only permanence, and uncertainty the only certainty”. For modernity, is a constant movement, there is “no ‘final state’ in sight and none desired”, (Bauman:2000:pviii-ix). Modernity is liquid, it is “forever ‘becoming’”. (Bauman:2000:pviii). Fashion identity is too, constantly moving, changing and “forever ‘becoming’” (Bauman:2000:pviii) with “no ‘final state’ in sight and none desired”, (Bauman:2000:pviii-ix).
Not in sight, hiding behind our clothes or masked by them, lies the individuality of our mind, our unconscious self. Until that is, humanity finds a tool to start reading our minds, search our brains.
And as Alec Ross mentions in his book, "The robots depicted in the movies and cartoons off the 1960s and 1970s will become there reality of the 2020s" (2016, p16). I am sure they will be globalised too. AI.Style. Artificial Intelligence fashion. Futuristic fashion awaits.  
​In a round table on “Fashion, a Strategy of Desire” between Barthes, Duvignaud and Lefebvre in 1966, Henri Lefebvre stated that “Fashion is also concerned as much with literature, painting, music... [...] it is the whole society which is implicated.” (Translated:Stafford:2013:p81). So today, the whole society is implicated (or soon will be) through technology, whether, if affected by automation or identity questions connected via social media. We all now have a voice, but how many of us are being heard? Yes globalisation affects fashion identity, but this is nothing new, it always has through a different wire, it just is that we are more aware of how fast we are all going viral on the internet.
So perhaps we should take Lefebvre's notion and “not forget that fashion is a game. Getting dressed up is wanting to play” (2004: Stafford, 2013:p84).
Some games hurt though.
And despite globalisation of our fashion identities, as Maalouf suggests, ‘our identity’ is “made up of many components in a mixture that is unique” to us (1996:p2). Individual fashion style will live on through many who believe that though "the individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself". (A quote some say by Friedrich Niezsche (Bruce2009:p42) others by Rudyard Kipling).

-Barthes, Roland.[First Published in France 2004 Editions du Seuil (1993:Oeuvres Completes-Tome 1; 1994:Oeuvres Completes-Tome 2; 1995:Oeuvres Completes-Tome 3: All at Editions du Seuil)].2013.Translated by Stafford, Andy. The Language of Fashion. Published by Bloomsbury.
-Bauman, Zygmunt.1998.Globalisation: The Human Consequences. Published by Polity Press.
-Bauman, Zygmunt.2000.Liquid Modernity. Published by Polity Press.
-Beck, Ulrich.2000. What is Globalization? Published by Polity Press.
-Finnemore Martha. 1996. Review by. Norms, Culture, and World Politics: Insights from Sociology’s Institutionalism. International Organization, Vol 50, No 2. The MIT Press. www.jstor.org/stable/2704081
​-Gary L. Bruce. 2009. Quotes for Misanthropes. Mira Digital Publishing. St Louis MO. USA
-Ham Chae-bong. 2000. The Cultural Challenge to Individualism. Journal of Democracy, Volume 11, No 1 http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_democracy/v011/11.1hahm. html
-Maalouf, Amin.1996.Editions Grasset & Fasquelle.2000.Translated by Barbara Bray. In the Name of Identity, Violence and the Need to Belong. Arcade Publishing.
-Ross, Alec. 2016. The Industries of the Future. Published by Simon & Schuster

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                             Reveal Yourself versus Mask Yourself
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The Fusion of Art and Technology

3/27/2018

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Last December (2017) at the Royal Academy of Arts, on their top floor the exhibition "From Life" showcased and questioned "what it means to make art from life" and how that method may be developing. 
Historically, life drawing for any art practitioner was often necessary. Especially for a portrait artist.
And yet, times are a changing....
Or times are evolving...

On display at the RA, towards the end of the show, were the artworks "The Simulacra" (Oil on Canvas 2017), "Homage to Paolozzi" (Bronze 2017) and "The Unteleported Man" (Oil on Canvas 2017), all by portrait artist Jonathan Yeo.

These artworks were made with the help of technology.

"Homage to Paolozzi" is the first sculpture designed with the virtual reality software Google Tilt Brush, and "The Simulacra" and "The Unteleported Man" paintings were aided by advanced 3D scanning. 

For part of the artworks, Yeo used the LightStage scanner by OTOY technology, where he scanned his face and then transmitted that to the Tilt Brush software.
Pangolin Editions then reproduced the 3D brushstrokes, into bronze cast for the sculpture. 

Partnering with Google Arts and Culture, Jonathan Yeo worked with Google engineers on the Tilt Brush Software. 
Tilt Brush have also teamed up with various artists, cartoonists and animators, working with them on this new way of creating. S
ome of which have taken up an art residency with them. 

Tilt Brush by Google was created to, as they state on their website, make us "Step Into Your Imagination", in other words, for us to step into our imagination and paint it in our 3D space and not just represent or recreate a 3D space on a flat surface. 
[One day, we may be able to literally step into other people's imagination....] but leaving that thought aside, the technological art tool is meant to facilitate drawing and creating in 3D spaces and for the art experience to be able to take us on a journey. Through viewing some of the artists work online, it does feel like stepping into a world made of art, like an animated painting, or a painting being awoken into life.  
 
The concept is pretty impressive and it opens up a whole area and genre of art.
Technology and this tool, also continues the fusing of graphics, print, animations with fine art, illustration and sculpture, and little by little there no longer may be a separation between the arts.
Or there no longer may be something called "digital art" it will just be art. 

So should we be worried about technology engulfing the arts, or should we be in awe?
And is this just not the evolving nature of things, of life, and now of the art world.
After all innovation includes the invention of masking tape used in art, or photoshop, not forgetting the ever so practical, repeat pattern buttons or copy and paste on our computers, to now, this innovation, where it is at with painting in 3D space. 

Only time will tell if artists will want to experiment with 3D painting or not.
Sometimes the materials used in art are about a trend. When photography was invented, or became very popular, many thought that would be the end of painting. And yet, paint lives on. Paint has also had its fair share of innovation, it is of course more synthetic now.

So painting despite all the other arts has lived on, because there is something to be said about a practice that is bound by time and observation. 

The new medium of drawing in virtual reality, where a person as they paint can walk inside their artwork and that the artwork can surround the artist, feels like looking at an innovation taking us into a new world.
Albeit, a world made in art. 

So can this tool create artists of us all? And what would that mean? 
What will this mean for Street Art?
Could you imagine walking around with paintings floating around us?

Many thoughts come up while looking at this wondrous new art tool.

This technological progression, is that - a progression, and in time, the now of art, will become the norm of art and then, once it is a norm, a new type of tool for art will be invented.

It's not just technology that is disruptive, so is art. Art at some level, at some point in time, is meant to disrupt.
So either both disciplines of technology and art together will disturb or they will create wonders.
Or will do both.
The customer or the audience will decide. 

Through this type of 3D technology, assuming it could be available to many or to many artists, could this new 3D art paint be used in a positive light and build virtual bridges between communities, between different areas of a city to bring us closer? 
Or will this new type of art, be like in Greek Methology, the tool that opens pandora's box... 
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The Simulacra 2017 by Jonathan Yeo (Oil on Canvas) (artwork pictured at the Royal Academy)
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Homage to Paolozzi 2017 (Self-Portrait) by Jonathan Yeo (Bronze) (artwork pictured at the Royal Academy)
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The Unteleported Man 2017 by Jonathan Yeo (artwork pictured at the Royal Academy)
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Artists Delegates from Bahrain on a UK Art Tour with the British Council

3/21/2018

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What a lovely evening yesterday was, meeting with 8 artists from Bahrain who are currently visiting London and the UK art scene with the British Council.

​Maryam Al Noaimi, May Al Alawi, Mahmood Haider, Ali Hussain Merza, Ali Al Bazzaz, Zainab Darwish, Jaffar Al Oraibi and Naji Swar are artists representing the arts from Bahrain.

Gathering all together around food, it was delightful to get to know the artists, their work and their perspectives.

Each artist has his own approach to art and medium that he or she uses. 
Many of them expressed that they are sharing their emotion into their artworks and showcasing their life  in Bahrain through fine art or video work and installation. 
Most of the artists' artworks are available to view online, check out below the artists biography and some of their work. 

Artists play an important role in society, helping us to understand emotions, discover aspects of life we may or may not notice and showcase their environment.  
Through cultural exchanges and unions, understanding and empathy can occur. 
Art is a tool that can be used to unite people together, a visual language that may bridge the language  barrier and bring countries together. 

Such as this initiative by the British Council, Rehana Mughal, Susan Hay and Rohan Stephens from the British Council, who are encouraging cultural exchanges and bringing artists and art practitioners together to forge cultural ties.

The artists below are passionate about art, proving that art as a visual language can travel and unite.

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Ali Al Bazzaz is a painter, calligrapher, and cartoonist. He practices and teaches Arabic calligraphy and fine arts and he was a cartoonist with Al-Ayam Newspaper from 2005-2011.
Ali is also the owner and founder of Mashq Art Space; a lively, collaborative art space and gallery, hosting art classes, exhibitions and exciting cultural and artistic events since 2015.
Ali aims for Mashq to nurture and grow artists in Bahrain and allow them to connect and build themselves as a community. 
​www.instagram.com/bazzaz32/?hl=en
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Naji Swar is a self-taught artist, passionate about watercolour painting. Following his passion for water colour, Naji abandoned his profession in furniture and décor and pursued his art career.
He has been a member of the Bahrain Association for Contemporary Art since 2012 and participated in an exhibition for the first time at the Bahrain Annual Fine Art Exhibition in 2012. 
Naji enjoys artistic experiments and using new material. He also enjoys sharing his experiences with others, and artistic exchange. He has been teaching watercolour painting classes at Mashq Art Space since 2016.
​www.instagram.com/najiswar_art/?hl=en
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Jaffar Al Oraibi is a painter and works mostly in oil on canvas. Featuring towering male figures and an array of animals, his large canvases explore issues relating to social pressures and gender expectations. With a fluid and gestural technique and dominant use of black, often representations of animals in the work refer to human characteristics and behaviours that highlight the tension between self and other, as well as the feeling of alienation between the individual and the group. 
His works are a strong voice in Bahrain's art world. His exhibition "The Man" at Al Riwaq Art Space in 2010 brought the artist to wider attention, followed by two shows at Cuadro Art Gallery (Dubai, UAE) in 2011and 2012. Jaffar Al Oreibi has participated in international artist residencies in Paris, London and New York.
​www.instagram.com/jaffar_aloraibi/?hl=en

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Zainab Darwish is an experimental artist, who has worked with charcoal, natural paint and mixed media. She is very keen on challenging herself and her abilities  through using new materials, paints and techniques. Zainab's art practice began as a form of self-expression, until it grew to be a big part of her identity and a daily practice.
Zainab has participated in various local exhibitions and youth initiatives, including Tea Al Shabab, 2015, the Synchronisation of Days 2016, and Grace Notes 2017. 
​www.instagram.com/zdarawsha/?hl=en

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Ali Hussein Merza is an artist and theatrical scenographer from Bahrain. He studied theatre and earned a Bachelor's Degree (with Honors) in Scenic Design from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Kuwait in 2010. Following his formal academic studies, he decided to focus his energy on the youth and conducted numerous workshops and events that revolve around children's art.
His passion for fine art and theatre inspired him to research/experiment in his works. He utilised open spaces as avenues to express the ideas/issues that he wishes to reflect upon and discuss in a different way. Ali views installation artwork as being akin to breaking away from the confines of the theatre's stage. He replaces the actor with the spectator, who is often considered to be a part of the work. It is here that the artist finds himself, stuck somewhere in the area between two worlds: fine art and theatre. 
Ali participated in many exhibitions and theatrical showcases in Bahrain and abroad. He won a number of awards and most recently, Ali was the recipient of the Dana prize at the 44th annual Bahrain fine arts exhibition in 2018, the most prestigious award in Bahrain. 
​www.instagram.com/ali4art/?hl=en

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Mahmood Haider is a portrait artist and cartoonist who has inherited his passion for the arts from his family, who are all practicing different art forms. He started painting from the age of six and hasn't stopped since.
Mahmood has a bachelors' degree in Fine Arts from Kuwait, 2002 and currently works as an art teacher the Ministry of Education and as well as delivers specialised art classes with local studios like Mashq.
Mahmood particularly enjoys portraying Bahrain's nature and heritage using acrylic and watercolours, and he has also been doing caricatures since 2004. He is currently preparing an exhibition on Bahraini heritage. 
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May Al Alawi has a Bachelor's of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts in Baghdad, Iraq and has been teaching art in Ministry of Education schools for the past 15 years.
She is a founding member of "Cup of Art" Group and an administration member of "Be an Artist".
May has participated in many local exhibitions, more recently Symposium Dar Al Fan 2017 and Bahrain International Art Forum and Exhibition 2018.
May enjoys the process creation as well as observing other artists' work. She is also very passionate about inspiring youth/her students to explore and learn through the arts, art history and the process of making.
​www.instagram.com/mayalalawie/?hl=en
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Maryam Al Noaimi did her Masters in Urban Design at the University of Colorado, and her Bachelors in Interior Design at the University of Bahrain. She is interested in the relationship between the human-being and the place, how each is affecting the other and influencing culture, identity and environment. Her artwork includes installation and videography serving as a platform to explore, question and create a dialogue within oneself and with others. 
Maryam believes that working on art projects helps in creating a platform to explore, question, and create a dialogue within oneself and with others.
www.instagram.com/maralnoaimi/?hl=en
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The Way Forward: Education and Institutions Embracing Sustainable Fashion

3/1/2018

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Sustainable and ethical fashion have been making headlines, and rightly so. 
And yet, after many years of unethical fashion being readily available, how can we expect to make it a norm, if we do not understand it. Furthermore, garments with sustainable labels seem to be at a further cost to the consumer. I use the word ‘seem’ because that is exactly what it is, we assume that it can only be achieved with higher costs subsequently then priced into the garment. 
But maybe sustainable fashion could eventually with time be achieved without an extra cost, through new technologies and innovations. So if things are going to change for the better, and if a majority of people are to embrace this new wave in fashion and retail, even if there is a further cost, then as a society, as consumers and designers, we first have to understand what is sustainable fashion and how it can be achieved in the Fashion Industry and eventually become the norm.
​
Fashion can release a lot of power, it embraces notions of politics, identity and economy, and with that it can be a tool that does good. There have been brilliant minds endorsing ethical and sustainable fashion, such as Helen Storey, Simone Cipriani of Ethical Fashion Initiative, Katharine Hamnett, Vivienne Westwood,  Stella McCartney, The Fashion Revolution and so on. 
Though there are institution that have embraced this, like the United Nations through the Ethical Fashion Initiative, there still are major institutions who need to address this topic and to address what seems to be a growing demand from consumers.
So to whom do we look for to do this? Companies? Institutions? The government? 
Maybe all the above.

In come Kering and the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion who have partnered to launch and create the world’s first open-access digital course in sustainable luxury fashion. This is in part a free platform (you can upgrade if you wish) to learn about what sustainable fashion is.
 
Gabrielle Miller Research Assistant at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) and lecturer, who has worked on this project for over a year explained to me that the online course entitled ‘Fashion & Sustainability: Understanding Luxury Fashion in a Changing World’ “serves as an important tool to fashion industry professionals and students alike. It will enable participants to develop an understanding of innovative sustainable fashion research and business practice and help them to explore what is important to them and their approach to sustainability.”
 
By providing this arena of thought and knowledge in education, it gives the next generation of designers as well as consumers the tools to know what to do to ensure that fashion breathes sustainability and ethical attributes.
What seemed to start off as a trend amongst some, has become an occasion to instate change and even perhaps be the tipping point of an industry.  
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering stated at the course's launch that: “At Kering we believe that the shift towards sustainability and innovation in luxury fashion is not only an imperative, in our world of finite resources, but also a goldmine of opportunity.”

The team behind this platform have also worked with the British Fashion Council (BFC), showing it to Young British designers and industry professionals to make sure the program was relevant for the new wave of designers. At the launch of this partnership, Caroline Rush, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council reaffirmed  that: "In 2018 London Fashion Week focuses on Positive Fashion, an initiative designed to promote and celebrate diversity, sustainability, and openness; encouraging fashion to be used as a platform to promote global positive change.”

Echoes of change seem to be ahead, and the six week online course that starts on the 9th April is reflecting that and wanting to provide knowledge and understanding of these core notions throughout education and luxury fashion so that it can eventually become a norm in the industry. 
Professor Frances Corner, Head of London College of Fashion, UAL advocated that: “Only through collaboration and the sharing of experience can we face the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead together. Often we can feel overwhelmed or unsure what sustainability means for our industry – we feel disempowered because there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution - but this course aims to empower aspiring and existing fashion professionals alike and help them develop their own manifesto for change.”

Let’s hope that we all embrace good change in the Fashion Industry and that it is for good and becomes a norm. Education is where ideas can be exchanged and implemented.
With people working hard to make the Fashion Industry rightly a more transparent one in how our clothes are sourced and made, learning how this is all done is surely more than a step in the right direction, it’s a necessary step so that communities and people not just in the UK but in the World can thrive and work in good and safe conditions.
​
Here’s to education, art schools and institutions joining forces and making changes!
www.futurelearn.com/courses/fashion-and-sustainability
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