I found the talk, Anti-Fashion : A Manifesto for the Next Decade, by Li Edelkoort super interesting and eye opening. First of all, I loved her outfit. One of the first points she mentioned was that “fashion industry is old fashioned”. She mentioned how student studying fashion design think the only way to become successful in the industry is to become a catwalk designer, and she pointed out teachers should point out the importance of designing everyday clothes. This makes a lot of sense to me as people will wear the every day clothes so it should be more important to design those than something for a show. She also pointed out that no one, the designers, consumers or students know a lot about textile and she suggest textile research should be also emphasized in academia. Some of the large fashion brands already recognized this and are opening research departments. This is also really important for finding sustainable materials. She mentioned some cheap brands that sell their clothes cheaper than a sandwich and which, in her opinion, should be regulated in Europe by introducing a minimum price. One other thing I also found really interesting in her talk is that she said more should be invested in men’s fashion as today’s men are more interested in fashion and their lifestyle has changed a lot in the past century. One other thing she pointed out was the trend for “non fashion” which is the idea that many people nowadays don’t have to dress up for work , or don’t have time. These two could be interesting target groups for the final project.
In the article, Slow Fashion: An Invitation for Systems Change, the author, Kate Fletcher talks about the idea of “slow fashion”. In the past decades, just like fast food, fast fashion appeared. Clothing is produced in mass quantities and sold for very cheap price around the world. They are often produced in developed countries and sold in the west for a few euros or dollars, just like Li Edelkoort said, “cheaper than a sandwich”. Many started to realize that this is not sustainable in the long term because fast fashion effects many people and the environment. Clothes are thrown away very quick because they lost their value. When McDonalds opened in Rome, a bunch of Italians started a movement, called the “Slow Food Movement” that means not only the rejection of eating cheap and unhealthy food but also the rejection of large-scale, mass-production business models. Similarly, in fashion the term, “slow fashion” understood as products that are “less fast”. I often read in magazines how a woman should always have a little black dress that can be worn any time for many years because it is classic and does not really go out of style. ( And probably no one will notice if you wear it twice). However, “slow fashion” is not only that. Slow fashion products are produced and sold with a different business model. The author mentions that economic and social practices have to be part of the fashion debate. “The challenge for us all is to model and influence the overall regulating fashion system to promote balance accompanied by richness across economic, social, and ecological systems as a whole”