For myself, Kate Fletcher’s essay “Slow Fashion: An Invitation for Systems Change” did a meticulous job of defining the scopes of depth of the growing economy’s influence in the sphere of Fashion. The author’s voice was very convincing when painting a picture of the consumer/producer flow globally. Even when in context of “systems” that are the “fastest and best” and “sustained”, the individual plays an important key role as the second part of the sentence reads “because people believe in it”; “people” – and more specifically their operational methodology when dealing with their surroundings. I am a person that, to a certain extent, do not believe in the preliminary concepts of “slow” or “fast”, so it was interesting to read Fletcher’s take on it in terms of fashion’s relationship with the economy: each concept seemed to have an explanation which made me want to believe. I realised how much dependency the currency holds on any large industries, as I have little to no understanding of corporate life as of now. It helped me build my foundation into realising the absolute complexity of this industry and its involvement world-wide.
Continuing when dealing with an industry as unique and as complex as the Fashion Kingdom, one must understand their audience and the path to take to capture their attention. Li Edelkoort did just that. She captured her audience with the talk “Anti-fashion: A Manifesto for the Next Decade”, for a couple of key components along side her life time of experience. Edelkoort spoke with care, opening her heart to her listeners, sharing opinions from experiences, and most importantly stating solutions to problems people are trying to avoid! She is a person, my peers and I refer to as “real”, due to the fact that she is raising questions without the fear lingering inside. I found her tone to be similar to Fletcher’s, as far as my interpretation goes because both women came across as certain and confident. For someone like me, who is for the first time obtaining understanding about this industry, well 1) first I realised that there is a lot more complications in relation to the environment and 2) that its “cash money flow currency” really has transformed the intent behind why people are faced with these issues and quests.