Project 2: Dynamic Interven.on of the
Do the following historic fashion trends seem shocking today?
Foot Binding 8th -‐ early 20th century China Foot binding was a symbol of beauty in Chinese culture and a display of status for woman of wealthy families that did not need to work. From age 2-‐7, feet were soaked in a bath of herbs and water or urine and vinegar. All toes except the big toe were folded down, and the arch of the foot was bent inward. Bandages were progressively Gghtened unGl the feet were approximately 3 inches long.
Lead Powder Makeup 700 BC -‐ 1920s Europe, Middle East, China, Japan, Africa, Australia, North & South America Before the age of commercial cosmeGc brands, men and women used lead-‐based powder and loGon to render their faces porcelain white. White skin displayed social status, because women and men of wealth did not work outdoors. Symptoms of Lead Poisoning: death, brain damage, central nervous system damage, headaches, loss of appeGte, anemia, a constant metallic taste in the mouth, paralysis, insomnia and a limp wrist.
Queen Elizabeth I of England Lead Poisoning VicGm
The Corset 16th -‐ 19th century Europe and North America. Made from fabric and wood, horn, ivory, metal or whalebone. 1500 -‐1600s, fashion dictated rigidity in dress and European women wore corsets to completely flaZen their stomach and breasts. 1700 -‐1900s, fashion evolved into the hourglass figure and corsets were redesigned to abnormally narrow the waist and li\ the breasts so they would swell out of the corset, further exaggeraGng a woman’s curves. Associate medical condiGons: chronic fainGng, inferGlity, miscarriage, endometriosis, digesGve disorders, varicose veins from restricted blood flow, deformaGon of bones and muscles, and internal injuries, impalement and death from accidents.
Queen Maud of Norway
The Beaver Skin Hat 16th -‐ 19th century Europe and North America Beaver skin hats were highly fashionable menswear because the fur was warm, so\ and resilient. The beaver coat could easily be combed to make a variety of hat shapes from funcGonal hats to top hats. Mercury was used to preserve the shine of the beaver coat and was absorbed into the skin when touching or wearing the hat.
Symptoms of Mercury Poisoning: tremor, psychiatric disturbance, hearing loss, seizures, kidney toxicity, mercury pigmentaGon, paralysis, neurological changes and death.
Mercury Poisoning VicGm
Clothing is one of the 4 basic necessi.es for sustaining human life. Water -‐ Food -‐ Clothing -‐ Shelter
Yet, the fashion industry has exploited
a basic human necessity in ways that are harming both mankind and the industry itself. In what areas must we ques.on the ethical
responsibility of today’s fashion industry?
Body Image
In 1990 the average U.S./European female runway model wore a size 6-‐8. Today the average size required of a female model is 0 or 00 and male models are subjected to the same scruGny. In the past 15 years, the diagnosis of eaGng disorders in the U.S. has increased by 15% in women with a 27% increase in men. Plus size clothing makes up a significantly smaller porGon of ready-‐to-‐wear fashion and yet the average American woman wears a size 16.
Marginalized Communi.es
The fashion industry is under constant scruGny for its lack of diversity both on the run way in magazines. However, marginalizaGon in the fashion industry goes beyond equal representaGon of ethnic diversity. As of 2017 there is not a single ready-‐to-‐wear line in the United States devoted to the needs of the physically challenged, psychologically challenged or disabled, and yet such communiGes make up over 19% of the U.S. populaGon (56.7 million people).
Animal Treatment
As of 2017, Austria, CroaGa, England, Great Britain, Wales, Scotland, Switzerland and Northern Ireland are the only countries that have an outright ban on fur farms. The largest farms are concentrated in China and Poland. China alone held an inventory of 35 million minks in 2016, and currently the slaughter of animals is not regulated in China. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and Fur Free Alliance revealed the shocking condiGons of animals in Chinese & Polish fur farms where they are malnourished, neglected, forced to live in cramped, dirty cages and then skinned alive or killed by means of blunt force trauma and anal electrocuGon.
Ecology
90 % of the clothing we wear contains toxic dyes (such as arsenic) and cleaning agents (such a ammonia) used in the texGle manufacturing process. Color based dyes also include heavy metals such as cadmium, cobalt, lead, mercury and chromium. In 2015, Greenpeace collected water samples from rivers located near texGle factories in Indonesia where a large porGon of the clothing for ValenGno, Levis, Zara and Diesel is manufactured. Greenpeace found that texGle waste had raised the water’s PH level to 14. A PH of 14 will burn human skin on contact, kill all aquaGc life, and have a devastaGng effect on the local fishing industry and surrounding environment. These chemicals build up in the body of both humans and wildlife. Over Gme they can cause irreversible damage to the liver, kidneys, thyroid and the central nervous system.
Sustainability
With the industry standard changing from slow to fast fashion, fashion cycles have gone from 4 seasons to as many as 15 seasons yearly.
According to the Environmental ProtecGon Agency, 15.1 million tons of post-‐consumer texGle waste was generated in 2013, of which 12.8 million tons were discarded, and 10.5 million tons ended up in landfills. SyntheGc fibers can take up to 200 years to decompose and the toxic dye in clothing leeches into the ground water.
Labor Rights, Safety and Human Exploita.on
On April 24, 2013, the deadliest garment-‐factory accident in history occurred when Rana Plaza, an 8-‐story commercial building, collapsed in Bangladesh. 1,129 people were killed, including child workers, because in Bangladesh, labor law establishes a minimum age of 12 for light work, 14 for full-‐Gme employment and 18 for hazardous work. When cracks were discovered in the building’s foundaGon, the sweatshop owners on the upper floors ignored warnings to evacuate. Instead they ordered their garment workers to conGnue working or be fired. The factories manufactured apparel for brands including: BeneZon, The Children's Place, Joe Fresh, Mango, H&M and Walmart. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor found that 90% of sweatshops in the U.S. violate health and safety standards, directly contribuGng to work-‐related injuries and death. Rana Plaza Collapse Illegal sweatshop in Bangladesh
As designers we have the knowledge and choice to make a conscious shiR in the industry’s paradigm.
The fashion industry is incredibly powerful and lucra.ve. What if that power was refocused to equally address
aesthe.c desire along with human need and responsibility toward the planet in which we live?
Body Image and Marginalized Communi.es Pro Infirmis, a Swiss organizaGon for the disabled, created a series of mannequins based on real people with physical disabiliGes. Pro Infirmis collaborated with individuals including, a Miss Handicap winner with spine malformaGons and an actor with BriZle Bone Disease. The project enGtle Because Who Is Perfect? was placed into the window of high-‐end retail store in Zurich’s main shopping district to generate public awareness of the way we define beauty in the world of fashion.
Marginalized Communi.es + Sustainability Angela Luna graduated from Parsons in 2016 with a degree in Fashion Design. Her senior thesis, Design for Difference addresses the need for warmth, protecGon and shelter faced by fleeing refugees. The collecGon, which contains a series of jackets that transform into tents, sleeping bags, life jackets and baby carriers, received the Womenswear Designer of the Year award and the Eyes On Talents innovaGon award. Since graduaGon, Angela has started her own humanitarian brand, ADIFF, with a focus on innovaGve design and widespread donaGons.
Ecology + Sustainability + Animal Rights + Labor Rights GUÐRUN & GUÐRUN is a knitwear label started in 2002 by two designers living in the Faroe Islands. The label only produces two seasons a year. Their wool is naturally dyed, hand-‐knit and spun from free-‐range sheep that are hand-‐sheered and unharmed. When producGon demands became too high, Gudrun x Gudrun began their Empowerment Project, training at risk women in Jordan and Peru to hand-‐knit their clothes while paying them an equal wage so they could live independent lives.
Body Image + Sustainability Yuima Nakazato is Japanese designer who combines the newest in technology and cra\smanship in his creaGve processes. Without using a single thread or needle, each garment is constructed of thousands of individual units. Nakazato’s vision is for the manufacturing of clothing to be revoluGonized so that each garment is a unique creaGon based on the body of the individual. He is currently working on a collecGon where texGles will be made for the individual by funcGon, aestheGcs, touch and form.
Sustainability + Ecology Thi Wan is a fashion designer at Thom Browne. He graduated from Parsons in 2013 with a dual degree in CommunicaGon and Fashion Design. His senior thesis enGtled Outlines was made enGrely of biodegradable material, which directly addressed the issue of sustainability within the fashion industry by contribuGng zero impact on the environment from the act of discarding clothing. Wan developed the material himself by mixing biodegradable medical gels that he hand-‐sculpted and cast into a 3D membrane that acts as fabric. The fabric-‐like material is completely organic and decomposes over Gme back to natural sand.
All industries are subject to change and change starts with us.
What if you, as Fashion Design students,
created something that made a difference and an impact.
What would it look like, what would it do, who would it help?
Body Image + Marginaliza.on Standardized sizes or ideal body shapes that only pertain to the minority Plus size equality in fashion Photo retouching and misleading campaigns contribuGng the image of an unaZainable body Idealized low body weight contribuGng to an increase in self esteem issues, anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphic disorder MarginalizaGon of ethnic diversity in fashion runway and adverGsing MarginalizaGon of body type in fashion design, runway and adverGsing Design and representaGon for the handicap, mentally, emoGonally or physically challenged Design and representaGon for the disadvantaged or displaced Respecnul cultural appropriaGon
Ecology Using natural fibers and fruit and vegetable dyes The effects of toxic clothing dyes and fabric cleaning agents on global polluGon, aquaGc life, the food we consume and/or human health Illegal dumping of texGle factory waste into natural waterways Environmental destrucGon caused by the fur and tanning industry The regulaGon of toxic and carcinogenic agents used in the producGon of texGles Why manufacturers choose to use a toxic processing of texGles instead of natural processing
Sustainability Zero waste approach to paZern design and producGon Slow Fashion vs. Fast Fashion Designing versaGle clothing for the needs of 2-‐4 seasons Biodegradable Fashion Using exisGng clothes as fabric (second generaGon fabric) The shelf life and decomposiGon of clothing made from unnatural fibers and dyes The mass producGon and consumpGon of clothing contribuGng to landfill waste and global warming
Animal Rights Replacing the desire for fur with warm, luxuriously textured materials that are sustainable and harmless Development of alternaGve material opGons for wool, fur and leather Environmental impact of real fur vs. faux fur ProducGon costs of real fur vs. faux fur Inhumane condiGons inside factory farms producing leather and fur Unethical slaughtering pracGces of animals in factory farms Animal welfare laws
Labor Rights Abuse and exploitaGon of child labor, forced labor and human trafficking in garment factories Underpaid, unsafe or inhumane condiGons for workers in garment factories Unregulated worker’s rights and a need for stronger unions for garment workers Companies turning a blind eye to working condiGons in order to acquire cheap labor rates for the manufacturing of their products The demands of fast fashion forcing designers to overproduce and manufacture their garments overseas in sweatshops Sweatshop vs. Factory vs. Fair Trade manufacturing