Blog 10

16 APR 2022

This term we’re tasked with running an event for our class. While I am nervous about it, mainly because I know it’ll be especially stressful (since my other class has an increased workload as well) I feel excited to have the opportunity to run this sort of event. We’re working with Fashion Revolution Singapore on the theme of Money, Fashion, Power. It highlights the power imbalance within the fashion industry and focuses on the disparity faced by those at the bottom of that power structure.

The event's tasks are split between 3 teams: Design, Marketing, and Production. Based on my skill set, the design team would be the most obvious choice for me. However, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone so I went with the one I was least well-versed in which was Production. I do still think I have a lot of space to improve with my marketing and design experience, but I thought the tasks outlined for the production team would be useful for me to explore. Physical labor, event organization, logistics, etc. are things I think would be helpful to have experience in.

I really think this event topic is relevant, especially since it was recently announced that SHEIN was valued at $100 billion dollars(1). I also saw a graph by the Business of Fashion that showed the number of styles it produces in a day, significantly outnumbered that of other large fast fashion brands combined (refer to Figure 1). It’s symbolic of its influence in the fashion industry, obviously, but also reflects the people who have put them there, myself included.

I think that the event, and the goals we hope to achieve through it, are especially important in the current state of our climate. Honestly, we have a climate scare every few years (like the one with the NASA scientists chained to the bank) and I feel like a lot of people just start being indifferent to it. A message of hope is important because we can’t and we shouldn’t fall into that trap of climate nihilism. Not to be corny in a “don’t give up” sort of way, but as someone who’s part of the generation that will be left with this dying planet, we can’t go out without at least trying. Sustainability is something we don’t see instantaneous results in, so people need a lot of encouragement.

The topic of the environment is very much domineered by pessimism and panic for good reason, but we can’t be fuelled by fear. That’s exactly why a message of hope is so important. We need something to move forward and move on in embracing sustainability.