The Look: Fashion, Style, Self-Image, and the Garment Industry
Fashion is really important to me for a number of reasons. Primarily, I think that what you wear is a form of communication to your environment about your thoughts, beliefs, and possibly even your emotions, even if it just randomly hanging customized hang tags on your clothing like the rapper Lil Wayne does. If you see someone wearing a bright orange shirt, it might be assumed that the person wearing it has a bright personality or wants to get attention. Unless, of course if that bright orange shirt is a community service jumpsuit, then the assumption is totally different. Either way this is information is being broadcast to our society every moment we are in public. Whether we realize it or not, we are giving license to people to make judgements about us whether or not those judgements are accurate. One example is a man in a police uniform might be judged to be a LAPD officer but in fact he could just be an actor.
This month, I invite you to join Citizens Of Culture while we analyze and investigate the uniforms we wear, and why we wear them. It is important as well to understand where our clothing comes from an take an introspective into the industry from a 360 approach. We will stop by a vertically integrated LA based manufacturer Groceries Apparel and discuss why it is important to know who your garments are made by. This month we will discuss self- image and judgement with fashion models and what it is like to live behind the camera. Later in the month we will discuss even how things are sold with marketers, packaging designers, retailers and merchandisers.
On a more personal note we will challenge you to look at your own choices in fashion. Are you following a trend to fit in? Are you dressing for attention? Have you completely given up on the idea of having personal style? What are our own internal motives for what we choose to cover our bodies with. For how we wish to be perceived, and how we actually think we look. What motivates designers to create the things they do. At the end of the month we hope to pull you in to an event that celebrates all of the good in the fashion industry as well as highlights our areas for improvement. The lights are on and the world is your cat walk.
Strut,
-Maceo Paisley-
