Section 2: A visit to “Fashion from Nature “ exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum

“Fashion from Nature” exhibition showcases close to a hundred different pieces of garments.

On the 1st floor, it features a huge array of materials used to create fashion in which many of them are drawn from the animal kingdom. For instance, whalebone was used as material for fashion; baleen shaped and stiffened to make women’s garments and was used for men’s umbrella frames. Nevertheless, people started to search for alternative man-made materials such as spun glass which

was crafted into trimmings and “feathers” to replace real fur.

Umbrella frame

Baleen for structure 

Spun glass feather

Calvin Klein's eco dress

On the way up to the second floor, there is a dress from Calvin Klein for the Green Carpet Challenge, worn by Emma Watson which sets the tone of fashion sustainability. The dress is made from yarns that are processed from plastic bottles and it could be worn in different ways due to the separate parts. The exhibition informs the viewers about how production processes in the past, as well as the present, have a disastrous effect on the environment. 

The next section of the exhibition is what interested me most, “Protest!” It includes many items from different fashion movements that were meant to raise awareness about sustainable fashion. One of them is a Gas Mask that was worn in the 2015 Eco-fashion at the Greenpeace “Detox Catwalk” in Indonesia which aimed to encourage legislators, manufacturers, and brands to eliminate chemical pollution caused by the textile and clothing industries. 

By Bridget Harvey

Alexander Calder

Advertisement against fur for fashion

Moving on, the last section of the exhibition illustrates how innovations have led to more sustainable materials. For example, Vegea is a leather alternative made from the stalks, seeds, and skins of grapes left over from wine production and Pinatex which is a non-woven textile made from pineapple leaves. Pinatex costs £50 per linear metre according to its official website. However, these materials are not so affordable yet but maybe in the future.

 " Orange Fibre " collection by Salvatore Ferragamo & Pinatex bag

Vegea collection designed by Tiziano Guardini

Also, in the ‘Protest’ section of the exhibitions, there are standout works of Vivienne Westwood and Katherine Hamnett. In particular, these artists have used Fashion as a form of activism and a voice for change. In her garment selection, Katharine Hamnett would like to raise awareness about pollution caused by cotton production. As shown by the exhibition, the production process of cotton releases a vast amount of toxic substances into the water bodies and according to www.sustainyourstyle.org, 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textiles treatment and dying. This is the issue that Katharine wanted to tackle. Meanwhile, Vivienne Westwood aimed to raise awareness about climate change. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached the milestone of 400 parts per million for the first time in 2015 and surged again to the new records in 2016 according to the World Meteorological Organisation’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. Hence, I would like to analyse how successful Vivienne and Katharine were in raising awareness about sustainability through fashion.

Section 3: Analysis of Katharine Hamnett’s “Clean Up or Die” outfit.

Katharine Hamnett was a graduate from Central Saint Martins who launched her own fashion brand in 1979. She is known for using fashion to broadcast her political views. Katharine raises awareness of practices that threaten people and the environment through fashion design. In particular, Katherine’s 1990 winter collection features a black leather bikers jacket with the slogan “Clean Up or Die” studded on the back. The whole outfit also includes a printed T-shirt, leather pant and leather shoe as well as the leather belt with dull silver skull and crossbones buckle. Basically, almost the whole outfit is made up of leather. The jacket is largely decorated with shiny metal studs, zips, stars, and skull&crossbones. Some of the studs are found on the leather pant too. 

The message “Clean up or Die” on the jacket would definitely grab everyone’s attention that walks past. It appears as a logo or motive which could mean anything. In fact, Katherine aimed to draw people’s attention to the impact of the cotton industry in developing countries. No doubt, it is targeted at the fashion world. Cotton industry consumes a significant amount of water and the pesticides used to grow cotton have detrimental damages to the water sources and the living organisms. This is a concerning problem and Katherine thought that more people should be aware of the negative effects of using an insecticide in the cotton industry.

The “Clean Up or Die” man's ensemble of Katharine Hamnett is striking, sensual and masculine. The light that reflects off the skull&crossbones just makes it come to life. Directing your eyes downwards, you see a catchy phrase ' Clean Up or Die'. Unknowingly, you are rotating from left to right as you are reading the phase. The metals studs are arranged in different ways all over the jackets. Metallic pieces of skull&crossbones and stars can be seen here and there too. Also, there are quite a number of zips which makes it more functional.

The fact that it is a leather bikers jacket which was usually worn by the rebellious teenagers or adults, it conveys the idea of defiance. The leather jacket was part of the popular culture. Marlon Brando’s Biker Style. The studs are shiny,  calling for attention, but blunt which probably conveys the idea that Katherine wants attention from people to support her in the good course of fighting to stop the excessive use for pesticides in the cotton industry. The total blackness of the outfit evokes the feeling of seriousness and intensity. At the back, stands a giant skull&cross-bone which obviously signify death. This is a visual image emphasising the slogan below which reads “ Clean Up or Die”. Moreover, “Clean Up or Die” is presented as the typography of a flying banner, giving it motion and 3-dimensionality. 

In fact, the skull at the back as well as the words are attention-grabbing. However, I think that the message is not clear unless the viewers know the context of the collection. It is unclear that this is about the negative effect of pesticide usage in the cotton industry. She could have changed it by asking a question “Clean Up or Die?” as a rhetorical question. On the other hand, the unclear message could lead to viewers being more curious and wanting to find out more about the message behind this black leather jacket. In this way, people are likely to remember the message and would have a greater impact as compared to someone just reading the message and get it at an instant but just to forget it after five minutes. Moreover, there is a printed t-shirt with the same design of skill&crossbones and the slogan which allows the message to be sent across by looking either at the front or back of the outfit.

In conclusion, this leather bikers jacket by Katherine Hamnett appealed to the public at the time as it was part of the trend. This allowed the message to be spread across more effectively due to wider coverage. Nevertheless, the message of the jacket is not indifferent enough which could leave the wearer or viewers confused. Hence, I think that “Clean Up or Die” outfit is considered to be not effective in raising awareness about the damage of pesticides in the cotton industry as it cannot be inferred from the design directly. 

When I was at the museum I even heard a mother who was trying to explain to her daughter about this outfit by Katherine without reading off the descriptions. The mother said ' This is about fighting for the fashion scene. Clean up if not you die.’ It sounded to me like she neither got the context nor truly understand the message behind the outfit.

However, my current project raises awareness in a similar way to Katharine. In my Personal Investigation, I design the garments based on the emotions felt by people with HIV. In particular, I have focused on the stigma that is associated with having the illness. My aim is to evoke sympathy from the viewers so that they have a greater understanding of how people who have HIV feel. In my opinion, this could be a more effective way as it involves feelings rather than just stating “Stop HIV Stigma”. 

Section 4: Analysis of Vivienne Westwood’s “Climate Evolution” outfit

Vivienne Westwood is widely known for her Punk style clothing and tartan patterns. However, she is not so well known for her environmental activism and that many of her collections are related to the issue of climate change. The main aim of these collections is to spread awareness about climate change and to highlight the severity of the current environmental situation. This is a long-standing cause that Vivienne is regularly in the media for. In the  2018 Paralympics closing ceremony she was seen holding a line sheet which read, “ The fight is no longer between the classes or between the rich and the poor but between the idiots and the eco-conscious” 

According to ‘Dadzed Digital’ * Vivienne really believes in her cause and is more concerned about getting more supports rather than more sales as supported by her slogan of “Buy less, choose well, make it last.” which she stated in her interview at the Guardian live.

Titled as Climate Revolution, the exhibition features a heavenly juxtaposition of Vivienne Westwood's various pieces of work from 2016 to 2017 which are intended to raise awareness about climate change which, I feel, is a pressing issue in the world. 

The crown is coloured red on the left and green on the right with oil pastels. On the left side, 'Ecotricity' is written in a typography way. Ecotricity is an energy company based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England specialising in selling green energy to consumers that it primarily generates from its 87.2-megawatt wind power portfolio. Below it is a circular paper with a crest which has the phrase ' your pill ' written across it. Vivienne might want to infer that you can choose to prevent climate change just like how you can choose to take a pill to save yourself or that you can arm yourself with the knowledge about climate change. There are broken pieces of bamboo which are likely to represent deforestation. Over the green side, there is another round paper cut-out which has the message of ' I.O.U Intellectuals Unite !' Vivienne Westwood is trying to call for people to come together to fight climate change. At the back of the crown, there are two cutouts of a penis and women breasts which Vivienne might have intended them as mockery. 

The paperclip necklace hangs a picture Bradley Manning with the white word 'Truth' in the red rectangular background like the Supreme logo or Barbara Kruger’s work. Right next to the necklace, there is a plastic circular badge illustrating a sad face with the word “Climate Revolution” and arrows going around it. This seems like a cry for help to support the climate revolution. The badge is an excellent idea in bringing the message across to the public as it is not highly priced. Anyone who supports Vivienne’s idea could just buy the badges and wear them in public places.

The largest piece is an organic-shaped metallic bronze dress. From the front view, it looks like an aquatic creature, a fish or a whale. The edges of the dress look like they have been purposefully frayed to create a torn-and-tattered effect. The choice of metallic bronze could be a representation of the world which has turned brown as more trees are being cut down and the rivers are drying up. The tail-like shape might also convey the idea that climate change has a detrimental effect on aquatic life. Moreover, holding in her hand is a placard with the world map, showing inhabitable lands in red when the world’s temperature increases by 5-degree Celsius. The placard is a warning sign for the public to realise the alarming nature of climate change.

The white left arm stocking is written ' Stop climate change ' the words are inside a red arrow pointing towards the hands. On the right arm black stocking, it is written 'Do it yourself ' with a white arrow pointing towards the hand as well. Both of these arm stocking emphasises the fact that we have the ability to prevent climate change from happening in our own world with our own hands. In addition, the leg stockings are meant to be read together as ' Climate Revolution’. Left stocking is in green while the right stocking is in red. The play of complementary colours is really effective in grabbing the viewers’ attention to look at the leg stockings. By including the messages in the accessories such as the arm stockings and socks mean that it is easier for wearers to mix and match them with different outfits. 

Therefore, Vivienne Westwood was successful in conveying her message through her garments. Just by taking a glance, one could tell that the message is about anti-climate change. Moreover, the colours used were effective in attracting the viewers’ attention. Hence, Vivienne Westwood effectively used fashion as a form of activism.

*http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/15654/1/vivienne-westwood-red-label-aw13.

Section 5: Compare and Contrast

The outfits by Vivienne Westwood and Katharine Hamnett are very different in styles and their use of colours, texture, materials. Both of them aimed to raise public awareness but on different issues. Katherine wanted to tackle the specific issue of pesticides being used excessively in the cotton industry whereas Vivienne Westwood wanted to tackle the issue of climate change as a whole.

While the “Clean Up or Die” outfit is all black and mostly made of leather other than the printed T-shirt, the “Climate Revolution” outfit consists of a metallic bronze dress with knitwear for the stockings and leather shoes. Both of the outfits have the streetwear vibes as both outfits can be imagined worn on the streets. Katherine’s outfit is rather simple which could be due to the fact that it is for men while Vivienne’s has accessories like stockings, necklaces, long socks and also a placard. Moreover, Katharine only used black colour with shiny metallic studs whereas, Vivienne was more experimental with the colours. Vivienne Westwood even used complimentary colours as well as the technique similar to Barbara Kruger’s where white wordings are surrounded by a bright red box. Aesthetically, Vivienne’s outfit is more creative and looks more like a conceptual designer’s clothing than Katharine’s outfit. In addition, Katharine’s jacket seems like it is meant to be mass produced while Vivienne’s outfit seems exceptionally unique and exclusive.  

As the aim of both outfits is to raise awareness on sustainability, they are successful in conveying their messages to different extents. I believe that Vivienne Westwood was able to bring across her message more clearly and articulately than Katherine as Vivienne is more confrontational.  This is so as her designs incorporate words that are related to the issue. Although Katherine’s message of “Clean Up or Die” is very attention-grabbing, it is still quite ambiguous and hard to guess what is the actual meaning of the phrase. People tend to just forget about something when they do not understand. Meanwhile, Vivienne Westwood’s message is straightforward and also with the images(The Earth map in red and green) on the placard, it became easier to interpret. In conclusion, Vivienne Westwood was better at using fashion to raise awareness about sustainability than Katharine Hamnett. 

This theory of using fashion as an effective way to raise awareness is supported by Diana Verde Nieto who is the co-founder and CEO of Positive Luxury. She wrote an article about luxury menswear label POAN (Peoples Of All Nations) launching a limited-edition hoodie to raise awareness of HIV prevention among young people. “GRS launched its #NoHoodiNoYoni (“no glove, no love”) campaign to communicate the importance of practicing safe sex. As HIV is a preventable disease, the hoodie advocates the message to all communities that it’s ‘cool to be careful’ – proving that fashion has the ability to save lives.” Calum Milan Best, a British American television personality, was spotted wearing the NoHoodiNoYoni hoodie.

Section 6: Conclusion

In conclusion, Fashion is relatively an effective form of activism to raise awareness about sustainability as can be seen from Vivienne Westwood and Katharine Hamnett. Also, Fashion can create space for conversations as well as forging a sense of identity for various groups of people.

From this Related Personal Studies, I realised that images are useful in bringing across the messages as visual representations are quick and easy to grasp than words. Moreover, the message has to be clear enough to a certain extent that the viewers would understand roughly what it is about. This means that we need to give viewers the context as can be seen from Vivienne Westwood which has a placard that has a map of the earth in red and green colours which are quite obvious that it is about climate change. Furthermore, I have learnt that the finishing of the garments can be used to emphasise the messages. For instance, Katherine’s outfit has clean finishes while for Vivienne’s, some of the edges are left frayed on purpose to convey the damaged stage of the earth. Also, colours are significant in setting the mood of the design and can even be used to attract attention by using complimentary colours.

Moreover, as clothes are worn by people and people go from places to places, this makes it an excellent platform to convey messages. Vivienne Westwood and Katharine Hamnett had realised that, so they decided to use fashion as a platform to spread awareness about sustainability. However, the degree of success depends on the design of the garments which includes the slogans and symbols. 

Hence, Fashion can be an effective tool to raise awareness about global issues as can be seen from Vivienne Westwood and Katherine Hamnett.