What is 'beauty', and have we lost its true meaning?
I fear beauty has taken a different form in this modern society.
My Final Major Project of my Art Foundation: Oceans Beauty and Destruction. Our planet has always been of great interest to me, particularly our oceans, which is the topic I decided to base my project around. The plastic crisis is a massive concern and threat to our oceans, so I wanted to create garments that would make people reconsider their values, think at a deeper level about clothes, and move away from fast fashion.
I researched the global context of this subject, understanding the impacts of climate change, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, global warming, etc. The waste that us as humans create is irresponsible and unfortunately not managed efficiently. When we put something in the bin, we think it's gone forever, but we don't see it sitting in landfills or our environment, taking decades, hundreds of years or even thousands to break down.
"Sustainability meets the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations".
The theme of sustainability raised technical problems as to what materials I was going to choose. With the right resources, I would have liked to use organic, ethical, non-dyed or naturally dyed fabrics. However, these can be quite expensive. By doing some fabric research, I identified wool as the next best option. I also developed the idea that a garment could look beautiful and represent the ocean, but could actually have a darker truth. With this new theory, I purchased some wool half made of acrylic, which takes decades to completely break down. I felt this helped make the point that sustainable options are sparse and limited, dependent on your budget.
The collection of six begins in full colour, fading to white to represent coral bleaching. For the project final outcome, I chose one of the designs to make (Look 3).
The End User Context would be to present the whole collection in catwalk campaigns, in order to spread the message. The campaign goal is to increase public awareness of the negative impacts upon our oceans, the plastic crisis, and to provoke a change in our way of thinking. The entire garment was hand-knitted, machine and hand-sewn, with decoration detailing such as sequins and cording. Items of plastic were hand-sewn into the garment (such as sequins, packaging, contact lens cases, etc.)
Although I created a female collection, there was no specified audience, age, or class, as sustainability applies to everyone. The collection is not meant to be bought commercially, but was made to provoke a reaction. I wanted to make people reconsider their values when shopping, and how decisions in our lives have potential to impact our oceans.
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