Social Responsibility

Last but not the least, let's look at what I've learned so far and how my global perspective towards fashion has changed. So, let's get started! As I have already established earlier, just like most of you, even I didn't know fashion was the most pollutant industry after Oil Industry. But apart from this, there are many other things that I have learnt and realized with time. For example, I used to believe that cotton is a eco-friendly fiber, while in reality, due to the cotton plantations our water bodies are disappearing. Yes, you read it right. Cotton is the most thirsty fiber which requires thousands of gallons of water just to make one single product. Apart from this, I always thought that donating clothes at H&M is the best way to go since they recycle those clothes and make most of their products sustainable. But guess what? It's not all sunshine and rainbows.  Even though brands like H&M have started initiatives for recycling our old clothes, still wh...

After discussing about my personal learnings and experiences, now let's move on and talk about the observations in my immediate environment. When I say immediate environment, I am referring to my family, society, state, culture etc. So, let's get started! If I talk about my immediate environment, I have observed that some of them, specially the younger generation, are willing to try to make changes in their lives in order to protect the environment from further damage, but they were just not aware about it. While the rest of them just don't want to acknowledge the problems. And from what I have observed, most of the time is it our older generation who resist changing because they are comfortable with the way they are living right now. Also, because many of them believe it's important to maintain that identity and image in a society, for which they'll have to spend lavishly on good and dress up nicely all the time. In fact, it so happens that their kids learn the sam...

In our last session we had a detailed discussion about the drawbacks of Fashion Industry and what are the various ways of tackling it. And now as an assignment we are supposed to write reflective posts from our perspective about different environments and their Fashion needs and Consumption. I'll begin by writing about my personal life experiences first. So, let's get started! Before the module 'Social Responsibility', even though I was well aware about some of the harmful effects that we are causing to the environment through plastic use, water wastage and a lot more, I still wasn't aware how fashion Industry and we all are contributing to it. Till now, I only have been continuously trying myself and encouraging others around me to stop buying daily objects made out of plastic, to stop wasting water, to try to use public transport and a lot more. But since I have learned about fast fashion and minimalism, I have also decided to buy and shop less frequently. Even th...

Time indeed flies so fast, I didn't realize and It's already week four. Anyhow, in our last session , we continued with the discussion on fast fashion and mindless consumerism, but now instead of focusing on the problems we focused on one of the main change that we all can implement in our lives- Minimalism. And even though I have heard about this in many instances I never cared to pay attention on this topic until now. And I would now like to share what all I have learned about this philosophy of living with less. So, without wasting any more time let's dive into the session! Minimalism refers to the lifestyle that is all about living more deliberately with less, though, ironically this word carries a lot of weight these days. Now many of us are talking abut minimalist philosophy, there are podcasts, documentaries and even books being made on this topic. But why is living with less important these days? How does it help us? Why is Minimalism suddenly being given so much im...

After my last blog you must be thinking as to why did I suddenly talk about environmental issues and climate change. Well, as embarrassed I feel while writing this, people do need to know how fashion industry is an industry of pollutants and how we all play a major role in polluting our environment. And now that somewhere I am a part of this industry, I do feel responsible for it. This is also what we discussed in our last session- the shortcomings and issues of this industry, which I'll be now sharing with you all. So, let's get started!  There's this old saying, usually attributed to Yves Saint Laurent: "Fashion fades, style is eternal". But this may no longer be true, because of fast fashion. Fast fashion is a term used to describe clothing designs that keep on changing according to the mutating trends and seasons. This fast fashion creates clothes out of inexpensive materials such as synthetic fibers, which are creatively used to produce affordable fashion. A...

In our last session of the module 'Social Responsibility' we were shown several documentaries. Documentaries that made us aware about a few youth lead social movements that are fighting in order to protect our environment before humanity reaches a point of no return. Before this session, I never knew or realized, that there is so much going on, so many battles being fought, just to protect our environment. Well, I should not get ahead of myself. Let's start by looking at what documentary was all about first and then I'll share my take on's from the session, as always. So, let's get started! The documentaries that we watched focused on how climate change is an existential threat on our planet. Today, we all are aware of the environmental problems and challenges that we are are facing due to the issue of climate change. More frequent and intense droughts, melting glaciers etc. is directly harming us and wreaking havoc on our livelihoods. In the year 2015, even sci...

Now that everything was learned about how to form our own identity, it was time to move on and introduce ourselves as unique individuals. And this was very interesting. In our previous session we all had to introduce ourselves through a video, a song or through any other creative form. We just had to express our identity. And it was so fun to get to know all my batchmates, their journey, beliefs and aim in life. I mean it is through activities like this that makes this whole 'online study' situation a bit more comfortable. Anyhow, while introducing ourselves we were told to revolve around our material and spiritual aspects as well as to share about our life, career, goals etc.  So, here's an introduction about 'Me'. Well I still think the video could have been a lot better, but I did try my best! That's all for this blog. Stay tuned!

My previous blogs revolved mainly around the idea of society and its institutions. Now, as an assignment we've been asked to observe and connect the social structure within the boundaries of our home and extended family in terms of hierarchy, income and individuality. So, let's get started! Family structure usually inculcates the members of a household who are linked by marriage or bloodline. But changes in family life have resulted in more complicated designations of this structure. Today we have nuclear, joint, blended and many other types of families. But here I'll be mainly focusing on my family structure, that is, Joint family , which embodies six members, that is, my grandparents, parents and me and my younger brother.  Now, let's start by looking at the hierarchy in my family. When I say hierarchy, I am referring to the power and roles of every family member. And as far as I know, important decisions in my family are made by my grandparents or my father. Though...

This is in continuation to the last session of my module. Apart from society and culture our discussion also revolved around the topic of awareness. You know what awareness is right? It is the state of being conscious about something. And you know what we became conscious of in that session? About the concept of internal make-up vs external projection that form the individual’s persona. We also discussed on other factors that make each individual unique like personality types, interests, conditioning etc. This was a very important and informative session, as in the field of fashion you might find it very common for people to loose their identity to maintain their image. So without wasting any more time, let's dive in and look at my take on's from the session! It is amusing to think and observe how social media, society and various industries have totally impacted our lifestyles and our identity. Today, instead of focusing on feelings we focus more on our looks. Before steppin...

Today was the first introduction to our module 'Social Responsibility'. The session revolved around many terms, such as society structure, experiences, diverse cultures etc. It basically was about understanding what all defines an individual and how our concept of self is influenced by the environment around us. I know this might seem a bit odd. I mean why does one have to study about society, experiences, values etc. etc. in the field of fashion? But, this is to mainly understand how identity, is influenced, formed and established. And when you are in the field of fashion, it becomes very important to have a strong sense of identity, that is different from others and is within the parameters of values and ethics. So, here I am presenting my understanding and take on's from the session. Let's Get Started! From the moment we take birth, till the day we die, we keep learning and evolving within our environment.  It is a combination of various aspects, including the intera...