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The Human Mind

The human mind is a complicated specimen. I believe three aspects of the human consciousness stand out the most for me - Knowledge, Emotion and Courage.

My outfits capture the essence of these concepts, through imagery related to the Lake Guardians - a trio of Pokemon that correspond to teach of these concepts and represent humanity. A second underlying theme highlights the diversity of summer wear.

Uxie - Knowledge - Colour Theme of Yellow

Mesprit - Emotion - Colour Theme of Pink

Azelf - Courage - Colour Theme of Blue

Knowledge

What is knowledge? Within us all. Hidden. We all have unique lives and experiences, which inform our understanding of the world and ourselves. So we all hold knowledge, even if people may not acknowledge the type of knowledge we hold. To knowing a partner's favourite show, to knowing how to pot a plant. Everything is knowledge and we are all knowledgeable.

Emotion

What is wealth? Is it lifestyle? Or is it money? Or is it something more meaningful? Our emotions. Our bonds. Our laughs, cries and shouts. Not all things can experience emotion, so let's be grateful for the wealth of emotion.

Courage

To overcome fears and all odds. To explore uncharted territory and seas. Most of the ocean is unknown to us, yet there are those who seek to push the boundaries of fear and seek to reach new heights.

The future OF Fabric

8 to 10% of global emissions are due to the fashion industry, and Britain buys more clothes than any other European country!

So how do we tackle this issue?

Options include:

1. Reduce consumption of clothing

2. Buy second-hand

3. Rent clothes

4. Make clothing more sustainable

Fast fashion companies heavily market their clothing to encourage people to buy more and more clothes, and people are generally not aware of how detrimental fast fashion is to the environment. I feel it isn't entirely individual responsibility that dictates this current fast fashion crisis.

Should more responsibility be placed on fast fashion brands to promote sustainable consumption and reduce heavy marketing & trends?

More importantly (and related to my outfits of this range), should fast fashion brands use more sustainable practices for the production of their clothes, such as the use of alternative fabrics to cotton?

I feel that linen is an incredibly strong candidate to replace cotton, even as a blend.

Linen releases HALF the emissions of cotton. For example, cotton shirts have emissions of 9.1kg CO₂e per garment, whilst linen ones have emissions of 4.5kg CO₂e per garment.

Cotton is one of least sustainable crops. 1kg of cotton can use between 10,000 to 20,000 litres of water. Meanwhile, flax is largely rain-fed.

Cotton occupies 2.4% of the world's arable land, but uses 6% of pesticides and 16% of insecticides. These substances are a massive source of greenhouse gases, especially NOx, and they also negatively impact local biodiversity. Flax is naturally pest-resistant and requires less pesticide and insecticide use.

Flax is an efficient carbon sink. Flax growing in Europe captures about 250,000 tons of CO2 each year. Every part of the plant is utilised, for oil, seeds and fibre, meaning there is very little waste.

Aside from environmental concerns, there are various ethical concerns associated with cotton production.

It is highly likely that cotton in our clothes used forced labour to be produced. A few examples of this would be forced labour in the Uyghur region of China (where Muslims and other minorities are coerced into forced labour, as a means for 're-education programs') and in Turkmenistan (where parents can recruit their children to meet quotas). Xinjiang cotton is still finding its way into international brands’ supply chain, even if brands state they are not using cotton from this source.

With all these issues displayed, should be looking to change the materials we use for our clothes?

References:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60382624

https://carboncalculator.tech/blog/linen-vs-cotton-shirt-carbon-footprint

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/fashion-clothing/ethics-cotton-production

Blue Summer

Blue is the first colour that comes to mind when summer is brought up. The colour of the sky. The colour of the ocean. The colour of bubblegum ice-cream.

Accents of white permeate through the blue skies as clouds, through the ocean as foam and through ice-cream as white chocolate chips.

When summer arrives, the world is engulfed in a bright blue, with a companion of foamy white.