Fashioned from Nature - V&A Exhibition

So yesterday I went to the V&A Exhibition Fashioned from Nature. It was honestly so inspiring! I highly recommend, if you are in the area please go check it out. This exhibition really helped me to see what I want to focus on at University but also in life (I know that is pretty deep, but it really taught me a lot and I hope it will for you too). But before we jump in here is a little bit about the background of the exhibition...

The Exhibition Video 

As the first UK exhibition to explore the multiplex relationship between fashion and nature from 1600 to the present day, Fashioned from Nature is one of its kind. Fashioned from Nature looks at the past in order to inspire design for a better fashion industry in the future. The big challenge for designers is to make garments that are both beautiful and responsibly made. The challenge for consumers is to learn and understand (from research and from this exhibition) that we are all responsible and need to make careful choices when it comes to fashion. Fashion's demands threaten the planet and endangers flora, fauna and human communities. We all have a part to play to change this negative into a positive and Fashioned from Nature helps by providing some solutions to minimise fashion's detrimental impact on the environment.

Orange Fiber and Salvatore Ferragamo tunic and skirt

"If we know what our clothes are made from and how they were produced we can make better choices" - Fashioned from Nature

How whales were used by humans - for light, for food and for umbrellas

The exhibition is split into sections and the first section 1600 - 1800, is all about trade, exploration and war. New sources of raw materials were found and recorded just as everything else was at the time. This period highlights how waste was not an option and how clothing was often reused over and over again. Raw materials found only on animals were imported to Britain and used in fashion, from beavers to whales and elephants. The exploitation of non renewable global resources, the promotion of built-in obsolescence and the release of pollutants into air and water supplies, has been a tradition in the fashion industry ever since the beginning. Yet the scale and therefore impact has never been so great, until now.

How elephants were used by humans - for travelling, for food and for ivory

1800 - 1900 was all about new methods of transport, cheaper books and therefore greater opportunities for middle and working class people. Although in the nineteenth century British fashion was led by the royal family, nobility, aristocracy, and those eligible to attend court - collectively known as 'society'. The growth of ready made clothing was facilitated by the falling cost of textiles as the industry mechanised. It became much easier to pattern cut, to sew garments and to speed up production due to the sewing machine (used commercially in the 1850s) and use of cheap 'sweated' labour. The business strategy of fashion even in this period involved fixed prices, cash sales, fast turnovers supported by low costs and margins as well as eye-catching advertising in good locations on shopping streets.

During 1900 - 1990 technological and scientific changes revolutionised transport and communication. The two world wars (1914-1918, 1939-1945) impacted society as a whole a vast amount, especially in mass production. The growth of the fashion industry and its increasing dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels, chemicals and energy had a corresponding impact on the environment. Environmental tragedies increased public awareness of issues, for example when in 1967 the Torrey Canyon tanker released 36,000 tons of raw oil into the sea, marine life and birds were severely affected.

Alexander McQueen's futuristic design inspired by his obsession with nature

Nature provides the source for every garment we wear as our second skin. Fashion is dependent on nature. Land, water, air and people form the supply chain. However fashion is taking from nature at a rate that cannot be sustained. Resources are stressed to the extent that if we continue on the path we are on, demand for water by 2030 will outweigh supply. From 1990 - Present drastic change has happened in the fashion industry...

Jean Paul Gautier beaded faux animal skin dress 

More chemicals are used in growing cotton than any other crop
Between 2000-2014 clothing production doubled
In Europe 8.4 million tonnes of textile waste is land filled or incinerated each year
Around 60 million people work in fashion's industries worldwide which in some cases offer fulfilling livelihoods
Yet fashion's manufacturing is usually done by females who are paid less than half the amount considered to be a living wage
An estimated 21 million people live in modern slavery - the human impact of fashion cannot be underestimated
Campaigning for climate change involves highlighting all these issues as the practises happening right now in fashion are destabilising this planet.

Emma Watson's Calvin Klein Met Gala dress 2016

I really hope some of you found this post helpful, inspiring or just a good read! 

All my love

Ames 

xxx