Features for Fall 2018

FEATURES

• Fast Fashion "One day you're in, the next day you're out" by Sahar Mahmood

• To Fur or not To Fur by Catherine Robertson Bailey

• Black Market Sales in a Burgeoning Dark World by Sara Anuseva

• The Thrifting Gods: 96 Tears by Yara Bourgi

BACKUPS

• Veganism: Should you? Should you not? by Nicole Viccica
• The Future of Fashion

Possibilities for George in the City:

• Joshua Emmanuel: Designing the Future Trends for Canadian Men’s Fashion
• The interview of a former student of George Brown College by Agnes Epele

Is Fast Fashion Dirty Fashion ?

As fashionistas we are all trying to be on top of the latest trends by strutting our “new” pieces. In 2018 the retro vintage look has swept our nation with trying to achieve the grooviest looks. By shopping vintage or thrift we can set ourselves apart from the rest of the crowd with individualism and fun unique looks. However, thrift shopping can be very time consuming and the customer has to know all the good spots but reusing clothing is actually helping the environment by slowing down the demand for fast fashion therefore reducing the damaging effects on the earth. Fast fashion also has a huge strain on the people who are actually making the garments in below average working conditionals in third world countries.

The Clothing industry is actually in second place for the world’s biggest polluters next to the oil industry. That issue alone should be on our minds a lot more as consumers of everyday shopping.When shopping we need to be more conscious about the end use of all our products we buy, although we have all been in the tight position of not knowing what to wear out on a Saturday night where we find ourselves running out to the mall to get a one time wear outfit. Sometimes it’s not avoidable. We are faced with fast fashion everyday even by being on our phones with all the Instagram promotional pages of new “cheap” brands that you cannot get in store.

We basically don’t even need to go shopping, shopping comes to us nowadays. Dressing ourselves has never been more controversial. Do we strictly shop ethical or do you shop accessible? Even the most environmentally conscious people cannot be ethical 100% of the time it’s just the world we live in unfortunately. We have all purchased that jacket on sale at Zara one time or another!

As we focus on prices that go with ethical clothing brands its can be a little outrageous at times. Are we willing to pay more for an ethical piece of clothing? I think we need to take this into consideration when buying our next stand out piece. Maybe spending more on products that will have a better life cycle and have a less impact on the environment is the way to go. In this economy prices of everything are going up so this really shouldn’t be a huge shock. Plus I believe that this is the direction that the industry is going, making pieces more unique and specialized with tactics such a dyeing clothing with all natural compounds like turmeric.

Talking to a style specialist at Nordstrom, Julian Jamie has this to say about fast fashion, “I hate fast fashion, I think it’s boring and predictable. I don’t see the charm in wearing a piece that everyone else in the city has that’s not setting ourselves apart. As the young generation of the world we have to take matters into our hands and take responsibility of our actions. As clothes enthusiast we need invest in our day to day outfits that will have a longer timeless lifecycle. Supporting brands that are locally made or even in our own country with people we are being paid at least minimum wage is very important to me."

In retrospect we don’t want to take away jobs from people who are making our clothing overseas, and most of our population cannot afford to be spending a huge sum on a jacket or a pair of jeans so fast fashion stores like Forever 21 and H&M have more welcoming prices. This is an everyday struggle we face whether we choose to think about it or not. I know a lot of people have the mindset of having more pieces of clothing at a lower price than less clothing for a higher price. With age I know this way of thinking will change, as we grow up and learn more about the world around us I think the idea of being more minimalistic and reducing our end waste is something that will come to the ultimate forefront.

A few steps we have take into a better fashion future is combining science and technology such as growing our materials out of algae and bacteria. An amazing startup company in Australia called “1 Million Women” are making yarn out of food waste! This startup is starting an amazing conversation around the world on living a low-carbon life. This can be a huge contributor to the waste problem and has such potential to be the sole renewable outlet for making clothing. The more we talk about the fashion waste issues we are having and bringing it to light I believe we can make a difference for our planet earth that we call home and take back the ugly from day to day beauty.

The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry

Imagine finding out your favourite foundation; the one you spent months trying out different formulas and shades, was tested on animals. Would you make the switch to a cruelty free brand or would you continue using it?

Many feel very strongly about only using cruelty free products and others feel that all cosmetic products must be tested on animals in order to properly determine if a product is safe for human use. I got my makeup done at Sephora Eaton Centre, I interviewed my makeup artist Natalie on her own personal views on the topic of animal testing.

Natalie (who’s real name has been changed for privacy purposes) has been working at Sephora for the past three years as a Beauty Advisor. She only uses cruelty free products on herself and takes advantage of the wide range of options that Sephora has to offer. She’s been vegan for four years and decided to make the switch to use animal friendly products upon discovering that many of her own were not vegan. Natalie mentioned that it was not easy to give up some of her products, but she quickly found substitutes and new favourites. She mentioned the Body Shop and Tarte to be some of her go to brands, which are generally very popular among the conscious consumers.

While Natalie only uses cruelty free products herself, she still uses all brands on her clients when providing a makeup application service or recommending products to customers. Although it goes against her personal preferences, she is a professional makeup artist and always satisfies the wants and needs of her clients.

Natalie feels it is not right to test products on animals and that it is inhumane to put them through undeserving pain and suffering. Canada is on the road to ban animal testing and the Senate has passed Bill S-214 otherwise known as the Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act. It is in the process of moving forward to the House of Commons to become an official law. Once made a law, the cosmetics sold must be cruelty free or else they will be prohibited in Canada.

While this is a major win for those opposed to animal testing, let’s look at the percentage of the population who are pro animal testing.

Some feel that we must test on animals because the use of live human subjects is inhumane and unethical. Animals are used to test the toxicity levels of a product, meaning how much can be ingested before death occurs. Surely no human would willingly volunteer for such a test. As well, one could argue that the test animals have enough in place to ensure that they are not abused, for example the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). These institutions and acts ensure that test animals have access to clean food and water, comfortable enclosures and human treatment.

Probably one of the strongest arguments made by the pro animal testing community is that they have helped us cure and find treatments for thousands of diseases and conditions that effect millions of people. For example, the use of animals was essential in the development of the Polio vaccine and insulin used to treat diabetes.

Although, there are different ways to test products that do not involve animals, such as in vitro which is used to study cells in a petri dish. This is often used because human cells can be tested to see the direct effects a substance would have.

This is really a matter if personal opinion and preferences. Regardless of your position on the matter, there are benefits to both sides of the issue. Testing on animals allows us to test the risks of a product before truing it on humans and then can make adjustments accordingly given the results. However, that comes with its own lists of problems such as animal suffering. Resorting to other means of testing like in vitro testing or using artificial human skin allows us to see the results on human cells and tissue. The effects however are then not tested on live tissue and the results could be a misrepresentation of how it would affect the human body.

It is important to know where you stand on the issue and educate yourself on the pros and cons of each side. Being informed is the best way to insure that you’re standing for something you believe in. It is also important to make and form your own opinions and not just go along with what your peers think.

THE THRIFTING GODS: 96 TEARS

The interview of a former student of George Brown College

SHARING IS CARING

Fashion industry paves its road to sharing economy

We all have heard in some point in our careers in fashion that our industry is one of the most harmful to our environment and we dispose an unsustainable amount of garbage that the Earth simply cannot bear. I take the responsibility in having my part on this system, as I vibrated few years ago with the opening of the first Forever 21 in my home country and being disappointed with the news that H&M was not expanding to South America. The access to the latest runway trends in an inviting price point was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for avid young fashion consumers on a budget.

After the collapse of Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, where more than one thousand of workers tragically lost their lives while manufacturing our affordable and never-ending fast-fashion garments, the true ugly beauty of fashion lies in this illusion of fashion industry is only about glamourous glossy magazines and beautiful clothes and ignoring the social and environmental side effects of it. The eye-opening documentary Blackfish that triggered a society reaction against SeaWorld has a correspondent in fashion world that is The True Cost, directed by Andrew Morgan and released in 2015 exposing the real conditions of how the industry exploits overseas manufacturers that offers low labour costs and no safety conditions just to satisfy our insatiable wants and needs of new additions to our closets.

A turning point for this dilemma could be the point that the most sustainable piece of clothing is the one that already exists, and it is being shared with the community. At first it may sound weird and impractical, but it is also true that when Airbnb was launched, many have thought in how weird would be staying in a stranger’s house or who would accept having a driver that could be anyone in Uber, and not a professional licensed cab by the government. Now we all know that sharing economy like these companies and many others like Spotify, Turo and WeWork, are not only a reality but also a pool of infinite business opportunities. In fact, we do not need to own all the stuff that we need, specially the ones that we just use a few times like a drilling machine to hang frames on the wall once you moved to a new apartment, or a car for a trip once a year since you ride the subway every single day of your life. The minimalist movement is happening in newer generations as the Baby Boomer mentality moves away from the society.

So, if our desire is to have new outfits every once in a while, but also we do not want to keep contributing to the fast-fashion production system, as well as we have a tight income being students or newly graduates, what should we do? Give up on fashion and pray for the end of our industry? This is not what a fashion student would want for their life and career, right? What if we apply the creativity and sharing economy principles to fashion? For many years the rental of designer gowns is a common practice, because it makes sense to rent for a special occasion a high-end expensive dress that you would wear only once (by the way, we need to stop judging people that wears clothing on repeat and start following them) for a wedding or a graduation party. Rent the Runway started in this formula years ago and after being the most prominent website of party outfits, now offers a broader selection of items and styles with three subscription plans for you to receive pieces for every occasion and possibly stop buying for a long period of time.

The Toronto based startup FreshRents recently went to the same transformation, from occasion wear rentals to an everyday solution for your wardrobe, like you have unlimited access to that fashion friend that have all the pieces you want to borrow. They also rely in the community, as the members of the fashion library (how they call their selection) can contribute with clothes that they do not use frequently toward winning library points to rent other member’s and the founder’s, Zoey Wen and Samia Syed, pieces of a great range of brands, from Forever 21 to Valentino, sizes and styles. Their main goal is to offer a sustainable solution that involves sharing between members and that people uses on a regular basis, not just for parties once in a while. You might be questioning why you would want to rent something that is not expensive as a Zara top and you could easily have in your home, but the answer from Zoey could surprise and might change your mind as she says “I think partly the long term effect of people adopting a rental model is that manufacturers will be forced to focus on producing better quality garments. The other consideration is as more people will be willing to rent affordable items that will not be used often as the sustainability movement grows. The last factor why people might be willing to rent affordable things is the rising of housing prices and rent. Living space will become smaller, and so will people’s closets. People will simply not have enough room to store everything they own.”. With higher rental prices and smaller units, Zoey’s words sound familiar for a Torontonian, right? It is about time to make a real change in the way we buy clothes, and maybe the answer is in not buying at all.

The Wave of Vague Gender

In 1972, David Bowie shaved his eyebrows, put on eyeshadow, smeared his flamboyant lipstick, stepped on high heels and donned a bodysuit, appearing as Ziggy Stardust, a gender-neutral came from Mars. While play and singing psychedelic music in his pyrotechnics style, he heralded the arrival of ornate rock and ushered in a new gender era. Since then, David Bowie became the father of the androgynous. Moreover, Ziggy Stardust, the androgynous figure has been influencing menswear and fashion.

Unisex — The Aesthetic Revolution In Fashion World

After more than 40 years, the idea of unisex is in vogue. Whether classic brand or new-popular street fashion advocate the concept of "gender free" in the design.Designers take the advantage of the concept of "no gender" to make their design no longer distinguished by male and female, or limited by gender, which brings more freedom for the spread of fashion.

The epidemic of unisex starts with "Normcore". Normcore advocates a simple, neutral style. In the constant evolution of fashion, gender neutral has evolved to be unisex, but there is still a difference between gender-neutral design and the neutral style that Normcore's emphasis. The "neutral" design style lies between male and female clothing and has no obvious gender characteristics. Besides the "neutral", the "non-gender" also covers the "androgynous" and "gender transformation". The design style is no longer blindly minimalism, but also prefers to recombine the design elements with obvious gender characteristics.

What Is Your Fashion Gender?

The show of combining men and women's catwalk is a landmark event in the renovation of fashion week. After Gucci announced the integration of men's and women's fashion shows, Alessandro Michele, the brand design director, said: "For me, it's natural to show men's and women's collections together, and that's how I look at the world today; It's certainly not a smooth path and certainly will bring some challenges, but I firmly believe it will push me to tell fashion stories in a different way." As more and more brands have joined the chorus of men's and women's fashion shows, there are voices of opposition as well as voice of support.

Those who agree think, this is a time of great change in the fashion industry as well as a time when ideas are needed and embraced. It's a bold attempt to make the entire fashion industry more efficient. It can also be an interesting challenge for buyers. As brands ponder how to reduce the cost of fashion week and improve the function of fashion shows, the combination of men's and women's fashion design is undoubtedly a good way to simplify. At least from the economic point of view, unisex is necessary.

However, opposing voices argue that unisex is the bane of fashion creativity. If fashion stylists want to do excellent job, the traditional way is the right choice.

High-profile AGENDER Brands

​After Androgyny, less aggressive words appeared accordingly. Last year, Selfridges proposed the concept of "Agender", which means to directly design gender-neutral items that can be worn by both sexes without presetting gender. Which means people don't need to buy "boyfriend jeans" or "boyfriend sweaters" at all, because that's actually oversize for women. It's actually a much more modest fashion trend. When people go out wearing a Vetements or Yeezy, there is no need to have presupposition in mind that someone else would use it to judge gender. This is a kind of gender-neutral trend selection, which itself does not express any attitudes about gender. In fact, it means a variety of absolute relaxation and freedom, because the wearers do not need to express themselves as tomboy by wearing men's clothing, nor do they need to go to the direction of women's clothing style to dramatically exaggerate the status of a male homosexuality.

Simply put, people no longer need to use external material to help with their gender identity. Unisex has become a completely neutral term. Unisex is actually far more common than public thought. When unisex breaks away from the over-discussion and understanding of gender, the consumption of unisex becomes direct and unhesitating.

​Deveaux'sfall/winter 2018 collection, featuring New York street photographer Tommy Ton as artistic director, which is themed around the idea of "gender free," attempt to break down the inherent boundaries between men's and women's wear. In the new menswear collection, Deveaux still emphasizes the concept of "no gender," with loose silhouettes and soft decorative details that can be worn by both men and women. The filmed of Look Book specially USES Janice Alida to explain the brand's gender-free concept.

"Since black can also be as soft and transparent as chiffon, why should the aesthetics of men's and women's clothing have a clear boundary to define?", in the words of ANN DEMEULEMEESTER. For the spring/summer 2019 men's fashion show, Sebastien Meunier, the current creative director, presents a "gothic ceremony". The veil is partly hidden, and the gender is distorted by translucent veil. Under the brim of a creased hat, only vague contour levels can be seen. The classic black and white color scheme, asymmetrical deconstruction and clipping, and the male model holding the black rose and lace gloves, all have a type of beauty beyond gender.

Reina, a fashion designer who has a special sense for "unisex fashion". She graduated from Shanghai DongHuaUniversity and has a deep research on unisex fashion. Previously, she studied in Japan for further study on gender free. In addition, she completed a series of design works independently.

Q: What is Unisex fashion?

Reina: I think it is a kind of self-attitude that breaks the inherent concept of gender dress, dares to be oneself, and integrates the concept of "androgyny" and "gender transformation".

Q: Why choose unisex as design concept?

Reina：My inspiration comes from social phenomenon which is gradually blurring between male and female. In Woolf's words, "great souls are androgynous," it may be innate that we can't choose appearance or bodies, but souls can. Therefore, I want to help people better show their literal self through my design.

Q: How does unisex show up in everyday life?

Reina: For example, today I wear a tie. It may be stereotypical that a tie should be worn with a suit, but nowadays more and more girls like to try some tie-ups. For example, boys wear skirts and girls wear men's suits, which are more or less the reflection of gender free fashion in life. Because usually I also like to buy men's suit jacket and tie or pants with a big waist. Everyone can try a lot of things that might have unexpected benefits. Don't worry too much about what others think, just do what you want to do.

Our times are more and more respectful of gender diversity, tending toward gender equality. Even for young people, unisex is simply their innate mental model. After all, they have grown up in an era when Facebook has 56 unconventional gender settings.

How is new tech affecting the fashion industry?

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Online shopping, digital kiosks, fashion trends on Instagram, customized products, the fashion industry has it all, thanks to tech. Over the past couple of years technology has grown rapidly and is ever evolving. It has managed to integrate itself into all industries and has been successful in transforming them. With respect to the fashion industry where technology initially was just a part of manufacturing, it is now becoming a part of the customer experience.

The gradual integration of technology into the fashion industry can be dated back to industrialization and it has been uphill since. The coming of the Internet and subsequently Instagram and other sites gives consumers immediate insight into the fashion industry and the lives of celebrities. That is where fast fashion comes in; consumers want to be on point and current with their fashion choices. The development of machines makes the production quick and new trends can be on the floor sooner than ever. It is beneficial for retail and the customers love getting their hands on the merchandise quickly but on the downside it is responsible for creating landfill. Recently, more and more designers have been looking towards sustainability and are using tech to create sustainable fashion.

According to a January 19, 2018 article by BoF author Kati Chitrakorn, “2017 was the worst year on record for brick-and-mortar retail. By December, more than 6,985 stores closed across the US, according to retail think-tank Fung Global Retail & Technology. That’s up more than 200 percent from a year ago, according to the firm’s findings. It also beats the previous all-time high of 6,163 store closings that took place during the 2008 financial crisis, according to estimates by Credit Suisse.” This is clearly due to the fact the stores cannot meet the fast growing customer needs and expectations. The growing technology opens the consumers to a wide range of choices and they make informed decisions, thus the old business models cannot stay. Companies can harness the technology like many have in order to keep their businesses going. Technology can provide insights and forecasts that can be used to fulfil the customers’ demands. One such example is that of Rebecca Minkoff. Since the opening of her flagship store, the ‘Connected Store’ in New York City, which has a smart fitting room, there has been a substantial increase in sales and the customers experience has been enhanced. According to a September 23, 2015 article by Hilary Milnes in the Digiday, Rebecca Minkoff has made triple the amount of clothing sales than planned.

Another aspect of the tech-fashion amalgamation is e-commerce. In today’s busy world, with a smartphone in every hand, the shift from brick and mortar to online shopping has become inevitable as it is convenient and saves time. But still people are skeptical about the fit, colour, etcetera. In order to enhance customer experience and rectify this problem, start-ups are developing new tech. One such tech company is Passen which works with 3D body scans. They have developed a device that is successful in 3D body scanning and extracting exact body measurements under five minutes, that is then available to the customer online at all times and assists with shopping online. It is a step towards more accurate and easier online shopping but some people who love the experience of going into a physical store and swear by shopping in store will always continue to do so and that is what keeps the brick and mortar stores going. Even though e-commerce has grown over the years it is still a fraction of the brick and mortar stores’ business.

If you have ever shopped for makeup online you will definitely relate to the struggle of finding the right shade, the perfect match. Lakshmy Subramoniam (George Brown alumni) understood this problem and set out with her friend and business partner Rachel Baker and set out to find a solution to it. In a recent interview with Lakshmy she said that, “It took years of hard work and research to come up with Tejo, and here we are today with an online makeup matchmaker that caters to today’s need. It helps you find your perfect makeup match online with just a selfie! Can you imagine that?” With the help of skin colour detection technology and data- collection they have managed to make online shopping for makeup a breeze. Sephora has similar a similar skin colour detection device but they haven’t integrated it with online tech, their associates have to operate it and one has to go in store. Tejo has gone a step further and cut down the process for the consumer.

Technology is ever evolving and so is fashion. Where technology makes our everyday lives easier the fashion industry provides us with one of the necessities of life. Along with that fashion is also about self-expression and brings out one’s personality. The permutation and combinations that arise from the fashion-tech amalgamation can be amazing and intriguing. In today’s world where there is something new happening everyday there will always be more to say about this topic. But in conclusion I would like to say that technology is a great servant, but can be a bad master and we as human beings should always be mindful and use technology to optimize our potential and work towards a sustainable world.

Links:

Image: https://unsplash.com/photos/W1B2LpQOBxA

Tejo website: https://tejo.ca/

Fast Fashion "One day you're in, the next day you're out"

Fast Fashion

“One day you’re in, the next day you’re out”

When designer prices have you wanting to crawl back into your mother’s womb, fast fashion comes around the corner and pulls you right out. Fast fashion gives the average human a taste of the newest trends at affordable prices sans good quality. Like it or not we all shop it, even though sometimes we don’t want to. Is it worth it though?

We’ve heard this debate a thousand times, should we be buying fast fashion? What are the implications with supporting such companies, and is it worth it? Don’t get me wrong, working for a fast fashion retailer I can tell you first hand I understand why people would be so inclined to purchase. It’s easily accessible, affordable and trendy! So why not? Well a certain influencer and co-founder of Uncle Studios clothing, Allegra Shaw has a different view on it, and it’s an eye opener!

Allegra Shaw, currently sits at over 750k subscribers on YouTube and almost 200k Instagram followers, you can say she has quite a hold on today’s social media users. So what’s her view? She believes in ethical and sustainable clothing, something which isn’t really as saturated in the market at the moment. Her brand Uncle Studios is about “Creating everyday basics with a unique edge for men, women and anyone in between or beyond, which are high quality, affordable clothing that is both ethically and sustainably made.” They ship worldwide and believe in having their whole design process and manufacturing done here in Canada.

But why buy a sixty dollar t-shirt when you can get one for ten dollars? Well, that’s up to you, as a consumer you can decide what you want, but spending a bit more can be beneficial to not only yourself but to the world around you as well. For example, Allegra explains “People ask us all the time, why the steep price? Well it’s a simple answer when you use ethical and sustainable practices things become a little bit more pricey.” She goes on to say “We want to help the world and not put more garbage in it, so it’s worth it. We also like people and want them to be paid fairly!”

If you really think about it, fast fashion is more like fast faux pas. One season fishnets are in, next season? They’re in the trash! It isn’t sustainable and it burns a hole in our wallets. Constantly having to repurchase basics and trends every season is frustrating. Therefore spending the extra dollars on a good quality sustainable t-shirt is worth the sixty dollar price tag in the future. Even if the ethical side of things don’t excite you, saving your hard earned cash is always a plus!

Allegra being a fashion blogger, I asked her how does she produce so many outfits while being conscious of how and what they’re made of? She said “It’s hard, it’s definitely been a learning curve, I really have to do my research. Sometimes it can be pricey, but when you’re paying for quality, ethics and sustainable fabrics you are going to pay more, but the great thing about paying more is that it will last in your wardrobe for years.”

How to be sustainable without having to pay a huge price tag? Vintage shopping! Allegra touched on this, she believes this is a great alternative if you’re trying to be more ethical and sustainable with your shopping habits, not only that you can get some pretty unique pieces as well. She says “Go vintage, you can find great pieces at thrift stores! You can also upcycle the pieces to make them your own, and it's definitely a great way to be sustainable!”

There’s some great companies out there that like to practice being ethical and sustainable. For example Everlane, a company Allegra says she likes to model her own company from. Their prices aren’t as steep and they provide great basics. Some other inspiring brands are Reformation, Re/Done, and Exhibit. If you do love the higher end brands Acne does a great job with making sure that their workers are being treated well and are paid fair wages.  

I know i know, it’s hard to not get that Versace dupe at Zara and those Balenciaga sneakers for one tenth of the price. Fast fashion is very tempting, easy and accessible, but there’s a lot of negatives that come along with it. Look at it this way, Tyra Banks says it perfectly  “One day you’re in, and the next day you’re out” fashion is always changing and evolving, why not have pieces in your wardrobe that will last a long time and create a better mark in our society and environment? Treat the world around you with care, lets create a more ethical and sustainable world!

Citations:

https://unclexstudios.com/pages/about-us