Task 9/10: Ethical Issues in Fashion and Textiles Advertising

The advertisement for American Apparel is thought provoking and uncomfortable for some to observe but is however accepted and justified as a way to normalise the ethical issues and controversy surrounding it. The model is seen posing suggestively on a bed, the image in black and white with the company’s iconic label dignifying the models appearance, a simplistic yet powerful image that links strongly to stereotypical marketing and the objectification of women in modern day advertising. Living within a society, a world where sex sells, sexualising women is a common occurrence. This has resulted in women feeling victimised and viewed as a method in which to increase sales when directed at a certain audience, examples of this can be found in almost every magazine you will pick up in any store in any city in the world.

An article based on the journal ‘Sex Roles’ (a social and behavioural journal with a feminine perspective) discusses how women have been seen as sex objects and fallen victim to print advertisements. Focusing their attention on the contents of 58 different U.S magazines, statistics show that on average one in two advertisements that featured women showed them as sex objects and 10% portrayed women as victims, more likely appearing in men’s, women’s and fashion magazines than in the news or business focused material. The implication of viewing advertisements depicting this behaviour is discussed in more detail suggesting that women are portrayed in this way in order to make men feel more dominant and powerful – “At the very least, [such imagery in] advertising helps to create a climate in which certain attitudes and values flourish, such as the attitude that women are valuable only as objects of men’s desire, that real men are always sexually aggressive, that violence is erotic, and that women who are the victims of sexual assault ‘asked for it’” (Kilbourne 1999, pp. 290–91)[1].

This can be viewed as potentially disturbing for the future and how women will ultimately remain to be depicted due to how the media portrays them. Advertisement is such a common use of media that people no longer give any conscious attention towards what is being presented to them through the eyes of the advertisers. We accept what we feel is normal and what is common leading to stereotypes and trends being created that should not be encouraged or fuelled, despite this, we give into temptations and what we find appealing leading to these kind of ethical issues.

For instance, the women in the American Apparel advertisement is positioned in a way that will confidently grab someone’s attention but in no way does is make clear to said viewer what the brand is selling/ advertising, but in the advertisement industry this is not always seen as a priority, the initial attention has been received and in most instances this is all that is needed in order to make a lasting impression. The model presented in this same advertisement shares the same appearance of a stereotypical prostitute, this type of observation could reflect badly on the brands image and reputation but is overlooked due to the normalisation of these issues in today’s culture.

I feel that this shows the extent of how often women are objectified in the advertisement industry and how the social messages and suggestive actions are likely to be left unquestioned as people are so often exposed to this kind of media worldwide. Despite this, brands that inflict this kind of imagery into the media should be fully aware of the impact they are making and therefore should take full responsibility for the consequences made apparent by presenting their products in this way.

Bibliography:

[1] Stankiewicz, J. and Rosselli, F. (2017). Women as Sex Objects and Victims in Print Advertisements.

Overall I have enjoyed this module of research and communication, it has taught me the key skills I need to carry out successful research at university level. The course has worked alongside my practical work, improving my research with each project.

Task 1&2 forced me to begin research from a book, rather than online, which is my usual starting point. I found starting research from a book more engaging and arguably easier as it was more of a visual process. This task coincided with the beginning of my first practical project, utilising research skills from this first task defiantly benefitted the research I conducted during the project, providing me with a wider range of starting points, taking my practical project in a different direction than I had perhaps initially thought.

I did not find the second task as engaging as the first. I enjoyed the lecture on plagiarism, but found the task quite similar to the first. However I do understand that learning how to correctly reference books, newspaper articles and webpages is very important, and found this skill crucial to completing the majority of the other tasks within this module. I am used to footnoting, so initially the Harvard referencing system seemed complicated, yet I found when put into often it became much simpler.

I really enjoyed task 5&6, exploring the inspirations behind designers collections proved very interesting, I don’t think I really understood the volume of research involved in created a collection or the wide range of sources utilised by designers before completing the task. This again made me reconsider my own research, the designer I looked at pulled inspirations from a variety of sources, some related, some contrasting, where as I had just been carrying out more straightforward research. It made me consider using a greater range of sources in my research when starting a project, and to not be afraid to throw together completely contrasting concepts to create a unique project.

The reflective writing task was the task I found most difficult. This was mainly due to the academic texts; I found them difficult to read, which lead to a certain level of procrastination. However, once I had read and understood my chosen text I found it easy to form a response as there were many points within the text that could be argued. I liked being able to offer my own opinion upon the text, and exploring a counter argument to a point allowed me to research various different sources and statistics. If I were to complete this task again I would work harder on my time management, as putting the task off only created personal stress, yet when I completed the task I found it really not that difficult.

The task regarding ethics within fashion advertisements was extremely interesting; the level of ethical issues within current advertisements was actually quite shocking. I chose to look at the American Apparel advert, it was interesting to analyse the composition of the image and further research other American Apparel advertising campaigns and read other responses to these. It definitely made me reconsider artistic license and whether there should be greater regulation within the advertising industry to stop the continued sexualisation of women and girls.

I’ve found this module interesting and engaging. I understand the importance of completing all the tasks to allow us to have the skills we need to write at an improved level. I feel like I’m now able to carry out thorough research from a variety of different sources compared to past studies.

I chose the extract from Malcolm Bernard’s book fashion as communication. The chapter about the etymology of fashion which focuses on the uses of fashion and the many vocabulary around it and looks at the definitions of third throughout history. He uses this to comment on the various uses of fashion in from what he believes it to be and the way this influences society. I particularly found the comments on the way fashion can inform the way we talk to others interesting.

Malcolm Bernard writes ‘which conceal, even as they communicate, the social position of the wearer. Fashion and clothing, that is, may be the most significant ways in which social relations between people are constructed, experienced and understood.’ Barnard (2002) I would have to agree in part that fashion is often a barrier or a reason for people either to talk to someone or not and then if they develop a relationship in any form. I often find that people especially in the fashion sector seem to group together as on a whole allot of people in the fashion sector would dress quite differently to others. I think we all make decisions on people and there personality’s maybe even their sexuality on their dress even on a subconscious level.

I found this quote backs up my point ‘marking out particular kinds of bodies, drawing distinction in terms of class and status, gender, age, sub-cultural affiliations that otherwise would not be so visible or significant’ Entwistle and Wilson (2001).This also brings up the point about affiliation as I think this is hinted at in Bernard’s earlier quote that by wearing sometimes we are showing which group we belong to or how we show support for a group of people. They also bring up for a fact that if we didn’t wear clothes this affiliation would only been known if we knew the person well or asked them about themselves. I believe this to be true as I often can tell what music people like or what hobbies there into according to the way they adorn their bodies. I feel this has come more apparent with cheaper fashion and people having more disposable income they are freer to dress in an expressive way and the way that they want too. My point is back up with this quote from adorned in dreams. ‘Economic expansion was the basis for a revolution in customs, beliefs and daily experience; henceforth fashion itself become one medium for the expression of the values of modernity. There was a move from display to identity.’ Wilson (2003) Also, the freedom to dress however you want I feel has a connection to how we act around others and how we see ourselves fitting into groups.

In conclusion I like Bernard’s thoughts on fashion although often portrays the way people use it in a negative tone I do believe people use it as a way of telling what each other are like. Asking a quick judgement according to what a person is adorned in is something we all do even if it is subconsciously. Also agree with he’s point about clothing being a barrier between groups according to social class and tastes. It is how allot of people establish who they are going to side with in new social situations. I have also found through my other quotes I found that I think it may even effect are opinion of ourselves and make us question how we act via what we are wearing at the time.

Entwistle, J. and Wilson, E. (2001). Body dressing. Oxford: Berg.
Barnard, Malcolm (2002) Fashion as Communication, London: Routledge.
Wilson, E. (2003). Adorned in dreams. London: I.B. Tauris, p.155.

I have found this module over all very useful, successful and not as daunting as I first anticipated. After taking a year out of education, I was pretty anxious and nervous about returning to the written communication. However, looking back now I shouldn’t have been so worried. I have found most tasks rewarding and they have challenged me, which is exactly what I wanted to get from this.

Throughout this module we have been expected to use many different sources to help with our tasks which I have found very beneficial and mind opening. I enjoyed task 1&2 as I feel it was a great way to settle back into writing. I enjoyed searching through the extensive WSA library for books and subject areas which interest and inspire me. It was so refreshing to use physical sources throughout the module to find information from as a starting point instead of secondary online research, which is my comfort zone. From this, I was then happy to return back to online research to continue with my new findings. What I especially enjoyed about this task is where it took me to last. I found a fascinating article on the BBC website, an archive I very rarely visit and use, which I thoroughly enjoyed learning about and then reflecting on in my own writing. From this task, I have defiantly learnt that the library is a fantastic place and most of the time much more straightforward than using the internet to find information.

This module has helped me more than I had expected in my studio work. When its time to research new ideas, the first place I now visit first is the Library as I now understand and appreciate how fantastic and important it is. The use of Webcat, as I’ve learnt from this module, is very useful for narrowing down broad searches to find specific books.  In the future I will defiantly use the library and Webcat more throughout my research.

One area I did find challenging was the word counts. For most tasks I found that I was always writing too much and in task 7&8 this was a particular problem for me. Although at first I struggled a lot with reading and anaylsing the text, after much planning and thought, I realised  I had so much to talk about. Once I had written out my main points, I then found it hard to narrow my writing down to the 500max word count. However, eventually after proof-reading many times, I did successfully get it under the word count. From this experience I have learnt that it isn’t the quantity of work written but instead is the quality. For this task, I feel I did improved the quality of my writing from the first draft. Another aspect of this task, and module, I struggled with was reflecting on others work and using them to explain my points. I still don’t feel like I have perfected this area of my writing, and I would still like to be educated and get more support in this area throughout the rest of the modules.

Another area I need to improve on is my time management. Although never put aside for weeks, I confess I have been leaving each task until the night before the lecture. However, for task 3&4 I settled down to complete this task the same day it was given. I found it very rewarding and relief knowing I didn’t have to worry about getting it completed the rest of the week. This is something I would like to get in a habit of doing as its a relief once it’s completed and I am then able to focus on my studio work until the following RCS lecture.

In reflection, I have found this module useful and beneficial. The module hasn’t been as daunting as I initially thought and on reflection I believe my writing has become stronger as I have been encouraged to different ways of thinking and gathering information. I will defiantly take what I have learnt in this module forward in my studies.

Well, where to begin, as a whole I feel like the RCS unit as a whole went pretty well, the questions to me seemed fairly balanced over the weeks and the research aspect was somewhat enjoyable. To me the lectures were presented well and the information provided was useful for answering the questions, they seemed to push me into the right directions, providing me enough knowledge of the subjects in question but not too much to render a lack of necessity for independent research.

For the questions themselves, I will say that some weeks were more easier than others, but as a whole I don’t think I particularly struggled, (though I guess I’ll find out if that’s true whenever I get any feedback). Speaking of feedback, I digress, I do believe that it would have been useful to be allocated a time for some form of feedback at some point, though in all fairness I’m sure the option to ask for feedback was always available. None the less, to sum this concoction of a statement up, I do believe the questions were fair, well thought out and prepared for in a very professional manner.

Now, on to the matter of the independent research, I actually enjoyed searching up articles and references to use for the questions, obviously some questions were more interesting than others, but as a whole I feel like I learnt a fair bit, and enjoyed the process doing so. In my opinion I feel like I could have improved and done more research, perhaps finding sources offline more so than online, but for future RCS projects I’ll make sure to research physical sources more frequently.

For, time management, well, it went a bit askew at some point, as I did fall behind for a few weeks when focusing on the presentation for the end of the Barbican project. I wasn’t particularly pleased with my time management for this, but I did catch back up during the formative feedback week and the weeks to follow. None the less, the time provided for each question pair seemed very reasonable, as a week to research a subject and produce two 250 word answers was doable.

Additionally I experienced a minor bump when I realised I hadn’t correctly implemented the Harvard referencing system into my question pairs. I realised this after completing five of the questions and therefore had to go back and re-research questions to find where certain aspects of my answers came from, in order to fully reference the sources. Obviously in the future I won’t experience this problem and will be able to reference fully from the start which should spare some time in the least.

In summary, I believe that the RCS project as a whole went fairly well. Questions were reasonable and interesting to research and the time allocated was enough as well. Problems that arose were mainly a fault of my own, however this isn’t a complete tragedy considering I will hopefully learn from such mistakes.

(500 Words)

American Apparel

For this task i chosen this image because I’m more familiar with the brand and interested to dig deeper in terms of their ethical problems and what happens insight the business. When I google images this brand there’re a lot of images of their advertising posters which also including the image on the top came up along with lots of other ones which is i think far more worse. So that got me thinking of what is their target customers and audiences, American Apparel is a American clothing brands founded in 1989 by Canadian Dov Charney began by selling high- quality T-shirts to screen printers and boutiques in 1990 under the American Haeavy label, the brand had been around for quite a long time they got many retails store all around the world the brand are really well known for their making the 80s style knees high socks popular again.

Their Ethical issues is mostly about thier advertisements which are known as provocative and controversial, which are largely the inspiration of the company CEO Dov Charney, which has been largely critisied but also lauded for their honesty and lack of airbrushing. The company has used pornographics actors and glamour models in some of their advertisements, they’ve been using the sexual themes for magazines which would be eye gazing for many men which have been banned by various advertising authorities and also one of the magazine was banned in the UK. The model that are appear in the ads posters are mostly teenage looking which are age around 16-19 who appear to look like a child which is promoted sexualised and also pedophile which i think are not very thoughtful of how the advertise could trigger rape and child abuse without realising. Most of their advertises are featured a women or girl wearing nothing but a pant or with the knees high socks posing in a very inappropriate and raunchy position and some of the body part has often been covered by text of the brand’s name with the relevant description or sometimes the name of the model which to me it would seems like a  pornographic magazine this is where i think that is one of the Ethical issue of the brand the advertise is unnecessary and contradicted with the brand but I could see the point that this could boost sales but i don’t think anyone or a parents would wants their kids to buy the clothes from this brand.

The company have been subject to many public sexual harassment lawsuits and have also been sued by many ex- models for sexual harassment which involved mutual nudes photographs and sexual text. “The company was mired in controversy, but at its heart was a desire to produce clothing that did not harm and exploit the people who made it” – Dazed 16th January 2017 Emma Hope Allwood online article.  After reading the article i felt like that there’re some people out their who love the brand and seen the positive in them which i think that the brand been a little misjudged and harshly critized which i think is fair from what they’ve promoted but the point is that comparing to now a day lots of brands have there own positive and negative views from buyers and critics. “After a highly- publicised bankruptcy filling and attempted restructed, the news broke that American Apparel had been sold to Gildan” – Dazed fashion news 14th January 2017 Emma Hope Allwood. 

References:

1. Image from the presentation

2. Emma Hope Allwood 2017 “American Apparel is Officailly over as we know it” http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/34321/1/american-apparel-is-officially-over-as-we-know-it [06/12/17]

3. Emma Hope Allwood 2017 “why we should regret the end of American Apparel” http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/34330/1/why-we-should-regret-the-end-of-american-apparel-ethical-labour-sweatshop-free [06/12/17]

Ethical Issues

This controversial advertisement for the clothing brand American Apparel raises issues regarding the ethics of fashion. American Apparel is a brand commonly associated with controversy; from the series of pornographic advertisements, to the founder Dov Cherney being fired from his position due to his own controversial actions. With this advert especially it seems American Apparel is playing into the concept that ‘sex sells’- an arguably dated and degrading concept. However the rise of American Apparel’s popularity coincided with the increase of visual social media. Visual media platforms such as ‘Tumblr’ or ‘Instagram’ allowed for an increase of sharing in all aspects, from artwork to political and social opinions and views. These platforms share the common feature of a sense of freedom of expression. This is was the target consumer of American Apparel, therefore the advert may been seen than more than what it initially seems.

The advert may be perhaps viewed as an expression of female sexuality. Marketing for male products, especially cologne, use female sexuality to ‘entice’ the buyer. These adverts are arguably degrading to women, objectifying and implying their sexuality is something that can be bought or controlled. This advert however does create a sense of female control over sexuality. The bright background implying the image was taken in daylight, therefore no sense of shame or anything hide. The woman herself is the focal point of the image, with no male presence, she is seen as in control of her actions, therefore her sexuality. Her clothing is also not overtly sexual, she is not wearing lingerie, but plain socks- making the image seem quite basic, implying a sense of normality and equality.

However there is no denying that the advert is reminiscent of a pornographic image, and despite its attempt to reclaim capture female control of female sexuality, it is in fact still sexualising and objectifying the model. Therefore continuing the media and marketing abuse and use of female sexuality. The use of stockings similar to that of the classic school sock is also an ethical issue. The sexualisation of young or underage girls is an issue that American Apparel have been criticised about before. The brands 2014 ‘Back to School’ campaign pictured a school girl in a traditional school pleated skirt leaning over, allowing for a view up her skirt. This advertisement was banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority for ‘sexualising school girls’.

This is not the only advertisement of the brand that has been banned in the UK, the ASA banned a series of adverts, calling them ‘vulnerable, gratuitous and voyeuristic’ [Independent, 2014]. The nature of these advertisements could arguably be seen as an ethical issue due to the impact and influence they may have on their impressionable, young target audience/ consumer. Young girls who may be influences by the world wide brand should not be exposed to these kind of images, thinking this way of presenting ones self is something they must also do to be considered ‘fashionable’, to be an American Apparel girl.

[1] Independant, Linda Sharkley. 2014. Revealed: American Apparels most controversial moments following a ban on back to school ad. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/american-apparel-s-most-controversial-moments-following-ban-on-back-to-school-ad-9712735.html. [Accessed 27 November 2017].

I have chosen to discuss the text ‘Taste, Fashion and the French Fashion Magazine’ by Sanda Miller which explores the development of the fashion magazine and its influence on society as well as how it was influenced by society and current affairs, with Miller describing them as ‘most truthful mirrors of their time’.

She discusses ideas around the intertwining of the concepts of ‘fashion’ and ‘taste’ and how the fashion magazine potentially shaped the ‘taste’ of society and was an influencing factor for what was ‘good taste’ or what was ‘bad taste’.

Sanda Miller discusses how the Fashion magazine was thought to have first come about in seventeenth-century France under the reign of Louis XIV but really gained its ‘wider intellectual profile’ in the 18th Century with the rise of the Enlightenment.

This is because the Enlightenment was a philosophical, cultural and intellectual movement spread throughout Europe, radically transforming people’s views on both science and the arts. People started to think for themselves and as a result of this develop their own opinions and ‘taste’. The German Philosopher Immanuel Kant summarised the Enlightenment period with the words ‘Dare to be wise! Have courage to use your own understanding!” (1) (Kant, 1784)

With regards to art,  the emphasis began to be placed on the psychological and philosophical meaning behind the work rather than judging it purely on its aesthetic.

Following this deeper appreciation of the arts came the development of the Art Critic and the founding of the Salons held at the Louvre. The Salons allowed the public to view art, boosting it’s status in society and making the arts a more relevant and present topic worthy of discussion and Art critics  – such as Diderot- paved the way for this as they helped the public access the meaning behind the art on display.

Miller argues that just as art critics like Diderot shaped public’s opinion on art as they wrote their reviews on it- putting across their own opinion formed upon personal taste of artwork displayed on the salons, the fashion magazines also became ‘more than mere repositories of taste; rather, they prescribe it.’. By this I think she means that fashion magazines begin to deeply influence society’s opinion on what was fashionable at the time- just as I think they do today. I agree with this as I think we are all deeply influenced by what we see in fashion magazines and media, even if may be on a subconscious level. This is accurately conveyed by Jukka Gronow in the article ‘Taste and Fashion: The Social Function of Fashion and Style’- ‘In the classical European humanistic tradition, fashion was always thought to be antithetical to good taste’. (Gronow, 1993) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Kant, I (1784) An Answer to the Question ‘What is Enlightenment?’  (Penguin UK, Google eBooks 26 Sep 2013 ) 
2. Gronow, J, (1993) Taste and Fashion: The Social Function of Fashion and Style (Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.)  https://www.jstor.org/stable/4200841

Through completing  the tasks in this module of Research and Communication I have been able to develop a wide range of new skills which will help me with my design work in the future. Writing is something I have always found challenging but this module has helped to increase my confidence in my written work, with the weekly tasks allowing me time to reflect and form a personal response to a variety of different articles and media.

Task 1 and 2 taught me about finding Primary and Secondary sources and the difference between the two. For this task I analysed an image of Matisse’s work from a book in Winchester library and then went on to deepen my understanding of his work by finding an article online which explained more about Matisse’s paper cuts and the development of his later work.

Task 3 and 4 gave me an insight into the issues of Plagiarism and Academic integrity- an extremely important subject to know about as future designers in the fashion and textile industry. Although the task was similar to the previous one, I found this lecture to be one of the most interesting out of all of the lectures of the module so far as I was unaware of the scale of this issue in the industry.

Task 5 and 6 taught me about design references and the deeper meaning and messages behind artists work. For this task I identified 10 references of Alexander McQueen’s work and I especially enjoyed creating a mood board of design references as it was so interesting to see the variety and diversity of all the references when they are all placed together and how they have informed

Task 7 and 8 I found by far the most challenging as we had to read and interpret academic article. Whilst I understood what the author was saying, I did struggle to translate this into my own words and produce a response and this is defiantly something I wish to improve on throughout this module.

Task 9 and 10 addressed ethical issues in fashion and textiles advertising and I found this task and lecture by far the most interesting yet. The lecture for this task really made me realise how much of an impact one controversial advert can have on a fashion brand. For the task I chose to discuss the ethical issues surrounding a controversial campaign image by the menswear brand Duncan Quinn and I really enjoyed analysing the photography in the advertisement and finding the potential ethical issues surrounding it.

This final task (Task 11 and 12) was a great finish to the module as it has now allowed me to reflect upon all of the tasks I have completed. This reflection has made me realise how much I have learnt and how many beneficial new skills I have developed. I think most importantly for me this module has significantly increased my confidence in my writing and I have developed a firm understanding of how to analyse and produce a considered response to both images and academic writing.