Summary of the TED Talk: Lessons From Fashion’s Free Culture by Johanna Blakely

Day then draws a sharp criticism on the increasingly “commodified” nature of tattoos, as she derides them as a mere “fashion statement”. The words “fashion statement” insinuates that such tattoos are materialistic and transparent in meaning, upholding the notion that modern tattoos carry no purpose in today’s society, other than to impress others. The reader, as a result, may be invoked to feel annoyance and frustration at the ignorance of the general public, who are implied to be unaware of the previous meaning of tattoos. Moreover, Day compounds upon this pre-established notion of commodity by stating it is “fashion’s proprietary mark”. The word “proprietary” may position the reader to criticise the fashion industry, as it is suggested that the fashion industry has defiled body art out of economical greed. Day finds this “profoundly annoying”; the conviction in her statement, achieved through the use of brevity, may invite the reader to share similar sentiments,

Fashion is everything to society and the media. The fashion industry has transformed into a necessity in the life of people. Everyone wants to look good, feel fabulous and feel as if we belong with everyone else. The envy and desire to wear certain things and look a certain way all come, from wearing the latest fashion handbags, accessories, dresses, shoes, and the list goes on. But, when is considering fashion into an individual’s life going too far to the extreme? Many do not consider the whereabouts of fashion materials and how the environment is affected by the mere existence of certain garments. Some may believe these objects grow on trees. But that is clearly not the case. Even though it would be nice. The fashion industry as a

“Global fashion trends affect us when we compare ourselves with and sell ourselves to other consumers in cities and consumption spaces. New street cultures from anywhere are marketed and copied everywhere, generating generic scripts for mass-consumption and creating what we would like to refer to as ‘template cities’” (Spierings). Humans continue to conform to the social norm and disregard unique aspects inspired solely by personal

A typical sixteen year old would be planning her Sweet 16 and trying to keep up with the latest fashion. This is not the case for Lauren Esqueda. Instead, she is focusing on how to make the world a better place by participating in a new club on campus, Youth For Justice.

The fashions of the past 100 years greatly differ from the styles of the present. Some of the trends of the trends of our generation were inspired by those years, while others remain out of style. Our fashions are not only brought back from the past, but some are brand new ideas fashion designers create. Fashion is an alternating compilation of styles that suffice diverse people and contradistinctive times. Fashion can be considered an expressive art, with the human physique as its canvas, and as a symbolization of one’s class, employment, imagination, and emotions.

“Fashion is about Fantasy and not everybody’s fantasy is to be 6ft tall and white” ( Bratskier, 2008,52). The fashion industry has enchanted many minds and hearts over the years. Models such as Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, and Alek Wek rose to stardom in the 80’s and paved a path for other models of color. Natalie Laughlin and Sophie Dahl did the same for plus sized models; however, not much has changed and the fashion industry has remained predominantly tall thin and white. In Rachel Berry’s essay, The Fashion Industry Free to Be an Individual, she is evaluating two shoe ads on how they display the models’ personalities. Berry praises these ads because she thinks that allowing models to show their personalities is important because it will let young girls know that they can express themselves and be beautiful through fashion without having to worry about following the trends. I disagree with this in part. I think that before we even consider the idea of ads expressing a model’s personality the problem of diversity in the fashion industry needs to be tackled first. Not having a wide array of diversity in ethnicity and body type promotes racial stereotyping and makes it hard for young women to relate to women who don’t look like them.

The fashion industry is rapidly growing and constantly generating new fashion trends almost weekly. Fashion for some may seem ridiculous and unnecessary; but fashion is not just a meaningless usage of article of clothing or farcical materials sew together for coverage. There is more to fashion than meets the eyes, fashion is precious and significant. It is a reflection of self-image, it speak the ream about who we are and how we review ourselves. Not only is fashion the reflection of self-image but also the reflection of our history as Coco Channel have said, “Fashion is not something that exist in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Fashion

To those who are not familiar with the processes within the fashion industry, this world of style is characterized by a peaceful coexistence between all the stakeholders. To those in the know however, this is far from the truth with the fashion industry. The value of the United Kingdom fashion industry is large contributing to about 20 billion pounds into the country’s economy on an annual basis. To have a better understanding, the contribution made by the fashion industry to the country’s Gross Domestic Product is almost twice that being brought in by car manufacturers which is valued at 10.1 billion so fashion is no doubt a major business and clothing designs one of the core assets. In considering this, it is therefore a surprise that businesses that are operating within this industry within this industry are not given the opportunity to do more to protect the designs that they have. This paper puts forward the assertion that based on the case law of J Choo(Jersey) Limited v Towerstone Limited and Others, the system of intellectual property protection available in United Kingdom law is not fit for use in the fashion industry in its present condition.

Fashion does not simply consist of the clothes we pick out of our closets in the morning. That daily decision only constitutes the last step of a much larger process, foreign sweatshops, multi-billion-dollar businesses, celebrities on red carpets, and sophisticated advertising campaigns. Fashion emerges out of pattern-making and design, the cultivation and production of raw materials, the manufacturing process, and the distribution of the finished product. Although all this creates the materials, fashion is more than just cloth and jewels. Fashion is the expression of oneself whether it's based on emotion, fashion trends, or music videos.

of the gallery in the second section. Many of the mannequins were composed with the

“Fashion used to come from one source at a time, be it the street, the runways or the entertainment business. The interesting thing about today is that influences come from high and low-everything from couture to Target.” –Michael Kors

In the most recent decade, politics have had a large impact on the fashion industry; designers all over the world have taken part in major political movements. With the departure of two prominent first ladies, Michelle Obama, United States, and Samantha Cameron, United Kingdom, the fashion industry is missing its key political advocates. In “Fashion’s Political Gap,” Osman Ahmed depicts both Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron as essential influencers in the world of fashion during their time as first ladies. Ahmed establishes his claim through the use of rhetorical question and metaphor, and appeals to the reader by recognizing the credibility of both women. Michelle Obama proved to be a true fashion inspiration to women all over the world;

One of the biggest driving forces in the fashion industry nowadays is the continuous introduction of new trends and the opportunity for designers to display their creativity. So, when that individuality is stolen or copied from a designer, it can produce uneasy consequences. Known as “design piracy”, this widespread reproduction of designs has actually been around for decades. Not much has been done at a federal level to prevent the moral and economic repercussions that stem from it. However, despite the fact that designers lose both independent recognition and profit for their work, in the long run, fashion piracy actually helps grow the industry by swiftly moving styles through society to make way for the next line of innovative

“Aleah, that is so ugly,” my friends exclaimed as I eagerly pulled out my brand new pants from their perfectly packaged shipping box. “But they’re Michael Kors!” I argued, as though it increased their appeal. The truth was, the price tag read $78.00, and they were completely see through. Within society, there are numerous people who spend thousands of dollars on designer clothing that is not considered attractive street fashion or good quality. Often, the reason clothing is priced highly is because it includes a logo to advertise the brand and proclaim that it is “the cool thing to wear” while pressuring surrounding people to buy from the same designer as an attempt to become cool as well.

In order to understand the technicalities of copyright in the fashion world, one must not necessarily look at the guidelines of what is protectable under copyright law but rather, they must examine what is not. According to the United States Copyright Office, anything that is functional cannot be copyrighted and with good reason. For example, if a company were to copyright something as functional as a window, then every window-baring structure built from then onward would have to clear the usage of windows in their design and perhaps even pay large licensing fees. If such a scenario were reality, the copyright would not be contributing to the advancement of culture and technology within a society, as copyright laws were originally established to do, but rather it would be hindering this process of development.