Unit 5- Eco-Fashion & Globalism
Key Concepts: Consumption, consumerism, recycled fashions, global awareness, eco-fashion.
Essential Questions:
Activity 1: Fashion Affects The Globe
1. Show Yoxi video about the ramifications of jeans production as well as these other short videos to class.
These videos were the result of a contest entitled Trim the Waste of Fashion for a company (Yoxi) that tries to come up with solutions for a better world. In this competition, Trim the Waste of Fashion, 10 teams competed to find a way to reduce waste in the fashion industry. These are four of my favorites, and they are only 2-5 minutes which makes them easy to show in class:
Jet-Set Jeans: This describes the environmental problem from the manufacture of jeans.
American Green: This video shows how to shop in an eco-friendly way.
Preloved Apparel- Reducing waste in American over-consumption is the subject of this video.
Forevermore- This hilarious video is shown from the animal's perspective. They are interviewed and tell you how they really feel about when their fur and feathers are used for clothing.
2. Show animal rights video or article discussing wearing fur. Talk about being vegetarian. But what about still wearing Ugg Boots, leather bags, belts and shoes? Discuss where students feel their own ethical line is. Discuss PETA practice of throwing blood or fake blood onto fur wearers to make a political statement. Is there a way to make a political statement about this topic with art?
3. Click here for a lesson and handout I created on Eco-Fashion. Or you can look at the article below about child slave labor working in garment industry. Nearly 70% of American retail clothing is made in third world countries, like Bangladesh. Have students check the labels on their clothing at home and they will be shocked to see where they are actually made. They will also be shocked to know that children in these countries are not allowed to go to school, but are forced to work to help their family and their country's economy. I read a powerful passage written by a child laborer about the conditions there, and have students compare it to a day in their own life. They find it very moving. It is a chapter entitled And All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt: What they never tell you at the mall from the book Get Real- What Kind of World Are You Buying? By Mara Rockliff. (This excellent book is known as the "teen-friendly manifesto reveals what you're really buying when you spend your money". Have students follow up the lesson by answering the short essay questions on the sheet (link above).
Essential Questions:
- How can artists make political and social change?
- What is my social responsibility in the choices I make as a consumer?
- How does the fashion and garment industry affect the globe?
- How does fashion affect the global community?
- How can we as consumers make a difference?
- How can I as an artist raise awareness to these issues?
Activity 1: Fashion Affects The Globe
1. Show Yoxi video about the ramifications of jeans production as well as these other short videos to class.
These videos were the result of a contest entitled Trim the Waste of Fashion for a company (Yoxi) that tries to come up with solutions for a better world. In this competition, Trim the Waste of Fashion, 10 teams competed to find a way to reduce waste in the fashion industry. These are four of my favorites, and they are only 2-5 minutes which makes them easy to show in class:
Jet-Set Jeans: This describes the environmental problem from the manufacture of jeans.
American Green: This video shows how to shop in an eco-friendly way.
Preloved Apparel- Reducing waste in American over-consumption is the subject of this video.
Forevermore- This hilarious video is shown from the animal's perspective. They are interviewed and tell you how they really feel about when their fur and feathers are used for clothing.
2. Show animal rights video or article discussing wearing fur. Talk about being vegetarian. But what about still wearing Ugg Boots, leather bags, belts and shoes? Discuss where students feel their own ethical line is. Discuss PETA practice of throwing blood or fake blood onto fur wearers to make a political statement. Is there a way to make a political statement about this topic with art?
- PETA skewers Beyonce’s superbowl outfit
- Cool Vs. Cruel- Read the article from http://www.humanesociety.org.
- Humane Society fur fashion- challenges students to design clothing without animal fur.
3. Click here for a lesson and handout I created on Eco-Fashion. Or you can look at the article below about child slave labor working in garment industry. Nearly 70% of American retail clothing is made in third world countries, like Bangladesh. Have students check the labels on their clothing at home and they will be shocked to see where they are actually made. They will also be shocked to know that children in these countries are not allowed to go to school, but are forced to work to help their family and their country's economy. I read a powerful passage written by a child laborer about the conditions there, and have students compare it to a day in their own life. They find it very moving. It is a chapter entitled And All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt: What they never tell you at the mall from the book Get Real- What Kind of World Are You Buying? By Mara Rockliff. (This excellent book is known as the "teen-friendly manifesto reveals what you're really buying when you spend your money". Have students follow up the lesson by answering the short essay questions on the sheet (link above).
Group Activity 2:
Research and read the following articles online.
1. Research ways that fashion and garment production damages the environment.
The making of jeans or denim is particularly harsh environmentally and socially due to cotton cultivation. (Example: The blue indigo dyes are dumped into crucial water supplies by factories in third world countries.) With a partner, students should brainstorm ideas of ways to solve this world problem. Then they should write or explain aloud some of their solutions to the class. Students can research and report about child labor practices in third world countries for the garment industries. Or you can create a class or student blog about the topic.
2. Other eco-fashion links:
Eco Fashion World
Eco-Chick
EcoFabulous
Ecouterre
Fair Trade Federation
Green Grechen
My Fashion Planet
Organic Clothing Blog
Planet Green
Seed and Sew
Sustainablog
The Greener Side
Threadbanger
TransFair USA
TreeHugger
Activity 2: UR What U Wear- Advocacy or protest art
1. Review below some contemporary artists making social statements about the topics of fashion, clothing, over-consumption, etc.
Research and read the following articles online.
- Are The Doors Locked in the Factory Making YOUR Shirts? Institute for human labor and global rights
- International Labor Rights looks at sweatshops
- Environmental Impact of Jeans
1. Research ways that fashion and garment production damages the environment.
The making of jeans or denim is particularly harsh environmentally and socially due to cotton cultivation. (Example: The blue indigo dyes are dumped into crucial water supplies by factories in third world countries.) With a partner, students should brainstorm ideas of ways to solve this world problem. Then they should write or explain aloud some of their solutions to the class. Students can research and report about child labor practices in third world countries for the garment industries. Or you can create a class or student blog about the topic.
2. Other eco-fashion links:
- Fashion design companies with positive social global impact
- Women in Uganda making Sandals
- Organizations for Ethical Fashions
- Lesson Plan on Fashion and Consumer Waste
Eco Fashion World
Eco-Chick
EcoFabulous
Ecouterre
Fair Trade Federation
Green Grechen
My Fashion Planet
Organic Clothing Blog
Planet Green
Seed and Sew
Sustainablog
The Greener Side
Threadbanger
TransFair USA
TreeHugger
Activity 2: UR What U Wear- Advocacy or protest art
1. Review below some contemporary artists making social statements about the topics of fashion, clothing, over-consumption, etc.
- This group of artists’ show Dress Code: Clothing as Metaphor deals with touch on issues dealing with ethnicity, community, commerce, immigration, and globalization and more.
2. Show this example of my work UR What U Wear. You can also see my other eco-fashion art statements there.
3. Students create their own advocacy or protest art for an eco-fashion issue they believe in. They may use the medium of their choice, including traditional or digital. Video, photography, painting, mixed media, clay, poster, or other expressions are then described, shared with, and taught to the class by the student.
Additional Resources:
Eco friendly jeans
Eco conscious designer denim
How to make a folded magazine purse or a milk carton coin purse or a candy wrapper bracelet.
Great article with links on ways to refashion and reinvent clothing into fresh new styles
Eco friendly jeans
Eco conscious designer denim
How to make a folded magazine purse or a milk carton coin purse or a candy wrapper bracelet.
Great article with links on ways to refashion and reinvent clothing into fresh new styles
Activity 3: Trashion
1. Create fashion accessories or fashions from recycled objects that students can really wear and enjoy everyday. We have made tie-dye shirts, repurposed tees, and other fashions. There are hundreds of tutorials online for recycled and redesigned tee shirts, recycled or repurposed jeans (distressed, redesigned, made into other objects), jewelry and other fashion accessories. Click on the images below to go to tutorials on how to make them.
1. Alternate project: Research and create “trashion” outfits from recycled objects, and display them in a local or wear them in a school fashion show. See Caution Dress- from Recycle Runway.
1. Create fashion accessories or fashions from recycled objects that students can really wear and enjoy everyday. We have made tie-dye shirts, repurposed tees, and other fashions. There are hundreds of tutorials online for recycled and redesigned tee shirts, recycled or repurposed jeans (distressed, redesigned, made into other objects), jewelry and other fashion accessories. Click on the images below to go to tutorials on how to make them.
1. Alternate project: Research and create “trashion” outfits from recycled objects, and display them in a local or wear them in a school fashion show. See Caution Dress- from Recycle Runway.
Students Creating Fashion Accessories made from recycled objects:
Activity 4: Fashion Art and Sculptures
Create your own art project made with the topic of fashion. This can be created from paper, from recycled clothing, starched fabric made into sculpture, or any other choice. Using inspiration from the contemporary artists as seen above, as well as Pinterest and You-tube tutorials.
Activity 5: Community Involvement-
Ask students to brainstorm ideas of how they can get their new knowledge about Eco-Fashion out into the community. Write them on the board, and vote on one that the class can do as a group community project. Some examples are to do a used coat drive, mitten drive, Recycled Prom Dress drive, hold a fashion show for the public, do presentations of their findings for local groups, etc.
Another way to have community involvement is to put the student Trashion designs on display on mannequins in a local store window, making ties with local businesses.
Assessment: How well did student demonstrate understanding and apply fashion as a topic for artwork? Use written tests regarding global topics above also if desired.
********Click here for a printable PDF of Unit 5 Eco-Fashion & Globalism!!!!!
Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for this Unit: 5.12, 4.9, 8.8, 3.12, 10.4
Create your own art project made with the topic of fashion. This can be created from paper, from recycled clothing, starched fabric made into sculpture, or any other choice. Using inspiration from the contemporary artists as seen above, as well as Pinterest and You-tube tutorials.
Activity 5: Community Involvement-
Ask students to brainstorm ideas of how they can get their new knowledge about Eco-Fashion out into the community. Write them on the board, and vote on one that the class can do as a group community project. Some examples are to do a used coat drive, mitten drive, Recycled Prom Dress drive, hold a fashion show for the public, do presentations of their findings for local groups, etc.
Another way to have community involvement is to put the student Trashion designs on display on mannequins in a local store window, making ties with local businesses.
Assessment: How well did student demonstrate understanding and apply fashion as a topic for artwork? Use written tests regarding global topics above also if desired.
********Click here for a printable PDF of Unit 5 Eco-Fashion & Globalism!!!!!
Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for this Unit: 5.12, 4.9, 8.8, 3.12, 10.4