PROGRESS REPORT


Period: January 1 - June 30 2022

As we reflect on the past year, we wanted to share with you some of the progress we have made as a company.
We have consciously redefined our path to align with our strengths, values and passion. 
We believe that if we change our relationship with clothes, we’ll value them more and consume less - helping us work towards our goal of uplifting everyday people, but not at the cost of others’ wellbeing or the planet. 
Being community-minded is so important to us and having the opportunity to connect with more people and offer support in the form of conversation has a key driver of this project. We want to acknowledge that without the people who participate, we would not be able to conduct this research.

RESEARCH PILLARS

Documentary Work.

  • What People Are Wearing

  • Fashion documentary photography at events

  • Reading People’s Clothes

Read and Research.

  • Read and Research Library

  • Book Club

Q&A.

  • Q&A 1

  • Q&A 2

  • Q&A 3

  • Q&A 4

  • Q&A 5

  • Q&A 6

  • Q&A 7

Personal Exploration.

  • Personal Q&As

  • Months off shopping

  • Reflection and Discovery

FURTHER EXPLORATION AND PROJECTS

  • Social Conversation

  • Community projects

  • Social responsibility

WHAT PEOPLE ARE WEARING

Objective: Objective: A modern approach to street style documentation, What People Are Wearing offers a more holistic representation of personal style in everyday life. This carries the potential to celebrate everyday people who use clothes as an opportunity for self-expression, who may not feel seen or valued within the wider community. We don’t want people to just see Instagram highlight reels - we want people to see a reflection of themselves documented within this space.


How is this a valuable contribution to the project? 

The fabric of a city is defined by its people who in turn are defined by likeminded thoughts on political, social, cultural, economic and global issues. These geographical and sociocultural elements are reflected in the clothes we wear and present opportunities to relate to one another in multiple ways. Simply put, our clothes are a reflection of the vernacular.

Muddying our natural impulse to relate to others through the clothes they wear are the well documented negative mental health implications posed by unattainable online versions of others in the current age of rapid image sharing and comparison culture. We believe in the power of seeing everyday people’s approach to dressing uplifted through portrait photography. We hope this project allows the participants and the viewers to see a relatable and authentic representation of personal style.

We’re looking for quiet moments that allow the viewer to see what we’re seeing and offer an uninterrupted gaze into people like themselves. We are un-biased towards trends and instead focus on a diversity of individuals who inspire us through their ways of dressing. Our intent is that these observations will encourage people to contemplate the daily impact of their clothing choices personally and sustainably, to feel comfortable in their everyday clothing and to be confident as they are.


Goals achieved: To uplift everyday people. 
Being conscious of diversity and inclusivity within those documented.


The future of this project: Our hope is to document what everyday people are wearing across Australia today, speaking to our similarities and differences. Although initially focusing on urban Melbourne, we see vast opportunity to explore different cities and suburban locations in Melbourne and beyond. 


Responsibility: 

  • To monitor online comments and remove any negativity. We believe people should be celebrated for their personal style, not compared or criticised.

  • To request people's permission to include their image in any published content.

Number of published What People Are Wearing videos.

  • Instagram reels: 43

  • TikTok videos: 41


Examples of works:

Available on Instagram and Tiktok. 

 
 

Record views: 474.5k. Record likes: 26.9k.

Snapshot of statistics recorded 1 August 2022

  • Stills

  • Video (Approx. 40 unique pieces of work. 84 total released across TikTok and Instagram). 

FASHION DOCUMENTARY WORK AT EVENTS

The main objective: A subcategory of What People Are Wearing, events showcase an opportunity to celebrate people within the ‘dressing for occasion’ culture across video and stills.   

How is this a valuable contribution to the project?
In contrast to everyday dressing, documentary work at events offers another contextual layer to personal style and a record of what we are wearing.
Traditionally, a difference can be observed between everyday dressing and dressing for events which may have an enforced or assumed dress code.

Goals achieved: To uplift everyday people. 
Be conscious of diversity and inclusivity within those documented.

Examples of published works:

Vogue Australia: What the Vogue editors are wearing to Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (13 May 2022)
Vogue Australia: The best street style from the third day of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (11 May 2022)
Vogue Australia: The best street style from the second day of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (10 May 2022)
Vogue Australia: The best street style from the first day of Afterpay Australian Fashion Week (10 May 2022)
Vogue Australia: All of the best moments from the 2022 Mercedes Benz Grand Prix Ladies Day (8 Apr 2022)
Vogue Australia: The best style we spotted at NGV’s Queer Gala and exhibition opening (11 Mar 2022)
Vogue Australia: The best street style from PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival (8 Mar 2022)

READING PEOPLE’S CLOTHES

Main objective: To observe what people are wearing communicated as field notes.

How is this a valuable contribution to the project?
Reading People’s Clothes is another form of editorial documentary that comes from a place of encouraging people to look up and be present in the world around them.

Written as short stories or narratives, the idea is to celebrate the person next to you and hopefully inspire the reader to look around them on the tram, at the cafe, in the restaurant, at work etc. This aims to encourage appreciation of how people around us are dressed - young and old, tall and short, old clothes and new clothes.

As adults, we often have fewer opportunities to use our imagination. We tend to read books less and are faced with a continuous barrage of images and information. Presenting Reading People’s Clothes as small panels of text encourages creativity and contemplation as it invites the viewer to paint their own picture in their mind.

Goals achieved: To uplift everyday people. 

Responsibility: Consciously creating writings with a positive focus. 

Total: 52.

Examples below.

 

READ AND RESEARCH LIBRARY

In order to understand the topic of ‘Our Relationship With Clothes’, we believe educating ourselves with existing material is one of the most important opportunities for growth and understanding.

Main objective: To create an in-house library to catalogue all material consumed including books, social media conversations, online articles, etc., that fit within the discourse of consumerism, fashion culture, personal style and how clothing makes us feel.

How is this a valuable contribution to the project?
In educating ourselves we believe we’ll form a more well-rounded and educated perspective to shape comments on our own findings and understandings. 

Goals achieved: Catalogued 103 items.

Resources are catalogued according to the following criteria:

  • Date

  • Which research pillar the resource best relates to

  • Information type: factual; analytical; subjective; objective; other

  • Nature of resource: ongoing; singular; business of interest

  • Source: the internet; social media; books/publications/papers; conversation; social DM community conversation; social Q&As; podcast

  • Format: image; PDF; link (social, YouTube etc.); screenshot; audio; other

  • Documentation: supporting links/images

  • Searchable tags: recycling; AUS industry; global industry; new clothes; used clothes; social conversation; social trends; sustainability; case study; collective opinion; personal opinion; other

  • Quality of information: general piece of information; worthwhile piece of information; individual to revisit; valuable - group to revisit


Future opportunities: 
We’d like to make the library available to the public and are working towards this goal by the end of 2022. 
The implementation of a physical and online library borrowing system will allow for the purchase of further valuable material to be shared with our community. 

Examples of catalogued information:


BOOK CLUB

Main objective: To share texts of importance and value with our social audience. 

How is this a valuable contribution to the project?
Sharing information with our community is one of the most important parts of this project. While we explore other opportunities to implement an online library, sharing what we can on social is our current approach. 

This is currently available as an Instagram highlight.

Q&A

Each month we’ve created and released a Q&A survey relating to one of the following themes: individuals, communities, mental health and the planet.

Main objective: To engage with our community about our clothes within an open forum which is driven by curiosity, inclusivity and a judgement-free environment. 

Exploring our relationship with clothes via Q&A allows an opportunity for reflection on our own thoughts and behaviours. 

Our aim is to build a community of like-minded individuals who love clothes but are interested in being socially and environmentally aware.

How is this a valuable contribution to the project? 

The simple act of having a space to ask questions and allow people to draw their own conclusions is something that we see as a positive driver for change. We believe talking about how we choose and live with clothes is an important conversation to have. That the opportunity for self-reflection can allow for individual and collective change which carries the potential to impact not only ourselves and the community positively, but also the wider clothing industry in relation to climate and social injustice.

Our Q&As are designed as a journey into the personal and collective exploration of clothes and consumption.

We’ve observed that the conversation around behaviour and sustainability is often surrounded by feelings of judgement and guilt. Recognising that the clothing industry is imperfect, our intention has been to create a space where individuals can begin to better understand their own behaviour and explore their own approach to dressing within their values, while also contributing to a larger conversation which will lead to systemic positive change

Why do you get dressed? 
How do your clothes make you feel? 
Does clothing hold memory?
Do you prefer new clothes? 

Goals achieved 

  • Q&As released: 6

  • Number of responses received: 756.


Considerations: Upon reflection into the reason behind the Q&As, we decided that releasing surveys consistently was more important than the number of participants and data per survey. We think this will allow our community to continuously participate in a journey that may allow them to feel supported as they think more about their clothing and potentially inspire change. 

Examples of works:

Personal exploration

“At the beginning of 2022 I realised I didn’t have a great relationship with clothes. 

Figuring out what to wear occupied my thoughts continuously and many of my feelings around getting dressed were negative. This led to my current research project which explores our relationship with clothes, trying to understand how clothes make us feel - observing my behaviour and the people around me, while creating an online conversation. 

If I feel this way, surely others do as well. 

I love clothes. I believe in their power for self-expression, but not at the cost of other people or the planet.” Liz.

Research: Liz Sunshine’s personal relationship with clothes.

Self-reflection can often be the most powerful opportunity for growth, honesty and change.

Main objective: To start to observe personal behaviour and document Liz Sunshine’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour around getting dressed. 

This has been refined to assess the best way to explore and understand her relationship with clothes as a case study. 

  • What Liz is wearing every day (personal behaviour).

Questions including: 

  • How old is the oldest piece of clothing you are wearing right now?

  • How old is the newest piece of clothing you are wearing right now?

  • What theme are you researching this month?

  • How do new clothes make you feel?

  • What is the oldest piece of clothing you own?

  • Tell me a story about your clothes relating to your mental health.

  • Have you ever made a friend because of the way you dress?

  • Do you wear a uniform? How does it connect you to others?

Shopping ban.
With the aim of reducing consumption, Liz trialled a number of months off shopping to research how her thoughts and behaviour around purchasing were impacted. Further, this aimed to gather insights — on a personal level — on spending habits and thoughts and feelings around shopping.

How is this a valuable contribution to the project?
This provides a baseline for understanding her own thoughts and behaviour as related to consumption and getting dressed and more aptly positions Liz to relate to others on their journey.

Goals achieved: Liz took 2.5 months off shopping during this reporting period.

Number of personal surveys completed: 60

Reflection and discovery: The outcome of this concluded it was not a viable personal approach to limiting shopping and making more conscious choices and the approach was reported to prompt feelings of urgency and increased shopping in the lead-up to a ban.

Future opportunities: We are currently exploring a new solution in the form of a consumer awareness Q&A.

Social Conversation

Main objective: To encourage people to think about the feelings and actions that arise around getting dressed, or choosing clothes to bring into their lives. 

How is this a valuable contribution to the project?
In this digital age, we understand the opportunity we have been given to connect with people who have the same values as us.

Using Liz’s existing platform on Instagram and cultivating one on TikTok as well, nurtures potential to connect with a community of like-minded individuals who are curious and interested in talking about clothes.

This social conversation reflects some of our research and includes but is not limited to:

  • Responses to Q&As

  • Personal Reflections

  • Reading People’s Clothes

  • What People Are Wearing

  • Thoughtful notes

  • Open questions

  • Social polls

  • Community responses and shares

Considerations: 

  • Curiosity is key. Our intention is to create an unbiased, inclusive and values-based space to have this conversation

  • Only participating in partnerships that align with our core values

Examples of works:

 

Community projects

We are consciously reflecting on how we can work to our strengths and support more people within our community.


Portraits for people in need.

GO FUND ME

This year we initiated an ongoing project — Portraits for People in Need — offering a portrait exchange in support of Launch Housing’s mission to end homelessness.

A portrait exchange is an image that is taken on the street, either as part of a documentary day, at an event, or in response to a social media call out for availability on that day and location for a minimum donation of $30 to our GoFundMe which is directly linked to Launch Housing. Portraits are provided as a digital downloadable link upon proof of donation.

A donation of $30 will provide a safe room for someone in need for 30 days.

Main objective: To support Launch Housing’s mission to end homelessness.

Goals achieved: During this reporting period, we:

  • received over 90 donations; and,

  • surpassed our target goal of $5,000.

Winter Jacket Appeal.

Dijrra is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation delivering holistic, culturally safe, specialist family violence services and programs.

The Dijrra Koori Women’s Place relies on the generosity of individuals and organisations within the community to donate essential items such as clothing, toiletries and food relief. These types of donations play a significant role in providing basics for women who are escaping family violence.

Main objective: To facilitate a coat drive — promoted across Liz Sunshine’s socials — to contribute to the Koori Women’s Place Winter Jacket Appeal.

Goals achieved: These coats were donated to Koori Women’s Place on 30 June, 2022.

Social responsibility

Carbon tracking.

  • This year we have tracked our carbon footprint across the office, including all jobs and company projects to offset our total emissions for the year.

Sustainable office practices.

  • Reusable cups purchased and available for all staff in the office.

  • We are refurbishing the office using Australian-made products or second-hand.

  • Removed the office bin to become zero waste.

Inclusivity goals.

  • We have created diversity and inclusivity pillars and a tracking system. While this is by no means the only thing to be aware of, this is something we consciously consider and track internally where possible.

  • Authenticity is one of our most important values so we would never harness diversity as tokenism. We’re really keeping our eyes open to celebrate a range of people within the community that aren’t being seen or represented across other platforms.

    • With some jobs, we have no control over guest list etc., but absolutely consider inclusivity where possible.

If this topic is of interest to you, join the conversation in the Research dropdown menu by selecting one of the live surveys or get in touch.