Manifesto

So, we are halfway through our manifesto unit now, its going ok but i am begining to worry about getting it all finished in time. By Monday I need to have 6 of my favourite designs set out for my tutors to pick one for me to make. The problem is, I can't pick my 6 favourites! Hopefully during the week i will have done more designs and out of them will come my favourites.
We were able to choose anything we wanted to design for this project which was good because it meant that I could choose underwear.
Other than the worrying about time etc I have really been enjoying this unit. I have had to do so much research to find out what lingerie is available and in what sizes, I never realised just how many styles and shapes there could be. I was amazed as to how expensive some of the higher fashion sets are, one of the bras I found was £150!
I found a lingerie company that I had never heard of before called Myla, they are based in London and design really gorgeous underwear and the best thing about it is that they do bras with a 30 back size! Only problem is that they are expensive and it will be a long while before I will be able to afford to shop there.

As part of this unit we have to create a Design Manifesto which sets out our design ethics and aims. I am finding this quite easy when it comes to deciding on my views and ethics but struggling when it comes to actually writing it. In our manifesto we have to say what our opinions are on eco fashion, I have done some really eye opening research for this. The most memorable of what I found during this research was a documentary on Channel 4 called Kill it, Skin it, Wear it which tackles the issue of the fur trade. The presenter went to fur manufacturers and spoke to various people about the fur trade, what she uncovered was both shocking and reassuring.
The first place she went was to a mink farm, the minks there were all kept in cages and it looks relatively clean and humane, to kill the minks they were taken from the cage and dropped into a box which had gas released into it which killed the minks in a matter of seconds. This seemed like a really humane way of killing the minks and i think that as long as the minks are farmed specifically for fur, live a comfortable life and are killed in such a humane way then i think it is no different to farming cows for food and leather.
However, later in the programme she saw footage of a fox farm where the foxes were in cages far too small for them to be comfortable, the animals showed obvious signs of distress and it was really unclean. In order to protect the fur the farmers didnt want to shoot or stab the fox so they would stamp on their head to make it unconcious whilst they skin it. After the fox had been skinned you could see it blink, to show that it was still alive, i think that this is horrible and disgusting and i don't see how anyone could ever be so cruel. There is no way that a fox fur coat or stole is worth causing an animal such pain.
The programme showed the two different sides of the fur trade, i think that watching it made me realise that in some cases its not as bad as many animal rights group make it seem but also it can be much worse than I have ever imagined it to be.
I dont think i will ever use fur in my designs as i do not think that an animal should be killed for fashion. I do not mind using or wearing leather because cows are primarily killed for food and leather is an added bonus to this so i think that if the animal is going to die anyway it would be a waste if the leather didnt get used.