Interviewer: Teddy (Scribe President 22/23)
Interviewees: Zuzanna: (she/her) and Joshua: (he/him) - Leeds RAG Fashion Show Directors 2023
1. How did the two of you end up getting involved with the show?
J: We just saw the opportunity to be directors on Instagram. I saw the link come up, applied and thought "just go for it".
Z: Two years ago, I thought about getting involved more with the marketing team, but it was a covid year, I didn't really wanna do that online, so I left it for next year. That was my last year in Leeds, my last chance, so why not? My flatmates encouraged me to do it.
J: We both had the same experience of getting rejected from so many things, when this actually came through we were like "finally!".
2. This year's LRFS is centred around mental health, what was the inspiration behind this choice?
Z: when we applied we had to send proposals, mine was based around mental health. When thinking about the proposals the first idea wasn't the creative vision. With LRFS being based on charities, I felt like: "what's the issue that I want to talk about?".
I'm someone that's struggled a lot, luckily I'm in a place where I got much needed help.
I also come from a family that didn't really speak about mental health before, so I sort of became a small advocate for it, members of my family who were very confused and lost, I was the one to speak up to say you might need a professional.
J: I have experiences too, Zuzanna speaking about it made me understand the importance of using your voice. Getting treatment can be so hard, waiting times, funding etc. I was only able to get help because of my family and friends. I think it shows a big problem.
T: I think that's really interesting Zuzanna, I feel like the communities that tend to have the most mental health problems are the ones that have it as the most taboo, which is really ironic.
Z: Yeah and although many young people are suffering today, I think we also need to educate older people on it, how it's not as simple as just smiling.
J: People need to realise there's no pride, you don't have to be ashamed, many of us just struggle and don't say anything.
Z: it should be treated as a health issue like any other. If I broke my leg my family would think I should go to the hospital, why is mental illness any different?
Photo credits to @4liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii_ on instagram
3. What is the process behind organising shoots and the show itself?
J: We did look at previous years as a guide, basically we started with the original team we had so we had a fundraising team and a sponsorship team, Kelsey the fashion show coordinator, Jack on the graphics, it was just us as a group and just had many conversations: what do we want, what's our goal? We worked out the concepts, from there it was building up a team, doing interviews in late September, the key was communication and being organised was essential.
Z: building a team we can rely on was very important. Sometimes it can be hard to give out responsibilities to people.
4. What does this year's show mean for each of you, personally? Is there anything in particular that speaks to you about this experience?
Z: we touched on this earlier, but this idea came from our hearts, it wasn't just a general artistic choice. The show somewhat represents our journeys which I think is quite powerful.
J: Just being given a platform, where our message will reach so many, it's a huge privilege, an opportunity to do something of change. Especially representing these amazing charities, it's very personal to us but also important for many of us.
5. I don't know if this is public info yet, but who are some of the fashion designers you've worked with this year that excite you in particular?
Z: Our stylists are mainly in charge of that. I don't wanna say names at this point but we do have designers that are making garments specifically for this show, which is very exciting.
J: We really wanted to make use of the local talent, especially students. So far a lot of fashion students are getting involved, which is amazing.
6. Are there any names in the fashion industry, who either of you think deserve more recognition?
Z: Being in Copenhagen for a year, I met a lot of very talented people. It's hard to find people that aren't in the big fashion capitals, when there are so many other cities that are growing. Di vision is one of my favourites. London, Milan, Paris and New York. Some amazing talent in Berlin. We should look everywhere, locally, outside of Europe as well.
J: Fashion is changing but not fast enough, we need more representation to the different groups we have, French elitism, people are tired of the same thing, there's a lot we don't hear about. There's a lot of amazing work that doesn't get recognised.
7. What are your views on the current state of fashion, and do you see a career in the industry?
Z: Fashion being one of the main reasons for pollution, if you're a deep diver in fashion, you can be a good consumer, but we need to think about consumption. Shein was the most popular fashion label of 22'. I think fashion is more quality over quantity, thinking more about where we source clothing from, education and being more aware. We obsess over buying cheap clothing but how much are we buying? We're not thinking about how long that well-sourced, high quality item will last us.
J: Ultimately, we have run out of time with the climate crisis. The fashion world is just as culpable and has such a huge impact, they really need to step up their game, enforcing sustainability, teaching people how to be sustainable, and taking responsibility. It is a business ultimately, the artistry gets put aside sometimes, more focus on artistic and creative talent as well as sustainability is needed.
8. The promo so far seems to use clothing to represent emotions, what do you think about this concept on a more broad scale? Do you think maybe there can be a catharsis in dressing as how we feel?
Z: Everything is definitely an artistic expression for the promo, but I think we dress for our emotions already, subconsciously, wearing dark colours when I'm down for example. But clothing can also hide how you're feeling.
J: what you wear is your way of communicating to the world, expressing emotions is definitely harder with clothing, I guess being conscious of what you wear is more important, what you wear is the first image you give. What you wear is the first impression you give off.
9. What were/are some of the biggest challenges you've faced in preparing this year's show?
Z: mostly, it's very tight schedules, working in September, the show in February, doing such a big event in that amount of time is hectic. Communicating and working with a lot of people. Time is very stressful, but everything so far has been going smooth
J: It's not our full time job, we want to give 100 but it gets exhausting trying to juggle everything, there's only so many hours in a day. Getting people to take us seriously is also quite difficult. We're doing some really cool stuff over here. We want to get rid of that student amateur reputation.
10. If there was one message that you wanted to send from this year's show, what would it be?
Z: everyone struggles at some point and at some level , no one is really alone in their suffering , they can always find someone. Don't deal with issues on your own. There are 8 billion people in the world, one of them out there can help you.
J: how people look and what they're actually feeling are very different, you never really know what people are going through, we need to be kinder, it's something that everyone battles with, there's no need to have pride or shame, the sooner you speak up, the sooner you'll get help.