Lauren Crowther

Through my studies of Fashion Marketing I’ve seen how fashion brands’ can spotlight. various causes to their very captive audience, hence showing the importance of them getting involved with activism and rapidly responding to the events, interests and views facing society today. I did not want to restrict the Activate platform to just a fashion perspective so opened it to the whole of society instead. However, I have demonstrated my creativity and love of fashion styling through a secondary project, wherein I showcased the unique street style of Jaded London in a skate themed shoot.

My initial inspiration for this idea came when taking activism to social media peaked during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. We saw how powerful digital spaces can be for educating oneself, spreading important messaging, and supporting worthy causes. However, this method of activism had its downsides. I noticed this particularly, when ‘Black Out Tuesday’ took place. While people were trying to support by posting black squares, this actually ended up halting the whole movement.

This prompted me to look closer at what other obstacles activists face today. The fake news epidemic, lack of institutional education on social issues, the disorganised nature of social media, the ‘phases’ of popularity causes seem to go through, and ‘woke-washing’ from brands. This is where Activate arose, as a credible, organised, engaging platform for young activists to educate and connect from, while also aiding businesses take meaningful action to eradicate woke-washing.