{"id":410,"date":"2022-01-14T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/?p=410"},"modified":"2022-08-29T15:49:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T22:49:32","slug":"conscious-consumption-fashion-forward-thinking-with-dr-jimmy-choi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/2022\/01\/14\/conscious-consumption-fashion-forward-thinking-with-dr-jimmy-choi\/","title":{"rendered":"Conscious consumption: Fashion forward-thinking with Dr. Jimmy Choi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThere is a disassociation with fashion marketing and shopping,\u201d says Dr. Jimmy Choi, KPU fashion marketing program coordinator and instructor. \u201cShopping is an important part of the business, but we’re trying to teach our students to be more conscious.\u201d<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After moving to North America from Seoul, South Korea where he first began learning about clothing and textiles, Jimmy made it his mission to teach his students in both Canada and the United States the truth behind one of the world\u2019s highest polluting industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFashion is one of the biggest industries responsible for the carbon footprint,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheap fabric and materials used in fast fashion are harming the environment through the depletion of non-renewable sources, emission of greenhouse gases and the use of massive amounts of water and energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cToday, I am more aware and try to convey that ethos to my students because they’re going to be the future of the industry, they’re going to make changes in the industry, and I hope that it goes far enough to even make a small change, one step at a time.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI had this craving to do more research on the topic,\u201d he adds. \u201cI have always wondered, \u2018Why is this person wearing this, versus that.\u2019 We all have a choice. Whether it’s conscious or unconscious, people decide to wear something that day for whatever reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Held on March 21, 2019, Behind the Brand was an event centered around a panel discussion to give industry and students an opportunity to hear from experienced professionals.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Still in search of the perfect answer for his question, Jimmy continues to grow his knowledge of the industry by helping his students create their own business plans in both the Wilson School of Design and Melville School of Business, while ensuring they are aware of how they can make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since becoming a specialist and educator in fashion, Jimmy says he has changed his shopping habits where possible, which includes buying from brands approaching the industry in more practical, eco-friendly ways. Most of his own shopping today is for his outdoor activities, like skiing, cycling, rock climbing and running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cMy shopping has shifted over the last few years. I try to focus on the brands that are being a little bit more responsible or are trying to up their game when it comes to reducing the carbon footprint, being more environment friendly, or using sustainable materials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as adopting some of his ethical shopping habits, he has noticed his students growing an interest in the thrift store market, some setting up their own online stores on Depop – a secondhand shopping platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn general, it is a positive movement. Reselling clothes they don’t wear anymore is a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the flipside, there is an ethical debate about how new, luxury thrift shops are impacting actual people who need those clothes,\u201d he says while discussing price markups on used items – a 1990s Hard Rock Caf\u00e9 t-shirt, or collectible sneakers coming to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe question I ask might be, \u2018Is this market necessary?\u2019 Especially with those highly coveted resale outlets,\u201d he adds. \u201cThrift stores have been in our society for a while, but we are seeing a new form of upscale thrift store.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jimmy says that he sees both sides, but believes that because the market is growing, it is still better than buying new clothes every time. \u201cIt will be interesting to see the long-term implication for people who might want those or need those clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Graduating Fashion Marketing students, the 2019 class, had their portfolios and other projects on display.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur students are really aware of the issue and want to make changes,\u201d he concludes. \u201cIt’s not an easy thing to balance because as a business, you need to make revenue but at the same time, at what cost are we selling these clothes, at what cost are we wearing these clothes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Article by Brit Williams, Internal Communication Specialist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere is a disassociation with fashion marketing and shopping,\u201d says Dr. Jimmy Choi, KPU fashion marketing program coordinator and instructor. \u201cShopping is an important part of the business, but we’re trying to teach our students to be more conscious.\u201d After moving to North America from Seoul, South Korea where he first began learning about clothing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1300,"featured_media":411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":18,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14,20],"class_list":["post-410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wilson-school-of-design-blog","tag-faculty-spotlight","tag-fashion-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1300"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410\/revisions\/415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/wilsondesignloop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}