COMM2411 - Jaimie, Lauren, Lam, Josh

Communication and Social Relations Assignment #3 – Public Relations Lauren Ward, Yin Lam Kwong, Jaimie Toi & Josh Ng

In any city fashion is seen by many as a must need commodity after food. This is why the L’oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival celebrates the success of the fashion industry by celebrating Melbourne’s fashion and lifestyle industry by promoting and publicizing local and international fashion. By doing this it reflects how Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city, collaborating the best fashion from around the globe to support Melbourne’s local economy through effective public relations that can be easily accessed by consumers. Gick & Gick (2007) claims that the “visual narrative of fashion media” influences the way we dress. This is evident in the success of the fashion industry in Melbourne, as there are many accessible media artefacts within Melbourne and in particular at the 2010 L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, that promotes and advertises a specific brand such as Kookai, Target and Renegades.

This is due to the fact that communication media such as fashion magazines have a “power to proclaim a new sense of style” by reflecting the current trends in fashion through public relations, journalism and advertising (Gick & Gick 2007). These communication strands work closely together to form a positive identity in society.

However as Espiona (2010) has pointed out although media tries and suggest what we should wear, there are many consumers who reject mainstream fashion to create their identity as well as to fit into a group identity. It states that in society not all consumers have a lovemark brand loyalty to one specific brand. Instead it suggests that we aim to create our own sense of style by mixing and matching various brands to create a look. This is called personal style and it is a popular concept in all main big cities around the globe as well as a focus at the L’oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, as consumers have “the power to define and create trends” (Anonymous 2010). Gick & Gick (2007) tells us that consumers use clothing as a medium to express themselves with. They communicate their personal opinion, as clothes can function as an “open text”. The Sartorialist looks at this concept by taking

photographs around the globe to look what ideological position a city expresses. In an article by The Age, The Sartorialist compares Sydney with Melbourne at the Australian Fashion Festival looking at each cities identity through the medium of clothing. This article alone promotes Melbourne and Australia’s fashion scene by reflecting the “romance” in Melbourne and to look at how others perceive Melbourne through the medium of clothes (Schuman cited in Mc Inerney 2009).

"The girls here, in Sydney are sexy and beautiful and they celebrate their femininity where I think in Melbourne I think it is much more intellectual" (Schuman cited in Mc Inerney 2009).

This statement supports Gick & Gick’s (2007) claim of using clothing to represent an ideological position of a particular city.

The Melbourne Laneways are located and situated all over Melbourne’s Central Business District. These laneways and the alleyways form like a maze around Melbourne’s inner streets and have created a mysterious atmosphere to it. The alleyways act like canvases for street artists to paint on and express themselves.

Many people think that Melbourne’s street art is a form of vandalism. They argue that it dirties the walls and facilities in the city. They spray paint on rubbish bins, benches, parks. For example, there are rubbish bins situated around the city that have now transformed into colourful artworks because of the graffiti that has been spray painted on them. Halsey and Young (2002) break down and discuss the reasons and concept of graffiti and explore the cultural aspects it represents. They compare and contrast the act of graffiti and the act of vandalism together. They state that graffiti is a form of art instead of vandalism, therefore supporting the view that graffiti is not vandalism. The tourists, both national, support this and international who come to Melbourne to look at these heavily decorated walls, as if they were in an exhibition. This article also discusses and responds to several other sources, authors and even the views form graffiti artists themselves. In addition to help understand and analyze it. In the chapter of Ley and Cybriwsky (1974), they discuss

drawing wall graffiti is a way of expressing attitudes and behaviours, representing Melbourne’s individuality much like Melbourne’s fashion style. They also discuss that graffiti is used to mark a gang’s territory and identify the ways in which they communicate certain political and ethical issues. Ley and Cybriwsky (1974) support Halsey and Young’s perspective and further discuss the artworks done by number of graffiti artists are collective and how an artist’s nickname often displays their creativity and originality.

“Usually spray­painted from an aerosol can and is highly accentuated, embellished with elegant curves and generous serifs. The letters, like the name itself, convey a message of “style”, yet imply frustrated ambition, a bittersweet theme.”

They describe the graffiti in an artistic way can be pushed further to encourage graffiti artists to work on their paintings in a specific area and they can be displayed in a gallery showing that graffiti is socially acceptable. Graffiti has been an important representation of Melbourne and its culture that Art tours that explore Flinders Lane are being hosted (Sheriden Rhodes, 2009). In Sheriden Rhodes article, it takes readers through a four hour Walk to Art tour to explore the laneways in Melbourne and discusses the street art displayed on the walls. She also discusses the experience that she has by viewing the artworks, and comments that although the art tour is not popularly known it is slowly “helping bring the city’s renowned street art to life for aficionados and novices like myself”. In addition, she makes comments on how street art is in Melbourne, saying “street art – some officially sanctioned – is also thriving”, then followed by a step‐by‐step reflection of the tour. These tours support that graffiti of being socially acceptable in the laneways and bring people with the same interests together, which also bring in tourists. The government places such an importance on laneways in a way to advertise Melbourne, displaying the culture and identity that continue to form and grow in Melbourne, therefore supporting and accepting graffiti as an important feature that represents Melbourne.

Where food culture is present, social relationships are naturally generated. As mentioned by Loader David (2010) in his article, Café Culture, a relaxing environment of such, encourages a comfort zone for flexibility in generating thoughts and opinions. When you have Lygon Street for an example of a tourist environment, it adds to a different environment that cultivates a café culture perfectly. On the hand, a range of opinions and thoughts might actually trigger a negative impact during conversations occasionally for the fact that everyone comes from a different cultural background that results in having their own individual arguments towards different point of views. Referring to the literature review that Seamus Grimes (1993) published, where he covers the topic on how the idea of immigration might just bring about isolation from a diverse range of cultures. In agreement to that, we have Lygon Street as a well‐recognized concentration of Italian population since postwar immigration. With already a mindset of an Italian‐ like culture, non‐Italians who dine there will naturally identify themselves foreign to the place. With an especially strong Italian presence, non‐Italians will as well, establish an inferiority complex within vicinity of Lygon Street. Hence, Lygon isolates itself as a tourist attraction due to the different environment it portrays. At the same time, Lygon Street serves as a contradicting factor to Melbourne’s identity as a supposed Multi‐Cultural city. However, the notion to a food culture continues to hold itself as one of the most useful aspect of a socializing factor. George Gumerman (1997) emphasizes, in his journal, the point of how although individuals from different backgrounds of social, gender, economic background, or age group may have their own preferences towards food. He added that the production of food actually plays a role in adjusting social differentiations. George Gumerman (1997) believes that good food will always intrigue and lead most people to a conversation as they are capable in stimulating feedbacks and comments which are, most of the time, the ice‐breakers between silence on the table. On a different note, it might still confuse some to think otherwise of Melbourne as nothing like a Multi‐cultural society that they claim they are. The fact that Lygon Street portrays more of an isolated cultural ethnic group that distinctively differentiates itself from the rest of Melbourne’s multi‐cultural society within its particular cuisines and building

facades, it might not be the best way in portraying much of Melbourne’s multi‐ cultural aspect. Ultimately, communication is the device in enhancing public relationships and Lygon Street is a favorable place to get comfortable, let your hair down and interact with people from all walks of life. Although it may be a fact that people coming from different backgrounds may sometimes have opinions that clashes with one another, there are still opinions where many of us learn and get inspiration from, which is eventually, beneficial and essential towards broadening our knowledge much like the purpose of the state’s library, setting us aside from becoming a narrow‐minded individual.

Like Melbourne’s café culture and the way it encourages creative conversation, the State Library of Victoria aims to stimulate learning and education and represents the scholarly finesse of Melbourne. The lawns outside the state library are a popular spot for the public to enjoy lunch, as well as being a hotspot for many protest events, being that it is located in the heart of the CBD. The fact that protestors choose this the state’s library to protest, other than for its location in the heart of the city, leads one to question why they do so, and what advantages do they have. To help understand the concept and tactics behind this, Kaplan and Lui’s (2002) artefact explore the psychology behind protestors and why they choose to participate in them through analysis of data from a panel study. They claim that by becoming active in these protests that it will instill self‐enhancing qualities, whilst the reasoning behind their participation is due to their “need to attain or restore self‐ acceptance on the part of individuals who are characterized by persuasive self‐ derogation resulting from chronic experiences of rejection and failure” (pg. 598).

From this reading and analyzing the audience who utilize the state’s library, it is clear that protestors are attempting to target secondary and tertiary students, who are still in the developing years, by exposing them to these issues during this critical stage in their lives, so that they will hopefully feel the need to get involved and perhaps feel as if they should/need to contributing to the good in society. We are then presented with the emotional link protestors have with the certain subject in which they are fighting for. Jasper’s (1998) reading helps us to understand

protestors through an emotional perspective, and attempts to assess the strong emotional ties to the subject matter. He states that the general census believe that such emotions can render protestors somewhat irrational. Jasper then states his position by commending the rationality and direction protestors take and what they want to achieve. Although Jasper makes some reputable claims, the actions of protestors are disruptive rather than educational. People are often deterred by the aggressive nature of protests and tend to stay away from the library because of this, ultimately preventing its sole purpose, which is to educate the public. In contrast to Kaplan’s and Jaspers readings, Cannold’s (2010) article brings to light the lack of obedience within the inner sanctums of the State Library of Victoria. The article addresses the matter in a conversational manner between what is assumed to be two children. Cannold then starts to rant about the rush of secondary students who raid the State Library and begin to become disruptive and loud. She then comments on the lack of action taken on behalf of the librarian staff as her appeals were largely ignored. This article addresses the problematic situation the library is facing, and how it is changing from a place that allows you to lose yourself in knowledge, to a space that is constructed for social gatherings. The state library has come to represent more than just education and grand design in modern Melbourne. As the library has evolved, it has come to represent individuality, much like the laneway’s and Melbourne’s fashion scene, as well as addressing the some problematic aspects that it faces (public transport system, death road toll etc.).

Sources and References: Laneways: Halsey, Mark and Young, Alison, 2002, The Meanings of Graffiti and Municipal Administration, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, The, Vol. 35, No. 2

Ley, David and Cybriwsky, Roman, 1974, Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers, Annals Of the Association of American Geography, Vol. 64, No. 4, Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Pp. 491‐505.

Sheriden Rhodes, 2009, ‘Going to the wall: touring Melbourne’s street art’, The Age, viewed 18 April 2010, <http://www,theage.com.au/travel/going‐to‐the‐wall‐ touring‐melbournes‐street‐art‐20090730‐e34v.html>

Melbourne Fashion: Anonymous (2010) Loréal Melbourne Fashion Festival Official Booklet 2010 Melbourne.

Espinosa, J 2010 “Changes in style and changes in Fashion”, MIT Media Lab Cambridge USA. Retrieved 7th April 2010 from <http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~jhe/TechnoIdentity/FinalProject.html>

Gick, E & Gick, W. (2007) Why the Devil Wears Prada: The Fashion Formation Process in a Simultaneous Disclosure Game Between Designers and Media. Centre for European Studies Working Paper Series #147, Retrieved 7th April 2010 from <http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/publications/docs/pdfs/ Gickrevised.pdf>

Mc Inerney, S 2009, ‘The Sartorialist rates Sydney vs Melbourne Fashion’, The Age (Melbourne), April 28th 2009, Retrieved 7th April 2010 from <http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/the‐sartorialist‐rates‐sydney‐vs‐ melbourne‐fashion‐20090428‐al54.html>

State Library Of Victoria: Kaplan, Howard B. and Liu, Xiaoru, 2000, Social Protest and Self‐Enhancement: A Conditional Relationship, Socialigical Forum, Vol. 15, No.4, pp. 595‐616

Jasper, James M., 1998, The Emotions of Protest: Affective and Reactive Emotions in and around Social Movements, Sociological Forum, Vol.13, No.3, Springer pp 397‐ 424.

Cannold, Leslie, 2010 Chattering classes invade library quiet, The Age, viewed 18 April 2010, <http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society‐and‐culture/chattering‐ classes‐invade‐library‐quiet‐20100222‐oro0.html>

Lygon Street: Loader, David, Jan/Feb 2010, Café Culture, The National Education Magazine, pp.67.

Seamus Grimes, 1993, Residential Segregation in Australian Cities: A Literature Review, Iternational Migration Review, Vol. 27,No. 1, pp.103‐120

George Gumerman IV, 1997, Food and Complex Societies, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp.105‐139.