Contextual Essay by Hannah Jeanie

How does the current social, economic and cultural climate affect young creatives in the UK today? Hannah Jeanie Thomson BA (Hons) Fashion Communication Academic Year 2014/15

A B S T R A C T The predominant purpose of this essay is to investigate through a variety of mediums how, and to what extent, the current social, economic and cultural climate affects young creatives within the United Kingdom today, focusing specifically on the present generation; Generation Y. An in-depth literature review was undertaken to provide a detailed insight into current information already available on the topic and to support the overarching investigation objectives. Additional research was commenced through an online survey, aimed at Millennials, and a focus group of young creatives, to provide a basis of quantitative data that provided accurate opinions of the target audience for the essay.

The outcome of this research revealed that the current young creatives of this generation have faced stigmas of social stereotypes and ideals, economic turmoil due to the great recession and have had to adapt to the ever-changing cultural environment around them. Through a multitude of difficulties, primarily financial, they have adapted repeatedly and still strive to stay creative, pursue artistic avenues and generate new archetypes, demonstrating a strong cohort that have overcome typecasts and turbulences challenged by todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current climate.

C O N T E N T S Abstract Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1

Chapter 2: Social 2.1 Generation Y & Stereotypes 2 2.2 Are the youth less interested in work? 3 2.3 Outdated Social ideals 4

Chapter 3: Economic 3.1 The Great Recession 5 3.2 Is there a decline in young creatives in schools? 3.2.1 Universities

5-6 6-7

3.3 Unemployment 7 3.4 Young creatives in work 8 3.4.1 Non-creative & multiple jobs 9 3.5 Crowd-funding

3.6 Should creatives work for free?

3.6.1 Internships

9-10 10 11

Chapter 4: Cultural

4.1 Generation Y & Technology

4.2 Subcultures

4.2.1 Hipsters 4.2.2 Shoreditchification

12 13-15 15-17 17-18

4.3 The Progressive Generation

Chapter 5: Conclusion

References Bibliography 21-23

List of Illustrations

Appendix 25-32

CHAPTER 1

I N T R O D U C T I O N Creative thinking is imperative to conceiving and constructing all new ideas or inventions and is the backbone of design. “Creativity is clearly important on a national and global level for economic growth and development” (Education Scotland, 2014) however through changes in the environment of the UK the importance of it, specifically in youth, has drastically declined. The current youth generation, Generation Y, have been described as “special since birth” (Howe & Strauss, 2009) and are expected to achieve great things, yet they are the same generation who have come of age during the Great Recession, a tumultuous time for the financially stable let alone adolescents at the beginning of their careers. Having such predictions of a generation can be harmful to their development in an ever-changing climate I plan to investigate how these social, economic and cultural factors, affect young creatives within the UK today.

CHAPTER 2 S O C I A L

1 2.1 Generation Y & Stereotypes Generation names were devised to distinguish the similarities within eras and differentiate each one from the former and future; a technique that has defined common characteristics from every period but has stereotyped entire generations under the same ideals, regardless of personal opinions. I belong to Generation Y, commonly referred to as the ‘Millennials’, a cohort that has been described by Neil Howe and William Strauss, authors of Millennials Rising: The Next Generation as “unlike any other youth generation in living memory” (Howe & Strauss, 2009). Being the first generation to grow up with the Internet we are defined as technologically literate, confident and ambitious, however not all descriptions are as positive. Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me, a book highlighting the negative aspects of Generation Y, has referred to Millennials as “narcissistic” and “entitled”. Pigeonholing an entire entity of people is a precipice for disagreements of ideals resulting in these contrasting views of the current youth.

2.2 Are the youth less interested in work?

“Compared to previous generations, recent high school graduates are more likely to want lots of money and nice things, but less likely to say they’re willing to work hard to earn them.” (Pearson, 2013)

Catherine Pearson of Huffington Post, has stated, according to Twenge, that the current youth have a sense of entitlement that makes them expect more than any other generation without putting any effort in. The ‘Monitoring the Future’ survey concurs this point through its study of adolescent’s behaviour. “Teens today appear to desire money more than high school seniors did in the 1970s: 62 percent of those surveyed from 2005 to 2007 said it was important to them to have a lot of money, compared to just 47 percent from 1976 to 1978” (Pearson, 2013) but “In the late 1970s, a quarter of students surveyed admitted they did not want to work hard. By the mid-2000s, that had jumped to 39 percent” (Pearson, 2013). Although this emulates Twenge’s thoughts it has been challenged by many including Chamorro-Premuzic who has counteracted each negative aspect of Gen Y alongside their positive attributes and has discussed how employers of this generation should be cautious of statistics, stating; “generalisations based on scientific evidence are unlikely to help, because they undermine important individual differences within a generation” (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2014)

While Millennials may appear to be entitled they are a generation, unlike any other that are warranted in desiring better for themselves and their future children. I explored the impression of wanting more for less through a survey I conducted consisting of thirty Millennials aged between eighteen and thirty-two. When participants were asked if they would rather have a job they enjoyed for lower pay than a job they disliked for a higher salary, twenty-two agreed they would rather like their career than be paid well. Another question tested was how many of the contributors were currently employed; only eight were not, all of whom were not working due to being full-time students. While some individuals presume they should earn high wages without either effort or appreciating their employment the majority’s work ethic is strong with an emphasis on hard work and value in their area of expertise. Again, this highlights the danger of typecasting a generation collectively and placing unjustified, negative labels on them, which could result in Millennials not being hired due to incorrect facts or unjust bias.

2.3 Outdated Social ideals

Alternative labels including the “Boomerang” and “Peter Pan” Generation (Zapata, 2009) have referred to an abundance of young adults either still living with their parents or returning to the family home in their twenties. This has resulted in a damaging portrayal, depicting lazy freeloaders who refuse to grow up, but through my survey I discovered that twelve of them are still living with their parents with the majority doing so to save for a deposit on their own property. In 2013 journalist Hilary Osborne stated that first time buyers in England would have to save for a decade just to have enough money for a deposit. With such high costs it is understandable why young people simply cannot afford to leave their childhood home and with no change in the market it makes stereotypes of ‘lazy’ youths irrelevant. In the past the norm was to marry and own your property before thirty, with the median age of first marriages being 24.7 for men and 22.0 for women in 1980 (Infoplease, 2010), but the social climate evolves so drastically throughout each generation that these ideals are currently outdated and unrealistic. Marriage and children are no longer first and foremost in terms of ambitions; the table below proves this, as it was part of my survey based on categorizing said areas into order of personal importance for the average Millennial.

This alongside 42% of marriages ending in divorce in 2014 (Rogers & Sedghi, 2014) encourages the youth not to make their parents mistakes by eloping young. Socially, the UK has changed dramatically over the past few decades and today it is now acceptable and common for young people to live at home in their twenties and focus on themselves and their careers over creating families. These vicissitudes have coined negative stereotypes but ultimately show an adaption to surroundings and a willingness to alter archetypes accordingly to suit today’s youth.

CHAPTER 3 ECONOMIC 3.1 The Great Recession In 2008 the UK was plunged into the Great Recession that began in America and filtered over to the majority of Europe (Pettinger, 2013). Britain suffered for six consecutive quarters and “according to Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, the economy shrank by around 5% in 2009, the largest fall in output since 1931” (Telegraph, 2010). The effect on the country was drastic, unemployment rose, banks collapsed along with much of the renowned British High Street. “Despite, cuts in interest rates and large sums of quantitative easing, the UK economy stalled in 2011 and went into a double dip recession” (Pettinger, 2013). Since then the economy has been expanding gradually and is believed that we are now out of the recession, although it will take years before we fully recover.(The Economist, 2013)

3.2 Is there a decline in young creatives in schools? “The creative industries constitute 7% of UK GDP – the highest proportion in the world and there is a fundamental link between art and design education and our status as world leader in this field.” To determine the effect the economy is currently having on young creatives in the UK today the first area of discussion must be with the recession’s effect on education. In 2014 the EBacc, English Baccalaureate, was initiated as a “performance measure” (Gov, 2014) and comprises of the following subjects; English, Mathematics, the Sciences, History or Geography and a language (Gov, 2014). “…Since the EBacc was introduced in 2010, the number of art GCSEs studied by children had fallen by 14%” (Williams, 2014). NSEAD (The National Society for Education in Art and Design) found that the decline in students studying Art and Design at AS Level was extremely high, having dropped from 71, 871 in 2011 to 65,960 in 2014 (NSEAD, 2014).

With schools not placing an importance on creative subjects it can deter students from pursuing them. Having interviewed a focus group of six young creatives I asked if the schools they attended had placed a prominence on artistic subjects and each of them said they were available yet not deemed as significant; “These subjects were available to study however it never felt like the school felt there was any value in learning them or wanting to make a career out of them. “ Rachel Williams, a journalist at The Guardian, has discovered that some institutes are removing these subjects from the curriculum with 14% of schools withdrawing design and 11% retracting textiles. One member from my focus

group recalled how she was encouraged not to study art, as it would be a “waste of my ‘academic talents.’” This attitude towards the arts is dangerously harmful in allowing a generation to grow up not knowing the importance creativity and design has on the economy as a whole. “It is art and design education – in schools, colleges and universities – that nurture and support this creativity and provide the supply chain to the creative industries which continue to generate the wider economic, as well as the social and cultural, benefits that we all enjoy” (Westwood, 2012)

This statement from Andy Westwood, of the Guild of Higher Education, conveys the importance of creative subjects in education entirely; it verifies that the focus on these areas must be greater to ensure our schools teach and produce a innovative class of young individuals that can continue to develop our delicate economy through the powerhouse that is the creative and arts industry.

3.2.1 Universities

“Humanities and arts have been labeled by government officials as “low priority” subjects and so funding has been retracted to pave way for greater focus on more practical courses such as Sciences, Accounting and Economics” (Barker, 2013). Barker, a journalist and student, highlights how the approach schools are taking has continued through to universities. With the rise of tuition fees, the average undergraduate course in the UK now costs £9000 per annum (Patton, 2014) which discourages potential students from applying to universities but it also poses the question, is a creative degree worth the risk? The majority of students attend university with the hope of a graduate job at the end, but with an unstable economic climate studying a creative trade with the outcome of a career can seem uncertain.

“The changes in university education and the current economic climate have come together to create an environment in which young people have no need for creative or humanities degrees and therefore cannot afford to pursue them.” (Barker, 2013) 6

Barker’s argument is sound but with recent statistics showing that the creative industries are arising from the recession quicker than virtually all other parts of the economy (Westwood, 2012) it proves that there is employment available, especially within the fashion industry, which has managed to grow £5billion since 2009 (McCorguodale, 2014). Fortunately all members of my focus group, who are currently studying or recently graduated from a creative degree, agreed that they intend to pursue a career within the industry, demonstrating that a higher education in an art and design institute pushes young creatives to take the risk associated with their degrees and follow their instincts into the creative industry.

3.3 Unemployment

“If you were to line up Britain’s unemployed youth, they would stretch from London to Edinburgh.” (Howard, 2014)

Arguably the worst outcome of the recession is the unemployment crisis that is happening within the UK today. Although already proven that the majority of youth want to work the reality is that any job is hard to find, let alone a career in a graduates chosen field. “Under-25s are now almost four times more likely to be jobless than their elders” (Howard, 2014) and “For the first time in a century, middle-class youth are set to be worse off than our parents’ generation” (Howard, 2014). Howard, a journalist at The Guardian, has affirmed. These statistics are worrisome especially with the limited help from the Government. “When the coalition government was elected in 2010, it immediately removed both the youth minister and the £1bn Future Jobs Fund” (Howard, 2014) Understandably with the difficulties faced throughout the recession, cuts and amendments were made across many public service sectors but the replacement for the Future Jobs Fund did not live up to expectations. The Work Programme was created as a cheaper alternative to enlist youths in work placements but it was unsuccessful in delivering 92% of the positions it assured in its primary year (Howard, 2014) and since then only “around 1 in 8 had three … months in work after twelve months on the programme.” (Pierce, 2014) The Work Programme can be described as ‘promising’ at best and when asked, as part of my survey, if any contributors had experienced a prolonged period of unemployment, not through personal choice, a fifth said they had proving that unemployment is still an issue. The impact can be seen through The Prince’s Trust’s Youth Index 2014, which has shown 40% of unemployed youths have experienced indicators of mental illness, completely connected to being jobless. The Chief Executive of the Prince’s Trust, Martina Milburn, added; “unemployment is proven to cause devastating, long-lasting mental health problems among young people. Thousands wake up every day believing that life isn’t worth living, after struggling for years in the dole queue.” (The Prince’s Trust, 2014) The current unemployment predicament is undoubtedly affecting today’s youth, not just financially but by placing their health at risk, which is harmful to themselves and the country.

5 3.4 Young creatives in work. With the unemployment being so high in Britain it poses the question, what are the young creatives who are working doing and is it beneficial? The British High Streets were hit hard by the recession with huge retailers including Jessops, HMV and La Senza (Retail Research, 2014) all going into administration. With worldwide corporations unable to survive the recession it has became an incredibly difficult time for entrepreneurs. Fortuitously the Carnegie UK Trust has created a project called ‘Test Town’; “The ‘Test Town’ concept has been providing young people with access to vacant high street units around the UK, allowing them to showcase their new business ideas in one of the country’s largest ever entrepreneurial competitions.” (Cambridge Network, 2014) Projects like this are valuable in helping give young creatives a chance at showcasing their talents and work while boosting the economy in the process. MP, Penny Mordaunt, has indicated; “This competition is a wonderful way of supporting young people who have the get-up and go that is needed to help our high streets thrive.” (Cambridge Network, 2014) The Test Town competition is a huge positive to emerge from the recession, proving Britain’s young creatives have the ambition and talent to help rebuild our fractured economy.

3.4.1 Non-creative & multiple jobs “Many young people are trying to make a go of creative careers, not because they are free from concerns about making a living but because they are supported by other, often menial, jobs or make do with low pay.” (Campbell, 2014) I believe this statement, by author and founder of ‘Everyday We’re Hustling’ blog, Miranda Campbell, epitomizes the majority of current young creatives work lives. Having questioned my focus group if they had jobs whilst pursuing their creative degrees and pursuits all but one said they worked to help fund their projects. I, myself, worked two jobs whilst studying third year at university just to keep myself afloat financially throughout the year. Although working throughout studies evokes a strong work ethic in young individuals, due to the minimal creative jobs available for undergraduates the work these people do varies and is rarely in their chosen field. The array of jobs undertaken by my focus group included work in bars, company administration, care homes and banks. This attitude to working whatever is available is beneficial to the economy as there are fewer stigmas attached to working specific jobs although it is not always beneficial to the individual. Out with providing an income the experience is often limited due to the work being entirely separate from their planned future career.

3.5 Crowd-funding Crowd-funding is a relatively new process for young creatives to focus purely on their projects without having to work, yet still gain money and peak interest. Crowd-funding is “the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.” (Oxford Dictionary, 2014) It is a procedure that has gained huge success within the art industry, most recently through film and television, both ‘Veronica Mars’ and Zach Braff’s ‘Wish I Was Here’ were crowd-funded purely through kickstarter campaigns targeted at their fans and appreciators of the artistic process.

“I was about to sign a typical financing deal in order to get the money to make “Wish I Was Here,” my follow up to “Garden State.” It would have involved making a lot of sacrifices I think would have ultimately hurt the film. I’ve been a backer for several projects on Kickstarter and thought the concept was fascinating and revolutionary for artists and innovators of all kinds.” The intelligence of these projects is that all proceeds go directly to the innovation and allows the artist full creative control. Creatives use these schemes as a solution to funding a project but not as a continual financial outlet. It provides a boost of money so that the artist can be fully devoted to their project without having to work alongside it, taking attention away from the art. The downside is ensuring there are enough people aware of the project and willing to donate money to the cause. It is a short-term solution to help bring an idea to reality and has been revolutionized by the Internet, allowing young creatives to construct their projects with piece of mind that they have enough money to complete it.

3.6 Should creatives work for free? Due to the uncertainty of jobs available for young creatives many agree to work for free with the hope of coverage. While this is the individuals personal decision it has become something that is often expected from all creatives but when no other trade is asked to work for free why can we expect it from creatives? Frank Swain, a speaker, has stated that; “I can’t pay my rent with exposure and goodwill” (Campbell, 2014) and nor should he have to. Fortunately some organisations have taken action against this. The Writers Guild of Great Britain have created a campaign ‘Free is NOT an option’ to highlight the unjustness of asking creatives to work without payment. “The unpaid commitment now routinely expected of a writer constitutes weeks of work and time consuming, expensive research. If it is unacceptable to ask other professionals to work for free then it is unacceptable to expect writers to work for nothing.” (Writer’s Guild, 2014)

This is a topic I posed within my focus group, all of whom agreed it should not be accepted; “In a workplace such as a company/fashion house if I am doing the same job as a paid colleague I would want paid for my contribution.” All participants agreed that if a creative was asked to work for a company they should be earning minimum wage. One contributor who is in their Honours year at university mentioned she had been approached to create a fashion film for a nightclub but that she would not be paid for it as they believed it would be “good for your portfolio.” Producing and finding work alone is difficult for any creative without being expected to produce work for businesses for free resulting in worrying about how to financially support themselves.

3.6.1 Internships

Another area where young creatives are expected to work with little to no payment is in internships. Fashion internships specifically are notorious for consisting of extensive hours, often unpaid just for the chance to gain minimal experience. Films including ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ have showcased the grueling labor exerted by interns. Interns Anonymous allows people to discuss their internships without disclosing their identity and damaging their careers. The contributors discuss their lack of pay and how they were treated or more often than not mistreated. “This is not only about no wages, but about bad immoral treatment, modern day slavery. I was treated with no respect and it made me feel worthless, even though I know they have gained so much from the work I have done for them. Is this humane? Is this legal?” (Interns Anonymous, 2012) As this issue has become prevalent within the public eye companies have begun to change their ways, although not always for the better. Conde Nast has recently abolished many of their internship programmes after previously employed interns sued them for underpayment (Topham, 2013). This may help young individuals from being exploited but no longer offers them the chance of gaining work experience within the industry. I questioned my focus group about their experience with internships within the fashion industry. Out of the ten undertaken only two were paid, at minimum wage. The rest were unpaid although four of them included travel and lunch expenses, a step in the right direction. Internships allow young people to experience the industry they wish to work in and are important but under the right conditions, including reasonable hours, work that provides valuable experience and payment, to ensure the benefit from the involvement.

CHAPTER 4 C U L T U R A L

4.1 Generation Y & Technology Often described as ‘Digital Natives’ (Harrison, 214) current Millennials have seen surrounded by technology since birth, proved by my survey, which showed that all thirty people owned their first mobile phone before the age of eighteen. We are a generation that is technically literate and nearly 75% of us feel we cannot cope without the Internet (Harrison, 2014). The reliance and obsession with technology can seem shocking with statistics showing that 83% of Millennials sleep with their smartphone (Nielson, 2014). Whether this is a positive or negative has been widely discussed. Positives from participants of my survey said that the benefits were contact with geographically distant friends and family, ease and amount of information available, promoting businesses and safety. All of which are important aspects to the current generation yet the amount of time spent using technology has become a source of concern to many, including young people themselves. There has been a decline in use of social media sites including Facebook and Twitter by adolescents over the past few years. (Rose, 2014) The negative aspects the contributors mentioned were the following; time wasting, addictive, relied on too heavily, dangerous for children’s development socially and academically, cyber-bulling or ‘trolling’, ‘laziness’ and the most common damaging trait deliberated, lack of human interaction. Connection is a positive amongst users of technology and social media but the connection is experienced online is virtual. The idea of virtual existence is a factor that appears to be growing increasingly dangerous to young people with the recent rise of ‘Catfishing.’ MTV created ‘Catfish: The TV Show’ after host Neve Shulman documented his own experience with the phenomenon that comprises of becoming involved in a relationship with someone online that they have never met, therefore not knowing the individuals true identity. (MTV, 2014) To date the show has created thirty-seven episodes each dedicated to a couple sharing a

relationship online. Although the show has been a success the amount of people who have lied about their identity is alarming as it something that happens regularly online to unsuspecting youths. This can be dangerous as many young creatives showcase their work online via blogs and any interactions with strangers online cannot prove the person is who they say they are. Of course the positives of technology are vast but it is something to be used with caution in order to keep young individuals and creatives safe.

4.2 Subcultures “Subcultures are values and norms distinct from those of the majority and are held by a group within a wider society.” (Moffitt, 2014) They were once normality for teenagers to identify their specific tastes in music, fashion and ideologies but recently have become somewhat extinct. When asked if participants of my survey felt they belonged to a subculture all replied ‘no’. When only a few decades previous these cliques were a way of life for youths why do they barely exist today? “Could it be that, for the first time since pop culture emerged in the 1950s, it too is being gentrified, even made elitist?” (O’Hagan, 2014) This questions posed by journalist Sean O’Hagan makes for an interesting discussion about pop culture as a whole. Alex Petridis, a journalist at The Guardian has affirmed; “Today, the lack of anything equivalent to the radical student movements of the 60s that fed into both the hippy movement and punk means a lack of ideas trickling down into pop culture.” (Petridis, 2014) With pop culture offering up little in the way of statements and messages youth of today are looking elsewhere for ideas, mainly online. Young creatives are comprising their own subcultures virtually; “It’s not necessarily happening on street corners any more, but it’s certainly happening online.” states Dr Ruth Adams, Kings College London. (Petridis, 2014) These new subcultures pose the same qualities that previous generations did and create style tribes worldwide. One of the most recent trends was that of Sea Punks, which has been described by Vice magazine as; “Seapunk today is the ex-girlfriend we thought we knew, but then she cut her hair, dyed it turquoise, started listening to different music and untagged all her old Facebook photos” (Lilinternet, 2012)

It emerged online by users of blog-site Tumblr and was soon embraced by celebrities including Katy Perry, Kylie Jenner and Azealia Banks. When the adoption of celebrities began, the originators of the subculture announced the end of the movement. This is nothing new in the terms of trends and subcultures although the difference lies in the speed that this happened. Subcultures from Generation X lasted years whereas Sea Punk was dead in months due to the pace and rate of information online. “The Internet doesn’t spawn mass movements, bonded together by a shared taste in music, fashion and ownership of subcultural capital” it spawns brief microcosmic ones.” (Petridis, 2014)

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seapunk today is the ex-girlfriend we thought we knew, but then she cut her hair, dyed it turquoise, started listening to different music and untagged all her old Facebook photosâ&#x20AC;? (Lilinternet, 2012) 14

These movements are destined to fail from the outset with the attitude aimed toward them, barely at the adoption stage they are mocked and become clichéd before they had a chance to become a true subculture resulting in fewer youth attempting to belong to or create a subgroup through fear of ridicule or imitation. The lack of subcultures has yet to be described as a good or bad step, when once it was a necessity it is now something that youngsters do not deem as important. This allows for young creatives to pave their own way without having to conform to tribes ideals, but it can also make adolescence an even lonelier time.

4.2.1 Hipsters

Generation Y have experienced a lack of subcultures but one of the few that have remained, especially popular amongst young creatives, are Hipsters. “Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20’s and 30’s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter.” (Parasuco, 2007) This definition provides a positive outlook on current culture and highlights a keen interest in the creative world. Although recently the term ‘Hipster’ and all associated with it has become cloaked in negativity. No longer is it seen as a creative individuals tribe of choice but is classified as a movement filled with ‘rich kids’ and ‘posers’. “…the hipster is an inauthentic silly poser – a modern-day fop or dandy – who spends silly amounts of money on ridiculous things, looks ridiculous, claims to be an artist but really does nothing, makes nothing, all on mom and dad’s dime.” (Campbell, 2014) When Hipsters initially stood for the young creatives why has the meaning behind it so radially changed? When questioning my focus group on their personal thoughts on Hipsters their opinions varied, some believed them to be creatives who subscribe to a specific style and other believed them to be “ridiculous” and “pretentious”. One member stated; “I hate the word ‘hipster’ it really has lost its meaning. Everyone and everywhere think they are being hipster today which then just makes everything the norm and not hipster.” As with all subcultures their recognisable style of vintage classics including levis, flannel shirts and Buddy Holly type glasses was picked up on by the media and high street stores including Urban Outfitters and Topshop. The ‘Hipster-look; then became accessible to the masses and became homogenized like any other youth movement. The true and original hipsters chose their style of dress through a lack of money, resulting in wearing charity shop clothes, and an appreciation for subcultures of the past, namely Hepcats and Beatniks. (Zimmer, 2012)

12 15

“The hipster aesthetic, dismissed by some as style rather than substance, represents a yearning for authentic things, and perhaps sadly, a more authentic life.” (Alfrey, 2010) While this maybe true we still see the term being mocked repeatedly and people cottoning onto the trend for all the wrong reasons. Yet the term still exists, there are still subscribers to the true origins of the movement that do not boast about their involvement and with each wave of bandwagon hangers-on the tribe refuses to die like so many other subcultures have;

“Hipsters, then, may be the canary in the cultural coalmine, harbingers of larger generational shifts.” (Alfrey, 2010) This is due to the, somewhat forgotten, open-mindedness of Hipsters, they may look to the past for style and music inspirations but they are creative types who customize their antique clothing and listen to a variety of music from Janis Joplin to Jay Z. So while there may be ‘inauthentic’ Hipsters out there, the genuine tribe still exists, still intelligent and creative as ever.

4.2.2 Shoreditchification

Alongside the Hipster subculture being riddled with ‘fakes’ it has also recently been used as a scapegoat for the decline in previously ‘cool’ areas. When the modern Hipster emerged from Brooklyn and began expanding as a ‘brand’ the term ‘Brooklynification’ was coined to describe areas that had been infested with Hipsters and their products. In the UK the hotspot for Hipsters was boroughs in London, namely Hackney, Dalston and Shoreditch; enter Shoreditchification. Alex Proud, journalist at the Telegraph is responsible for devising this term and explains; “Shoreditch is just a metonym for all those unlucky pieces of real estate that have had the hipster formula applied to them. The real problem is hipsters themselves” (Proud, 2014). He believes that Hipsters find a relatively inexpensive area, relocate there, push their ideals and lifestyles onto said location and transform it into a Mecca of Hipster. This in turn popularizes the zone encouraging house prices and rents to rocket. The Hipsters then pack up their second-hand suitcases and move onto the next borough and restart the cycle.

When explained as such it becomes easy to pin the blame on Hipsters but writer Aleks Eror defended his tribe by clarifying that “young creatives flock to crime-ridden neighbourhoods because we can’t afford to live elsewhere. It’s not a nefarious or sinister decision, just simple financial necessity” (Eror, 2014) and of the increased rent states “there are two victims in this process. The first are the indigenous communities to the area, who get squeezed out by the social gentrification. The second? Us lowly-paid creative types, who can no longer afford to live in the area we’ve made our home” (Eror, 2014). The finger-pointing to Hipsters is damaging to not only the subculture but to the young creatives who are desperately trying to pave their way into the creative industry with little financially stability or amenities.

4.3 The Progressive Generation “We don’t need new gurus or creativity messiahs. It’s time to listen to youth themselves.” (Campbell, 2014) There has been much said about Generation Y, positive and negative alike, but throughout all the discussions it is clear to see that Millennials are an extremely open-minded generation. When surveyed on their personal interests in a range of areas including same-sex dating, interracial dating, politics, legalization of marijuana, feminism and religion the most responses were towards same-sex dating and the least, religion. Only a few decades ago this would have produced radically different results, with same-sex marriage only becoming legal in 2014 (Gov, 2014). Our interest in politics is growing with all members of my focus group planning to vote in the upcoming election. The current cultural landscape has shaped us as individuals; we have become broadminded with our principles and adopt a liberal outlook on life.

CHAPTER 5

C O N C L U S I O N Generation Y or Millennials are undeniably a progressive generation who have been shaped by their surroundings. With the influx of media available via the Internet they have become skeptical of marketing and having come of age in a recession are a group who have become creative in all aspects including forming financial solutions for themselves and their projects. They live at home much longer than any previous generation and therefore have an evolved relationship with their parents, allowing them to be seen as friends as well as family. They are a generation that ultimately is intellectual, technically educated and creative. They are the generation that has been described as ‘special since birth’ and are special since birth. They have evolved continually and have adapted to the current social, economic and culturally climate repeatedly. They have modified the customary pattern of teenager to adult to suit the changing environment and themselves. They have allowed for future generations to continue in their footsteps, adjusting the status quo to suit their own personal needs. Irrefutably, the “youth are not only opting out of traditional ways of researching adulthood, but are also opting in to new ways of living and working, and we need to shift out focus in order to be able to see it, make sense of it, and get behind it.” (Campbell, 2014)

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Accessories Staff, (2014) Millennial [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.accessoriesmagazine. com/91502/millennial-survey-social-media-key-shopping-tool#.VIGmA9zlcWw [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 2: Dreamfilm, (2013), Generation Boomerang [ONLINE]. Available at: http://dreamfilm.ca/wp-content/uploads/1-Generation-Boomerang-logo-600x337.jpg [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 3: Thomson, H, (2014) Screenshot of self-initiated survey [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/GTxRPLSAy7_2F2d7HOdvG6z8fQdXSF5xb_2FQqlpt3uvw8E_3D [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 4: Cover Magazine, (2014), Burberry Prorsum A/W 2014 Collection at A/W LFW 2014 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://cover-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ad127523853models-led-by-ca.jpg [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 5: Hipwell, D, (2011), Boarded-up Britain: high streets turn to ghost towns [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00052/Tesco_and_Linwood_52133c.jpg [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 6: Braff, Z, (2013), Wish I Was Here [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1869987317/wish-i-was-here-1 [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 7: Examiner, (2009), Promo poster for The Devil Wears Prada [ONLINE]. Available at: http://leadcreatively.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/devil_wears_prada.jpg [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 8: MTV, (2014), Catfish - meaning [ONLINE]. Available at: http://mtvasia-com.mtvnimages.com/mtvasia-shows/catfish-meaning.jpg [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 9: Toussaint, P, (2013), Sea Punkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d [ONLINE]. Available at: http://cdn.trendhunterstatic.com/ phpthumbnails/201/201717/201717_2_800.jpeg [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 10: Hamza, S, (2012), Azealia Banks debuts new green hair [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www. dazeddigital.com/music/article/14211/1/dazed-confused-september-issue-azealia-banks-blows-up [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 11: Tumblr, (2014), DYING [ONLINE]. Available at: https://33.media.tumblr.com/0c4cbf2aa8edbfacf58e9bd5e7076da9/tumblr_ndjyk942cW1tmcay7o1_1280.png [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 12: McDarrah, F.W, (1959), Miss Beat of 1959 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.beatmuseum.org/ ephemera/images/missb.jpg [Accessed 28 November 14]. Figure 13: Infrogmation of New Orleans, (2008), Bywater Keep Off Hipsters Steps [ONLINE]. Available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/BywaterKeepOffHipstersStepsB.jpg/540px-BywaterKeepOffHipstersStepsB.jpg [Accessed 28 November 14].

A P P E N D I C E S Appendix 1 - Survey Results

APPENDIX 2 - FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS 1. Did the school you attend place an importance on creative studies? (e.g. art & design, drama, music etc.) 2. Having studied a creative degree do you intend to pursue a career in the creative industry? If not, why? 3. Have you ever had a placement or done an internship with somewhere in the industry? Were you paid? 4. Do you currently have a job (including summer/Christmas jobs)? If so, what is it? 5. Do you think creatives should work for free? (e.g. including for gaining exposure) 6. Would you travel/move to a foreign country (outside the UK) for your dream job? 7. a) Would you say you belonged to a subculture or clique growing up? If so, which one? b) If not, why not? 8. What is your personal opinion of ‘hipsters’? 9. Do you intend to vote in the next election? 10. What do you believe are the positive/negative attributes of our generation? What do you believe we will be remembered for? Positive – Negative – Remembered -