Fashion education has been long overdue for an update. Because of the interconnectivity provided by the Internet, the interdisciplinary nature of current fashion and design thinking as well as the changing demands of both the consumers and the fashion discipline at large, new educational philosophies, practices and models are beginning to emerge that challenge dated ways in which fashion should and could be learned. Address contributor Aïcha Abbadi maps some of the most exiting examples of future fashion education …read more
At first glance, The Art of In-Between (May 4 – September 4, 2017) exhibition, curated by Andrew Bolton, celebrates Comme des Garçons’ designer Rei Kawakubo for challenging western ideas of beauty. Yet, at second glance, a number of problems arise from the way in which the show relies on colonial references. Address contributor Emily McGuire visited the exhibition in New York …read more
During a time when cheap new clothing is easily available, the lost art of mending is having a revival with diverse practices aiming to transform not only garments but the perceptions people have on repairing and restoring. Instead of seeing them as shameful, drawing on wide variety of examples, Address contributor Aïcha Abbadi suggests that mended scars should be celebrated as a tribute to craft and care as well as visible manifestations of histories …read more
Gathering common motivations that unite a broad range of practitioners, ‘Fashion from the Shadows’ -series aims to map alternative approaches to thinking, creating, presenting and discussing fashion. It provides an overview of recent developments in the discipline in order to integrate them into a new and more inclusive fashion system that encourages discussion. Instead of being suppressed, these alternatives broaden fashion’s spectrum of activities and help to provide a more complete understanding of the spirit of the time which fashion has always sought to reflect …read more
Gathering common motivations that unite a broad range of practitioners, ‘Fashion from the Shadows’ -series aims to map alternative approaches to thinking, creating, presenting and discussing fashion. It provides an overview of recent developments in the discipline in order to integrate them into a new and more inclusive fashion system that encourages discussion. Instead of being suppressed, these alternatives broaden fashion’s spectrum of activities and help to provide a more complete understanding of the spirit of the time which fashion has always sought to reflect …read more
For Ruby Hoette, our clothes materialise the social, cultural and emotional transactions that we experience in our everyday lives. As a curator, researcher, maker and convenor of the Fashion and Embodiment studio, part of the MA in Design: Extended Practice at Goldsmiths (UK), Ruby is fascinated with the construction of value and meaning through fashion. In this fourth installment for Fashion Unlearned, Address contributor Emily McGuire speaks with Ruby about her creative work and the role of education in promoting sustainable ways of making, engaging with and thinking about fashion …read more
As part of our ongoing series of essays studying the intersection where colour and fashion meet, Address editor Johannes Reponen considers the significance of black in the work of Cristóbal Balenciaga, following a visit to Balenciaga, L’oeuvre au noir exhibition, currently on display at Musée Bourdelle. …read more
Demna Gvasalia of Vetemens fame debuted his menswear collections for Balanciaga this summer. Unfortunately, his take on the sculptural heritage of the house translated into a two-dimensional vision for the future. Jacob Rosengren gives his verdict of the collection by using look 1 as his case study …read more
For most consumers, the fashion world represents a democracy. For Otto von Busch it is a dictatorship. Fascinated by the political forces of fashion, Otto has spent the last 10 years researching its complex relationship with agency, civic engagement and participatory design practices. In this third instalment for Fashion Unlearned from Emily McGuire, Otto shares captivating insight into the corruption fuelling the fashion industry, and questions how we might transform our engagement with clothing to create a better world …read more
Founders of Museea, Sofia Hedman and Serge Martynov have curated and designed numerous exhibitions in London, New York, Saint Louis, Tokyo and Stockholm. Their latest exhibition Utopian Bodies – Fashion Looks Forward (2015 – 2016) at Liljevachs Museum, Stockholm, was awarded the title ‘Exhibition of the Year 2015’ by The Association of Swedish Museums. Address contributor Flavia Loscialpo asked Sofia and Serge to reflect on their curatorial practice, utopias, and new challenges emerging within contemporary curatorship …read more
While uniform design focuses on functionality, control, and tradition, fashion design promotes constant change, creativity, and subversion. Yet throughout history, fashion has drawn inspiration from uniforms of all kinds. This dialogue is the premises of Uniformity, an exhibition on display at the Museum at FIT unit the 19th November. Fashion scholar Rosie Findlay reviewed the exhibit for Address …read more
Dedicated to creative approaches to patternmaking, Timo Rissanen is a designer, thinker and maker who pioneers zero-waste fashion design. Through his role as Assistant Professor of Fashion Design and Sustainability at Parsons School of Design, Timo is interested in how fashion can be used to enrich our everyday lived experience. In this second interview for Fashion Unlearned Address contributor Emily McGuire speaks with Rissanen about zero waste design processes and why systems thinking is essential to creating a sustainable fashion industry …read more
