TRANSFORMATIVE TOGETHERNESS

I recently attended The Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education, “De-fashioning Education, a critical thinking and making conference”, hosted at the University of Arts in Berlin. It was hosted over two days, with “a series of conferences focused on the learning and teaching of fashion at the tertiary level. It aims to explore and illustrate the diversity and complexity of the field and the practices of fashion education, and to foster a greater understanding of its pasts, presents and futures – methods, values and didactic, pedagogic and epistemological questions - creating a global exchange to inspire mutual learning, collaborative research and shared action.”

I was unable to attend both days fully, and only able to dip into two collaborative sessions, and one provocation. However, despite such a small dip into the event, I was soaked in knowledge. Absorbing ideas and insights from amazing people within the industry. I left each day feeling totally fulfilled with hope and excitement for the industry and future of fashion - a rare feeling to have following fashion critique.

This feeling is exactly what made the conference so special. Nobody was oblivious to current toxic state of the fashion industry, or that of our global climate and societies, but everybody attending and participating was choosing optimism in their outlooks and practices. Each thought shared and hand raised was working towards finding solutions, encouraging others and coming together.

On the first day of the conference I attended a collaborative workshop hosted by Paula Keilholz & Isabell Schnalle (from Threads & Tits), “Activate: De-growth narratives - implement de-growth paradigms”. Both hosts work within the intersections of activism, education and transformation - and it was shown. Their workshop was balanced in the softness of nature and community and the force of activating change and self organisation. The workshop shared transformative strategies, “to identify different levels of change and how narratives can be used as a transformative tool to implement de-growth paradigms” (TDM, 2023: 80)

They introduced their Climate Activating Compass. Extending their knowledge and passion for finding levels of transformative and desired futures. The Compass included main categories of “Forms of Critique”, “Transformation Strategies”, and “Levels of Transformation”. Collectively these categories contained sub-categories to assist as working tools for navigating practices of de-growth. Engaging, considerate and transformative are the words which kept going through my mind as they continued to explain the compass and the motivations for each category and its contents. It was energising to hear them share with such passion actual tools which each person in the room could apply to their own research questions. We were able to engage with the compass collectively as we broke out into teams and used it to discuss possible future scenarios relating to fashion education. I was so grateful to have attended this workshop and even more grateful for their open access to their compass for our own use outside of the workshop. I have already crafted it together in my studio not only as an educational tool for myself but as a reminder of the those within the workshop who so eagerly fuelled the belief for change - I need this more days than not.

The Second day I attended a local design pedagogy walk by Tanveer Ahmed, “Deconstructing Spaces and Places of Coloniality”. Tanveer is “a practice-led fashion design researcher and anti-racist educator exploring ways to expose and re-think how dominant Eurocentric racial hierarchies are used as part of the fashion design process” (TDM, 2023: 58).

Majority of those attending were educators themselves, with multiple years of experience and insight into fashion education and / or fashion activism. This provided totally different conversations than were had yesterday, based upon a lot more facts and opinions than concepts and desires - just a note, not a comparison. Tanveer was exceptionally interesting to listen to, with a really insightful introduction into the conversation of re-design, that later led into really deep and philosophical conversations together. Rather than to recite the whole two hours together I rather would like to share my personal takeaway that I will use in exploring dominant hierarchies around me.

Consider the door of a building. Look at its size, its structure, its design. Now look beyond this and ask yourself who is able to use this door. How accessible is this door to everybody? Is it accessible to somebody in a wheelchair, somebody who is a POC, somebody who is lower income? Once you enter this door are you able to go further or are there more doors which you have to access - ask these same questions. Ask these questions with many designs around you. Why are they there, what is their purpose and how do we treat them? How do they treat us?

We broke away into smaller groups during this time and examined the spaces around us. We looked at the historical monuments around us, the tightly packed apartment blocks and the evasion of nature. One group went inside the university and looked at what was beyond the first door. A hallway followed, with many different doors into various lecture rooms and studios for various departments, some for only students and some just administrators. They also looked at the stand alone vending machine within the corridor and reflected upon its role within the space. The practice of design students over extending their physical time and body to work in the studios for long hours as to meet deadlines and ensure productivity is common knowledge amongst the industry. The vending machine was discussed as being that which many would “nourish” themselves on throughout those hours. The discussion deepened with the group and conversation flowed towards how “we learn so early to exploit ourselves”. Within the fashion industry we allow these traits to seep into our practices and futures from our education, and vice versa with students and teachers sharing this same narrative of “how the industry is” and what it demands to be “successful”. The conversations ran deeper as many shared their thoughts - many of which most students in various industries can identify with.

This conversation came from taking a deeper look at our surroundings and questioning the designs around us. This practice can be applied in so many design spaces, especially fashion education. To deconstruct designs and more deeply question what influences them and how they influence us…

Following lunch and chats with those attending the conference, I went to join the conversation held between Christina H. Moon & Otto von Busch. Both professors at Parson School of Design and exploring in their own perspectives the power of fashion in a persons personal and social condition (TDM, 2023: 35). Christina held the conversation with Otto, who joined the conference digitally from the US. The discussion dived right into the vitality of fashion and what the system could be.

Honestly, everything that Otto said had the whole room (at full capacity), captivated. His description with language and links between concepts was amazing to see and hear. He began the discussion on considering what the current fashion system could be transformed towards rather than sustained within.

He introduced the concept of “thinking of fashion as an emotion in the body”, and designing towards what excites and feeds this to each personally. He linked this to de-growth, with an amazing analogy to describe the goals of de-growth, “The Hairdresser Concept”. A service which has you leaving with less than what you arrived with, and as a result thriving on the lesser remains. “How can we serve more with this system in fashion?”

Otto follows this amazing analogy with discussion around training out sensitivities towards more simple pleasures. Such as moving away from the momentary hype of a fashion drop, to the enjoyment of just seeing one another. Otto asked how we can teach this esteem and courage into our fashion education as to bring into the industry more thriving on togetherness and service, than the current “leader and follower” model which thrives on dynamics and power.

Currently fashion has the model of one buying their togetherness through fashion, to experience togetherness through this. We need to teach skills towards nourishment, appreciation and togetherness within fashion. We need to train ourselves and others to share curiosity and concern and put this into action - as this conference has bought us together to do. We need to integrate and practice de-growth actions within our teaching as to transform the industry in the future.

Otto’s conversation with Christina, and the attendees, was the finishing note for me at the conference and left me with a feeling of satisfaction and knowing that we can transform the industry, together. Conferences like this remind me that we are together in this journey, that we are searching for togetherness as to collectively help and grow. These conferences did not exist once upon a time, and today they are developing and beginning to flourish as increasingly more people within the industry identify the need for change, and go searching for community as to transform together.

Bibliography:

- TDM: The Digital Multilogue. 2023. De-fashioning Education, a critical thinking and making conference. [online] Available at: https://files.cargocollective.com/c1524396/24082023_TDM23_ProgramUpdate_02092023.pdf (Accessed: 18 September 2023)