On March 12, we started our new collaborative research project ‘Solidarity in Fashion’, funded by SIA KIEM.

‘Solidarity in Fashion’ builds upon our previous project ‘Emotionally Durable Design’, which focused on moving beyond our ‘throw-away culture’ and mentality of growth, in order to act from other values, related to ‘de-growth’. This project aimed to re-value the emotional and social dimensions of fashion, by developing a deeper insight into value systems that underlie current and desired relationships between human beings and material objects. Additionally, it aimed at developing new strategies and value-driven fashion practices to create a stronger connection to the wearer and to activate more conscious user behaviour – creating more social value, wellbeing and empathy.

Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, we face new challenges. We moved from a system of overproduction and overconsumption to ‘survival mode’, with many people in precarious positions. There is an increased visibility of the fundamental problems of the globalized fashion industry and we are experiencing a new (temporary?) digital reality of social/physical distance. Many people crave for more personal, social and physical connection. In the meantime, there were many calls for solidarity and calls for alternative, slower systems. This could be an opportunity for a reset of values, for systemic change and a sustainable re-start.

Therefore, in ‘Solidarity in Fashion’ we explore: How can we use this current situation to develop alternative fashion practices that contribute to a more ethical, sustainable fashion system, and to a more conscious relationship with fashion, also on the long term?

This also entails exploring ‘what is solidarity’? How could or should we define that? What will that look like, and how will that operate?

‘Solidarity in Fashion’ is an explorative KIEM-project. In the timeframe of March 2021 – February 2022 we aim to:

- Research and develop new insights into the impact of covid-19 on companies, makers and wearers; and map the current challenges, questions, opportunities and lessons learned that could benefit systemic change.

- Do explorative, speculative and design-driven research to develop new concepts, imaginations and scenarios to contribute to a more solidary fashion practices and a more conscious and ethical way of relating to fashion.

Project team & partners:  

Adriana Galijasevic | Cocircular Lab

Anouk Beckers | designer, practice-based researcher

Aurélie Van de Peer | fashion scholar, writer and lecturer

Esther Muñoz Grootveld | State of Fashion

Femke de Vries | Warehouse

Freya Zaplata | researcher

Jan Schoon | communication + pr

Rens Tap | Modint

Sanne Karssenberg | Studio Sanne Karssenberg

Steven van Teeseling | State of Fashion

Fashion Professorship | ArtEZ University of the Arts

Daniëlle Bruggeman | Lucie Huiskens | Carolijn Wessels | Anne Hendriks

MA students ArtEZ

Borbála Csiszar | Dalila de Vroom | Yi-Jing Chen

BA student ArtEZ

Marco Blazevic

Professorship Fashion & Technology | Hogeschool van Amsterdam |AMFI

Irene Maldini | Marco Mossinkoff | Troy Nachtigall 

BA students AMFI

Mariana Pereira da Conceição Monteiro |  Richelle Ijsselmuiden | Jiyeon Lee |  Kim Falkenstein