The Local Wisdom project will be in Melbourne this Saturday, 23 March to gather more tales and images of the creative and ingenious practices associated with using garments. This will be the final shoot of a year of touring that has included Kolding, San Francisco, London, Vancouver, New York City and Wellington and will kick start our design collaboration with students and researchers at RMIT University of Technology. More information can be found at http://localwisdom.info
Let anyone in Melbourne or Victoria know to come and share their insights with us!
We’ll be at:
The Melbourne GPO
350 Bourke Street
11am until 4pm.
What should you bring to be photographed?
Perhaps you have a garment that…
• Is easily repairable
• Is worn regularly and has never been washed (and isn’t leather!)
• Is enjoying a third, fourth or fifth life
• Surprises you each time you wear it
• Shows or tells the story of how it’s been used
• Is worn in ways that defy the producer’s values
• Is adapted over and again in order to meet changing needs
• Has interchangeable parts that can be worn in different ways
• Is shared between people
• Connects you to others
• Is worn in response to changing economic and environmental concerns
• Is made up of interchangeable pieces that can be worn in different ways
On 3rd March 2013, Dilys Williams, Director Centre for Sustainable Fashion, and Lainey Sheridan-Young, Natalie Theo, Rosanna Falconer and Lou Stoppard met to discuss the Kenzo Womenswear AW13 catwalk show in London.
The brand, launched in 1970 by Japanese-born designer Kenzo Takada, has undergone a complete transformation in the last two years since Opening Ceremony founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim were appointed as the new creative directors in 2011. As Rosanna Falconer, Head of Digital at Matthew Williamson said, this has given a unique opportunity to revive the brand through developing successful collections from a buyer’s perspective.
Dilys was able to bring a unique viewpoint to the discussion, sharing ideas about the relationship between designer, product, and wearer, and the new role of the designer.
“The role of the designer in communicating something that has often been very personal has really changed, and a lot of new designers are really understanding the importance of communicating as part of the creativity… it’s part of the creative process and I think you see that with these guys [Kenzo].”
When asked about the culture of the ‘It’ piece, Dilys observed that “people aim to create an identity to their work which is something that goes beyond just the cut and the make of it, the whole ethos of their brand.”
Dilys perfectly summed up the show when she said “fashion is an intuitive thing, it’s not a mathematical process.”
“They’ve brought together great people working with them and hopefully that’s what will keep it looking fresh all the time.”
You can find out out more about the show and the day here.
Last night the first ever Guardian University Award winners were announced in a London ceremony hosted by BBC education correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti, and we are extremely pleased to congratulate University of Wales, Trinity St David for winning in the Sustainability project category. The awards ‘celebrate the best of Britain’s universities and act as a benchmark for excellence across the higher education sector’.
The Institute for Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness (INSPIRE) was launched in 2012 to embed sustainability through the curriculum, campus, community and culture of the university. Judges said that it showed a powerful vision that went right through the curriculum and highly commended the university on their creativity.
Centre for Sustainable Fashion has been working with the support of Jane Davidson, Director of INSPIRE, on the development of the Green Academy programme, through which we aim to develop long-term transformational change for sustainability across the London College of Fashion and University of the Arts London. We are proud to be embarking on this programme to explore strategic and holistic ways to embed sustainable development throughout the student experience, and to be working with other exemplary institutions such as University of Wales, Trinity St. David.
Marks & Spencer and Oxfam are opening a two-day pop-up charity store in the M&S flagship store at Marble Arch, for 24-25 January. The pop-up shop will offer the public a chance to buy rare vintage M&S pieces as well as clothing donated by celebrities simple by ‘shwopping’ an item of their own. ‘Shwopping’ is a concept derived by M&S and Oxfam to encourage people to donate or ‘gift’ unwanted clothing that will go on to be re-used, transformed or recycled. Sarah Farquhar, Head of Retail Brand for Oxfam, said:
“Oxfam shops are full of hidden treasures and we have regular shoppers who turn up week in week out to get their hands on the latest donations. But this time we are doing the rummaging for them; bringing the best of the shwopped items we have received over the last few months plus exciting celebrity donations straight to the public instead. It will be really exciting to see people browsing Oxfam clothing in the middle of an M&S store.”
CSF and M&S installation ‘Beautiful Layers’
In support of the ‘Gift Away, Don’t Throw Away’ campaign the Centre for Sustainable Fashion has created three installations for the M&S Shwop Shop which can be found on display inside the Marble Arch store now. The three installations; ‘Transformation’, ‘Beautiful Layers’ and ‘Gift it Away’ are designed to encourage a new culture of ‘gifting away’ instead of throwing away, to draw on existing resources instead of wasting limited ones. You can see these installations in the Marble Arch store from today until January 25. Donators who visit the Shwop Shop will be able to tell the story around their gifted item and throughout the two days a tweeter in residence will be capturing the stories behind the clothes and broadcasting them via @shwopping.
The Local Wisdom project arrives in Canada and New York this month kicking off our projects with The Emily Carr University of Art and Design and Parsons The New School for Design. If you are in either of these locations please do take this opportunity to contribute to the project by telling the story of how you use your clothes and be photographed wearing your garment. See below for dates, times and locations.
Vancouver
Saturday 19 January 2013
10:00am – 4:00pm
1399 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 3RN
New York
Saturday 26 January 2013
10:00am – 4:00pm
2 West 13th Street (Corner of 5th Avenue)
New York, NY 10011
What should you bring to be photographed? Perhaps you have a garment that is…• Is easily repairable
• Is worn regularly and has never been washed (and isn’t leather!)
• Is enjoying a third, fourth or fifth life
• Surprises you each time you wear it
• Shows or tells the story of how it’s been used
• Is worn in ways that defy the producer’s values
• Is adapted over and again in order to meet changing needs
• Has interchangeable parts that can be worn in different ways
• Is shared between people
• Connects you to others
• Is worn in response to changing economic and environmental concerns
• Is made up of interchangeable pieces that can be worn in different ways
Centre for Sustainable Fashion recently hosted the first in a series of events aimed at fashion educators to discuss and raise the profile of design for sustainability in fashion education.
The first event, a debate questioning ‘What is the role of fashion education in our changing world?’ involved key fashion educators and activists engaging in a lively debate to find ways in which we can explore fashion education, to improve student experience and foster sustainability throughout the curriculum.
The panel was chaired by Nina Stevenson – Education & Curriculum Development Manager, CSF and included:
Dilys Williams – Director, CSF
Kate Fletcher – Reader in Sustainable Fashion, CSF
Gemma Robertson – Graduate Recruitment Manager, ASOS
Lesley Raven – Senior Outreach Coordinator, LCF
Frankie Moloney – Students’ Union Vice President for LCF
We should be looking at fashion education as an exploration of self in connection to place, through the practice of fashion, and as a forum for self-contemplative work:
‘Time spent in fashion education can be a precious and vital place for change at a profound level – if it is about education of the person, through practice of fashion that really is relevant to time and place.’ Dilys Williams
‘Universities can be hierarchical in their knowledge structure – they value industrial knowledge above all else, which doesn’t give space for self-contemplative work.’ Kate Fletcher
From a student’s perspective, ‘fashion education is integral to finding like-minded people and creating networks and there is great value in the experience of those teaching.’ Frankie Moloney
Part of this networking value was highlighted in creating university and business dialogue through placements. ‘Working with a broad range of companies gives a strong overview of the industry, and showcases the creativity that can be nurtured in a university context.’ Gemma Robertson of ASOS explained. ‘Networking and attending events ensures you will make an impression and recruiters will remember you’, she continued, highlighting the importance of a genuine understanding of the role and market level being applied for, having recruited approximately 96 graduates in the past six months.
Within a university setting, there is ‘the need to promote collaborative working and creative thinking in education models, to create a community of practice to enable continuous improvement.’ Lesley Raven
‘We need to engage our imaginations in the ingenuity needed to get us beyond the tweaks at the edges that are obviously not making enough of a difference to how we live– fashion gives us an opportunity as it should be a barometer of change relevant to time, people and our natural world, upon which we all revolve.‘ Dilys Williams
The discussion then moved to the audience for insightful comment and probing questions. When asked about allowing space for thought, experimentation and balance within curriculum, Kate responded, ‘most of the world focus is on narrowing peoples perspective on things. Within sustainability it’s almost a progressive broadening you need. The challenge is to get people to become experts in a synthesis where they put things together instead of taking them apart.”
This challenge is being addressed within Centre for Sustainable Fashion through initiatives such as MA Fashion and the Environment at the London College of Fashion, which was that same night awarded the Ethical Fashion Forum Source Award for Educational Innovation. The course was set up five years ago by Dilys Williams as a vital part of the development of the Centre’s work, to engage a multi way flow between the research and consultancy practitioners in the centre and burgeoning creative sustainability led postgraduate students. Susan Postlewaite, now course leader of the programme is currently collating this year’s graduate work for exhibition during London Fashion Week in February 2013.
The evening provided rich and diverse discussion regarding fashion education and set an agenda for future work, which will be continued through the network, for which details will be posted in the new year.
‘We need to encourage people to foster a sense of balance. It’s at the heart of a set of values that are different, and us showing that fashion can be different. Education is for life, not for a moment or for a score card.’ Kate Fletcher
The evening concluded with a final comment from a recent graduate, Alina Moat, ‘the best thing about the MA Fashion & Environment course is that normally courses are designed primarily around the idea of success. This offered the opportunity for failure – meaning showing that you can learn from mistakes and build on them; it’s not just built on society’s idea of success.’
You can track commentary and join in the debate on Twitter by searching #TransformFashion
The course was developed by the Centre in 2008 as a key facet of the Centre’s work towards fostering sustainability throughout education, and promoting dialogue between forward-thinking students and experienced practitioners, in order to challenge society’s idea of fashion and relationships with the world around us.
Image: Ivan Dauritz, MA Fashion & the Environment
The MA course added to the lively discussion around ‘What is the Role of Fashion Education in our Changing World?’, during the first Design for Sustainability Educators Network Event, hosted at the London College of Fashion on Tuesday 5th December, where graduates from the course were able to contribute their own experiences and journey on the MA course.
You can find out more about the Source Awards on Twitter by searching #SourceAwards
You can track commentary and join in the debate about Fashion Education on Twitter by searching #TransformFashion
The nomination is a result of constant and unrelenting dedication and support for sustainable fashion over the years as a designer, people connector, educator and visionary of sustainability principles, which has made a significant contribution to helping put sustainability on the agenda for the industry. Dilys believes that there are myriad ways in which we can engage human ingenuity towards a world in which we can all prosper and thrive.
In recent years Dilys has been instrumental in the setup and development of the Centre and its educational, enterprise and research activities. The Centre was established to provoke, challenge and question the fashion status quo through collaboration, designing transforming solutions that balance ecology, society and culture.
The SOURCE Awards put the spotlight on the most innovative and inspirational businesses, individuals, and initiatives in the fashion industry, globally.
The awards recognise excellence in 12 different categories, from design innovation to brand leadership across women’s, men’s, accessories, and children’s wear, sustainable supply / manufacture, education, retail, and individual contribution.
Final winners will be announced at a reception event on 4th December in London.
The Local Wisdom project returns to London on 5th December 2012 to take photographs and gather more stories of the ‘craft of use’ of the general public. We’ll be at the Carnaby Book Exchange in Kingly Court (between Regent Street and Carnaby Street) between midday and 7pm. Please come along and share with us how you use clothes and get your portait taken in your piece! More on the London photoshoot including exact location and categories listing the sort of things we are looking for can be found here.
“Five public sculptures – Spirits of the Huveaune – take the form of female characters along the valley of the river Huveaune, situated between the spring, deep in the Provence Alps and the estuary at the Mediterranean Sea port of Marseille. The sculptures, based on historical texts, legends and stories about the valley, recount the feminine presence associated with the river. The legendry, supernatural and the imaginary that perpetuate the history of the river Huveaune are the sources of inspiration.” Lucy + Jorge Orta
The Huveaune is a coastal river in eastern Provence that originates in the Massif de la Sainte Baume and flows into the Mediterreanean Sea at Marseille. Although it has always faciliated the implementation of myriad human activities from agriculture to industry, the Huveaune is now little known and often ill treated. Eager to capitalize on this natural and cultural heritage and to strengthen the bonds between the residents of the neighborhoods and municipalities that cross this river, the Association Rives et Cultures has commissioned a work for artists Lucy + Jorge Orta in the context of Fondation de France’s Nouveaux commanditaire and programming for Marseille-Provence 2013, European Capital of Culture.
The artists have devised a parcours of five sculptures entitled Le Chemin des fées, which indicate the Huveaune’s presence in four municipalities: la Fée de la source (Marie) – the Martellière, Saint-Zacharia; la Fée du pont (Ubelka) – Moulin Saint-Claude, Auriol; la Fée des berges (Manon) – Îlot des Berges Park, Aubagne; la Fée du vieux moulin (Gyptis) – Vieux Moulin Park, Marseille; and la Fée du lac (Ophélie) – Borély Park, Marseille.
These fairies, dreaming or alert, melancholic or resolved, invest these sites like genii loci and weave an unprecedented link between the past and the present. They invite visitors to discover the Huveaune through other stories and to invent new way to live with the it. Referring to the universal water cycle, Le Chemin des fées aims to raise public awareness of environmental issues related to the river’s fate, thereby raising the question of water management in the future, here as elsewhere.
Lucy + Jorge Orta
Spirits of the Huveaune | Le Chemin des fées
Venue : Marseille, la vallée de l’Huveaune
Country: France
Public sculpture commission
From 13 October 2012
The model characterisation for the project was conducted in collaboration with the stylist Vanessa Reid at Pop Magazine and the clothes were provide by Celine, S/S 2012
The 3D scanning and modelling was conducted by Creaform, France. The five Spirit sculptures are cast in aluminium by Nancy Foundry, France.
