In Search of Fashion’s Meaning: Reading My Way Through Fashion

It all started with a call for papers on the theme; What is Fashion: The Politics of Representation. I thought it would be a one-off. Instead, it’s become a research rabbit hole I can’t get out of.

Since then, I’ve been binging books and articles on sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, philosophy and pulling ideas from different eras and perspectives. Some of what I’ve found reassures me, some unsettles me, some makes me question everything...and I love it!

I’m documenting this here partly because I’m working on my methodology for writing a paper, ( see what I did there..) and I know from experience; particularly from applying for my fellowship; that research, questioning and writing can be addictive. This blog is a way to record my thinking, test my ideas, and see if I can carry a project like this through on my own ( the answer already is no because I love collaborating too much)

There are several reasons for doing this; firstly, I believe deeply in lifelong learning; secondly, I want to encourage my students to explore interdisciplinary theoretical research; so I am sharing the insights from books with them and thirdly, my own industry is going through an existential crisis (as, arguably, is the world). Which has prompted me to re-examine my own experiences and to consider the gap between the industry’s perceptions and its realities.

I’m not a published scholar but a deep thinker and as a designer; I am a naturally curious researcher and to truly understand something I need to respond to it. This blog is my way of doing that; while seeing if I can shape my own methodology for communicating ideas. Whether this ends in a formal paper or something entirely different, I hope it might offer something to others who share the same questions.