Fashion Fictions: telling stories of sustainable fashion systems.

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Twigger Holroyd, A. ORCID: 0000-0003-3403-3516, 2023. Fashion Fictions: telling stories of sustainable fashion systems. In: Suffolk Storytelling Conference, University of Suffolk, Ipswich, 11-12 July 2023.

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Abstract

The mainstream globalised fashion system, with its embedded culture of overconsumption, is deeply implicated in the devastation of earth's life-supporting systems. Industrial sustainability initiatives have been overshadowed by a sustained increase in the volume of garments produced; it is increasingly recognised that a much more radical response is required. Yet, for many, the status quo feels so entrenched that meaningful transitions toward sustainability in fashion seem impossible.

An international participatory project, Fashion Fictions, has turned to speculative fiction as a way of expanding the collective sense of possibility in the fashion sphere. It brings people together to generate, experience and reflect on engaging fictional visions of parallel worlds. The authors imagine that these worlds have split off from our own at some point in history and developed distinctive fashion cultures and systems. The overall aim is to inject new stories into the fashion and sustainability discourse, challenging dominant imaginaries and creating the conditions to support radical change.

This paper will share the story-generating processes that are embedded in the project, which include writing 100-word outlines of fictional fashion worlds (Stage 1); developing these worlds through world-building discussions and prototyping activities (Stage 2); and performing the prototyped worlds through collaborative enactments (Stage 3). It will also highlight the stories and related theoretical insights that have informed the project, with particular reference to the work of Diana Wynne Jones, and present a number of the fictional worlds in which storytelling plays an important role within fashion culture.

Item Type:

Conference contribution

Description:

Presentation / Talk

Creators:

Twigger Holroyd, A.

Date:

11 July 2023

Identifiers: