Fashion Talks at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

Looking back to inspiring Fashion Talks 
at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

"We live in a rapidly changing world where progress is accompanied by environmental pollution and ethical issues. The fashion world is a mighty billion industry, and like no other is able to create an illusion and seduce us humans and excite our senses. Today's fashion industry is a reflection of society with a strong focus on aesthetics. Our society approaches fashion as a purely visual phenomenon and doesn’t always see the nature of the interaction with the body (of the wearer), despite the fact that fashion is the most intimate form of art, as it is literally worn “on the body”! As a second skin, clothing also enables us to express ourselves and helps us make sense of the world."
- FASHIONCLASH Team

(Does) Fashion Makes Sense? was the question posed during the 9th edition of FASHIONCLASH Festival. Although there is no answer that can satisfy this broad and complex question the panel at the  Fashion Talks provided positive food for thoughts.
Moderated by Saskia van Stein, artistic director at Bureau Europa, a stage was given to a several festival participants and professionals to engage in a discussion about the topic.
The first talk focused more on the senses and the body. Followed by talk that engaged a more broader view on the industry. Does fashion 'as an industry' make sense.

lecture performance Olle Lundin & Floriane Misslin 

Before the talks started, Olle Lundin and Floriane Misslin, provided the perfect introduction with their joint lecture performance.
By extracting postures and re-contextualizing them Olle Lundin hopes to denaturalize the body-language of high fashion. By doing this he has the intention to show the norms, ideals and invisible expectations that are inherent in the visual language discourse of high fashion advertising today! Floriane Misslin focusses on portraying non-binary identities in the mainstream media.  In the Fashion Makes Sense LAB she presented her current project ‘Uni-Sex’.

The speakers Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati talked about their 'Sensewear' project. Their primary purpose is to stimulate and improve awareness of our senses, while training us to better use them all. Some Sensewear items are designed to mute physical sensations, some to sharpen them. The collection is inspired by therapies applied to Sensory Processing Disorders and developed with the technical support of therapists assisting people affected with autism. Anxiety, stress, panic attack are most typical autism’s symptoms but more and more people suffers them, therefore the collection is not addressed only to people with disabilities but it is aiming at enhancing everyone busy urban life.

Designer Sepideh Ahadi explained how she works and talked about her slow fashion approach. As a designer, Sepideh feels the responsibility to invite her audience to think about fashion in a different and more interactive way through her designs.

Carolyn Mair, the Chartered Psychologist and Chartered Scientist with a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, became an 'instant darling' with her point of view and knowledge.
She developed the MA Psychology for Fashion Professionals and MSc Applied Psychology in Fashion at LCF.
Another expert that shared her knowledge was Rosemarie Ruigrok. After selling her own company, Promax Corporate Fashion, she worked at Amnesty International, Fair Wear Foundation and as CSR consultance at Elsewear Foundation, known by “Green is the new black and as International cotton manager for Fairtrade. In 2007 Roosmarie founded Clean & Unique.

Another speaker was local designer Ebby Port, who expressed her challenges as being a young designer who wants to change the world but feels not as responsible, her statement was that the big companies should take the lead and take responsibility.

Jeffrey Heiligers and Eva Wagensveld talked about their project online platform SHI[R]T.
"The psychology behind fashion has become less about quality or durabilty and more about being fast, cheap and easy to replace. Does fashion make sense if the quality of the products is high, labour conditions are good and the environmental impact is minimal? In other words: Do you want to buy a shit-shirt, or rather invest in something fair?"

On Friday night they presented a participatory performance in the fashion show program, stirring the audience by literally facing a mirror to everyone.
Several members from the audience were randomly invited on the runway who were then donned with mirrored panels on their chest and back. Mirrors were then held up to seated guests, as questions such as “Do you buy because you can?” and “How come that a sandwich is cheaper than a sweater?” echoed in the background.

Photography Sem Shayne, FASHIONCLASH