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Back to Dirt. An Aléa Interview
A variety of brands and companies are marketing their approach to sustainable practices and the meaning of the term ‘sustainability’ has become blurred and inconsistent. The researcher and designers Miriam Josi and Stella Lee Prowse are proposing an alternative discourse and practice to this tendency. Here they explain their work for their studio Aléa and suggest how research practices and experimentation in material production can be a response to the current fashionability of discourses about sustainability. Interview by Marco Pecorari.
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Fashioning Bodies. Interview with Karolien de Clippel
In recent years we have experienced a resurgence of activism and a more politicized view on fashion. A variety of social movements and public discussions have been centered around the body as a contested terrain for the exploration of issues about gender, beauty ideals and identity. The Hasselt Fashion Museum contributes to this discussion by launching the exhibition DressUndress. Interview by Marco Pecorari
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Behind Our Screens. An interview with Fabio Donghi
Today, fashion is primarily consumed digitally. Not only is the online consumption of goods constantly increasing, but also the dissemination of fashion shows, reportages and documentaries are daily doors into the industry for both professionals and fashionistas. Online platforms like Vogue.com are therefore unique gateways and places where we live fashion. However, what appears to us as immediate and free content, is actually the result of hidden labour, economic transactions and technological innovation. We interviewed Fabio Donghi, founder of INDIGITAL.TV, one of the major online platforms and digital content production providers for fashion. He leads us inside his unique path and story, explaining what is behind our daily free consumption of fashion online. By Marco Pecorari.
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Interview. Byronesque and the Value of Fashion History
Fashion archives are living in a new era. Not only are luxury fashion brands investing in rebuilding their own past, but a new definition and consumption of vintage clothing is emerging. The revival of the past has become more than an expression of nostalgia. Rather, it is an answer to today’s mass production and consumption. We asked Gill Linton, co-founder of Byronesque – the online editorial-based shop for contemporary vintage fashion – to lead us through the intricate world of ‘future vintage’. Together we reflect on the practice of commercialising the past and its potential for reaffirming values that the fashion industry has forgotten, but that may come back. Interview by Marco Pecorari and photography by Maxime Ballesteros.
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Matters in Dispersion: An Interview with the Founders of Diktats
The history of fashion is more than a history of garments. Printed matter plays a crucial role in the ways fashion has been disseminated and therefore constructed. However, the myriad forms of documentation are often overlooked and dispersed due to their ephemeral nature and circulation. We discussed these matters of dispersion with Diktats, an online bookstore specialising in rare antiquarian fashion books and prints. Diktats, created by Antoine Bucher and Nicolas Montagne, represents a reference in the field of collecting fashion ephemera through its collaborations with major international museums like the Costume Institute, Centre Pompidou and MAD Paris. Interview by Marco Pecorari.
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Clinique Vestimentaire. Interview with Jeanne Vicerial
Up till now, the two main techniques of fashion production have been ready-to-wear and tailor-made. But is there are third way? According to Jeanne Vicerial, the answer is yes. We spoke to the Parisian mastermind behind the project “Clinique Vestimentaire,” who has launched the revolutionary technique ‘prêt-à-mesure.’ When working as a fashion designer in ready-to-wear, Jeanne realized that the concept of the individual body in all its variations and complexities had completely disappeared from the creative chain. By combining theory and practice, she dedicated her doctoral research to rethinking existent production models. ‘Prêt-à-mesure’ is a ready-to-measure technique that combines tailor-made and ready-to-wear, and Jeanne has even developed a weaving machine that produces woven garments based on individual measurements, without any textile waste. By doing so, she has revitalized and deepened the discussion of how to make sustainable fashion a new paradigm.
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Surfaces of Real. Interview with Artist Jeannette Slütter
The action of covering up does not simply hide but it may also reveal. The contrast between the making of evident and veiling is rooted in an approach to what we know and the ways in which we know. The artist Jeannette Slütter speaks about this dispute, creating environments of oxymoronic displacement. In her work, surfaces and practices of veiling may not simply be an obstacle but it often becomes a method of questioning. In this sense, the surface becomes not only a space of superficiality and corruption but also a space for disputing the superficial and its meanings. Not simply a manner to dispute what the Real is but – most importantly – what makes the Real and when we encounter the Real.
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Fashion Anamnesis. Interview with Historian Olivier Saillard
Interview with historian Olivier Saillard Collecting fashion in museums is more than just gathering an assemblage of clothing into an archive. Political, class, gender, aesthetical and geographical impositions are behind each garment conserved in museums. But there is more. Not only garments but also many other materials and immaterial practices must be considered when we […]
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Fashion Remains. Interview with Fashion Scholar Marco Pecorari
With invitations, catalogues and press releases, designers and fashion brands want to catch your attention for longer than a quick glance. Starting with print material from the early 80s and onwards, fashion scholar Marco Pecorari, has delved into this overlooked category of fashion objects for his doctoral dissertation entitled Fashion Remains: The Epistemic Potential of Fashion Ephemera. By Antonia Nessen
